Kala @ CODEX 2024


Please stop by our table — W42, at the upcoming CODEX Book Art Fair. We’re super excited to be a part of this event and hope to see you there!

February 4—7, 2024
Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center
10 10th Street, Oakland, CA 94607

Sunday, February 4, 2024
12:30-5:30pm

Monday, February 5, 2024
1:00-6:00pm

Tuesday, February 6, 2024
1:00-6:00pm

Wednesday, February 7, 2024
10:00am-3:00pm

The CODEX Foundation announces the 9th International Biennial Book Art Fair & Symposium, February 4–7, 2024. The fair will take place in a brand new location: the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center in Oakland, California. The symposium and related events will take place in Berkeley and across the Bay Area.

The fair & symposium endeavors to bring to the attention of the public the importance and value of the book arts and their essential role in transmitting cultural history. This event supports and facilitates collaboration across the globe between artists, scholars, curators, and collectors in the production and preservation of meaningful scholarly and artistic contributions to the book arts field.

This year the event will host over 200 tables of individual artists, as well as nonprofits, centers, and organizations that specialize in the field. There will also be tables representing academic programs with student work, bookbinding collectives, suppliers of specialized book arts materials and tools, and galleries/book dealers representing other artist bookmakers. The work that is shown is all within the realm of artists’ books, book arts, and fine press books where you will find craft and concept united in a future vision of the physical book as a work of art. The fair draws an international crowd of artists, printers, bookmakers, designers, poets, writers, printmakers, bookbinders, papermakers, calligraphers, collectors, dealers, curators, students, academics, and of course anyone amongst the general public interested in the book arts.

Participating Artists: Gale Antokal, Lynn Beldner, Janine Brown, Holly Downing, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Corrine Hatt, Ellen Heck, Nancy Mintz, Katie Murken, Karen Olsen-Dunn, Emily Payne, Carrie Ann Plank, Nick Shick, Toru Sugita, Seiko Tachibana, Sandy Walker, Michelle Wilson, and Susan Wolf.

Related to art fair events, Kala will also be hosting a reception at our gallery on Saturday, February 3rd , 3pm – 6pm for our current exhibition, The Embodied Press: queer abstraction and the artists’ book, curated by Anthea Black.

Images 1) Nick Shick, Radiate; 2) Katie Murken, Half-Listening; 3) Lynn Beldner; 4) Seiko Tachibana, fern; 5) Karen Olsen-Dunn, Colors of Happy Disorder; 6) Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Out of Chaos Suite; 7) Corrine Hatt, Inhabit; 8) Ellen Heck, Forty Fridas Portfolio; 9) Michelle Wilson, Onward

 

KALA @ SFMOMA SMALL PRESS BOOK BAZAAR!

Kala is excited to participate in the SFMOMA Small Press Book Bazaar on Thursday, Dec 7, 1-8 pm!

Participating artists include: Lindsay Buchman, Paola de la Calle, Cheryl Derricotte, Melanie Dorson, Beth Fein, Cecilia Hamlin, Corrine Hatt, Whitney Humphreys, Susanne Huth, Sharon Jue, Soad Kader, Sasha Kelley, Baharak Khaleghi, Joanna Kidd, Kathya Landeros, Kacie Lees, Jane Marchant, Mary V. Marsh, Graham McDougal, Jessica Mehta, Paula Menchen, Nasim Moghadam, Katie Murken, Karen Olsen-Dunn, Kari Orvik, Jessica Phrogus, Shantré Pinkney, Carrie Ann Plank, Helia Pouyanfar, Manuel Ruelas, Courtney Sennish, Mary Shisler, Siana Smith, Patrick Sumner, Seiko Tachibana, Josh Winkler, Michelle Wilson, Lena Wolff, Wei Han Yang, and Zimo Zhao.

This holiday season, support the Bay Area creative community by shopping this special pop-up sale featuring local presses, zine publishers, artists, and more! From artist books and zines to posters, T-shirts, and mixtapes, you’re sure to find something unique for everyone on your list — including yourself!

This event takes place on the First Thursday when museum admission is free to Bay Area residents.

2023 Alameda County Arts Leadership Awards

We are excited to announce that Ellen Lake, Kalaʻs Executive Director/Co-Director is the recipient of a 2023 Alameda County Arts Leadership award!

Ellen shares this recognition with Kalaʻs Artistic Director/Co-Director Mayumi Hamanaka who would be receiving this award except that Mayumi does not live in Alameda County and is therefore ineligible. Ellen and Mayumi have worked together for 15+ years and with an incredible board, staff, advisory council, volunteers/interns/students, community of artists, supporters, community partners and more, they have accomplished much at Kala to support artists and engage the community. We look forward to what’s ahead at Kala!

About Kala: Kala is a vital community hub for artistic experimentation. Located in West Berkeley, Kala annually serves 100+ artist-in-residence and offers workshops open to the public in techniques ranging from letterpress to lithography, photography and media arts. Kala’s youth art programs nurture the next generation of creative problem-solvers and reach 2,500 students in Alameda County public schools and through on-site/online youth art programs. In addition to core artist residency and education programs, Kala provides professional development opportunities for artists including commissions for new work, exhibitions, teaching, consulting, and art sales. With access to a wide array of traditional and digital equipment in the print studio and electronic media center, Kala fosters a fresh approach to artistic experimentation, as Kala artists investigate the interface of digital work, work made by hand, and everything in between. To learn more about Kala, please visit our website, http://www.kala.org

About the 2023 Arts Leadership Awards: The 2023 Alameda County Arts Leadership Award recipients are Chris Carter (District One), Alvin Minard (District One), Carol Morgan (District Two), two-person team of Debby Kajiyama and José Ome Mazatl (District Three), Patricia Doyne (District Four), and Ellen Lake (District Five).

The Alameda County Arts Commission is pleased to recognize these seven individuals for their achievements and contributions impacting the arts community and residents of Alameda County.

The seven award recipients will be honored by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors with commendations presented in conjunction with the County’s celebration of October as National Arts and Humanities Month.

The commendations will be presented during the Board of Supervisors’ meeting on Tuesday, October 3, at approximately 11:00am. Members of the public may Members of the public may participate in-person at the Board Chambers located at 1221 Oak Street, 5th Floor, Oakland. Alternatively, members of the public may choose to view the meeting and participate remotely through Zoom. For information, please visit the Alameda County Board of Supervisors’ website at bos.acgov.org.

 

California Humanities Awards $180k to 14 Projects to Support Civics Learning in Middle Grades

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ellen Lake, ellen@kala.org, 510-520-6438, https://calhum.org/california-humanities-awards-180k-to-14-civics-projects/

Kala Art Institute receives a $5,000 planning grant for a new pilot program grant to support civics and humanities education for California’s middle grades youth (grades 6-8 or ages 10-14) in school and out-of-school settings.

April 25, 2023—(Berkeley, CA)— Kala Art Institute is one of three grantees to receive a $5,000 planning grant. Planning grantees are in a research and design phase of up to twelve months. The goal is to bolster community and camaraderie among these educators in the emerging nexus of civics and humanities youth education.

“California Humanities is delighted to announce awards for the 2023 Civics + Humanities Middle Grades Grant program to 14 projects across the state.

Civics + Humanities Middle Grades Grants is a new pilot program that offers $5,000-$15,000 grants to support civics and humanities education for California’s middle grades youth (grades 6-8 or ages 10-14) in school and out-of-school settings. In the critical middle grade years, California Humanities sees a powerful opportunity to cultivate the skills and habits young people need to actively engage in civic life through their school years and into the future. We hope these grants will empower a pipeline of California students to step into their roles as civically engaged community members.

From Watsonville to Berkeley to San Diego, some of the awarded projects weave together topics such as history, music, and art to cultivate unique learning environments for fostering civic engagement. For example, youth organization Outside the Lens will develop a program for youth in grades 6-8 to study Chicano Park, a series of public murals painted by activists and artists on the concrete pylons and walls of the Coronado Bay Bridge in San Diego. Students will learn about site’s significance, and how the practice of civil disobedience there can serve as a model for present-day civic engagement.”

Read the full press release below.

 

California Humanities Awards $180k to 14 Projects to Support Civics Learning in Middle Grades

West Berkeley Community Print Festival Debuts April 15, 2023

Hot off the press: New printmaking festival debuts in West Berkeley this weekend

NEA Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ellen Lake, ellen@kala.org , 510-520-6438, http://www.kala.org/residencies/kalas-media-
arts-artist-residence-exhibition-award/

Kala Art Institute to receive a $20,000 Media Arts/Grants for Arts Project award from the National
Endowment for the Arts

May 18, 2022 (Berkeley, CA)—Kala Art Institute has been approved for a $20,000 Grants for Arts Projects
award from the National Endowment for the Arts to support Kala’s media arts residency program. Kala’s
project is among the more than 1,125 projects across America totaling more than $26.6 million that were
selected during this second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal year 2022 funding.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts and cultural organizations throughout the
nation with these grants, including Kala Art Institute providing opportunities for all of us to live artful
lives,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “The arts contribute to our individual well-being, the
well-being of our communities, and to our local economies. The arts are also crucial to helping us make
sense of our circumstances from different perspectives as we emerge from the pandemic and plan for a
shared new normal informed by our examined experience.”

“We are grateful to the NEA for their support of Kala’s artist residency programs during these challenging
times, ” said Artistic and Co-Director Mayumi Hamanaka. “With this support, we are ready to welcome
media artists to Kala’s artist residency program in the coming year to create and share new work in video,
sound, performance cinema, and installation.”

For more information on other projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit
arts.gov/news.

NEA Press Release – May 12, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Mayumi Hamanaka, mayumi@kala.org, 510-841-7000

Date: May 12, 2021

Kala Art Institute receives a $20,000 Media Arts/Grants for Arts Project award from the National Endowment for the Arts

May 12, 2021 (Berkeley, CA)—Kala Art Institute has been awarded a $20,000 Grants for Arts Projects award to support Kala’s media arts residency program. Kala’s project is among the more than 1,100 projects across America totaling nearly $27 million that were selected during this second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal year 2021 funding.

“As the country and the arts sector begin to imagine returning to a post-pandemic world, the National Endowment for the Arts is proud to announce funding that will help arts organizations such as Kala reengage fully with partners and audiences,” said NEA Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. “Although the arts have sustained many during the pandemic, the chance to gather with one another and share arts experiences is its own necessity and pleasure.”

“We are grateful to the NEA for their support of Kala’s special artist residency initiatives, especially during these challenging times, ” said Executive Director Ellen Lake. “With this support, we are excited to welcome new media artists to Kala’s artist residency program in the coming year to create and share new work in and across video, sound, performance cinema, and installation.”

For a complete listing of media arts projects recommended for support, please visit the NEA web site here.

About Kala: Kala is a vital community hub for artistic experimentation. Located in West Berkeley, Kala annually serves 100+ artist-in-residence and offers a range of workshops open to the public in techniques ranging from screen-print to sculpture. Kala’s youth art programs reach 2,500 students in Alameda County public schools and through on-site youth art programs like Camp Kala, After School Studio, and Teen workshops. In addition to core residency and education programs, Kala provides professional development opportunities for artists including commissions for new work, exhibitions, teaching, consulting, and art sales. With access to a wide array of traditional and digital equipment in the print studio and digital lab, Kala fosters a fresh approach to artistic experimentation, as Kala artists investigate the interface of digital work, work made by hand, and everything in between. To learn more about Kala, please visit our website, http://www.kala.org

Kala Receives $100,000 Grant From The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Mayumi Hamanaka, mayumi@kala.org, 510-841-7000 x201, http://www.kala.org

Date: January 15, 2021

Kala Art Institute Receives $100,000 Grant From The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

Berkeley, CA— The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts announced their Fall 2020 grants, including support of $100, 000 over two years for Kala Art Institute to strengthen Kala’s artist-in-residency program and support special initiatives that build community resilience in the face of the pandemic.

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts awarded grants totaling $3.9 million to 51 organizations from around the country to support visual arts programs, exhibitions, and curatorial research. “The Foundation’s commitment to supporting artists by funding the institutions that incubate, encourage, exhibit and critically engage their work is unwavering. Non-profit arts organizations face profound challenges due to the political, economic, social and cultural upheavals of our current moment. At the same time, and more than ever, artists need the supportive community and creative encouragement that these organizations provide,” states Joel Wachs, President of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, “Our granting program recognizes the equal importance of small, community-oriented spaces, major museums, and everything in between. Together, and with the foundation’s support, they work to collectively amplify the voices and visions of artists, which deepens and diversifies the national cultural discourse.”

“Kala Art Institute is thrilled to receive funding from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts,” writes Kala Executive Director Ellen Lake. ” Support like this is critical to a mid-size non-profit arts organization like Kala so we can sustain our work during the global pandemic and times of political unrest, while meeting the needs of artists struggling with economic hardships. Kala’s residency program works hand in hand with Kala exhibitions and public programs to address community challenges and serve our mission: to help artists sustain their creative work over time through artist residencies, and to engage the community through exhibitions, public programs and education. We are inspired by the Warhol’s Foundation deep commitment to supporting artist-centered organizations.”

Kala’s artist residency program is respected around the world for the support it offers to artists, points of contact with accessible staff, and the caliber of work artists are able to produce and share with the community while in residence. Kala’s artist residencies provide time, space, equipment, and a knowledgeable network of artists to foster dialogue, risk-taking, and creation of new work. Kala exhibitions, free to the public, provide a platform for innovative presentations of contemporary art – sparking conversations across views and timely topics including exploring ways the pandemic has highlighted deep racial and socioeconomic disparities and the role art can play in equitable engagement and in making changes.

About Kala: Kala is a vital community hub for artistic experimentation. Located in West Berkeley, Kala annually serves 100+ artist-in-residence and offers workshops open to the public in techniques ranging from letterpress to lithography, photography and media arts. Kala’s youth art programs nurture the next generation of creative problem-solvers and reach 2,500 students in Alameda County public schools and through on-site/online youth art programs. In addition to core artist residency and education programs, Kala provides professional development opportunities for artists including commissions for new work, exhibitions, teaching, consulting, and art sales. With access to a wide array of traditional and digital equipment in the print studio and electronic media center, Kala fosters a fresh approach to artistic experimentation, as Kala artists investigate the interface of digital work, work made by hand, and everything in between. To learn more about Kala, please visit our website, http://www.kala.org

About The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts: In accordance with Andy Warhol’s will, the mission of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts is the advancement of the visual arts. The foundation manages an innovative and flexible grants program while also preserving Warhol’s legacy through creative and responsible licensing policies and extensive scholarly research for ongoing catalogue raisonné projects. To date, the foundation has given over $218 million in cash grants to over 1,000 arts organizations in 49 states and abroad and has donated 52,786 works of art to 322 institutions worldwide. More information about the Foundation is available at warholfoundation.org.

Kala and Commons Archive receive a $50,000 grant from The San Francisco Foundation

October 15, 2020

Contact: Mayumi Hamanaka, Kala Art Institute, Artistic Director, mayumi@kala.org, (510) 841-7000 x201, http://www.kala.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Berkeley, CA – Kala Art Institute and Commons Archive receive a $50,000 grant from the San Francisco Foundation

We are pleased to announce that Kala Art Institute received a $50,000 grant from The San Francisco Foundation to support Commons Archive, a North Oakland-based grassroots history project developed by cultural researcher Sue Mark.   Initiated with Kala’s Print Public program in 2014, Commons Archive preserves and presents stories of those at risk of displacement, illuminating the rich history of South Berkeley/North Oakland Golden Gate’s neighborhood, its culture, people, and institutions, through a series of public art installations, special events, and collected memories.

About Commons Archive: Commons Archive looks at history as a living process that connects neighbor with neighbor. Through skill-sharing workshops, community gatherings and celebrations, Commons Archive empowers North Oakland neighbors as narrators and creators of their many local histories. By building alliances across North Oakland community groups, this non-traditional archive invites neighbors to critically reflect on cycles of neighborhood development and gentrification.

Commons Archive honors and preserves this culture before it’s too late and while elders and legacy neighbors are still here. Over the years, Commons Archive has created visual installations at the Golden Gate Library, skill-building and history sharing workshops led by community organizations, local historians and activists, and a new permanent collection of very local materials and stories at the Golden Gate Library.

How can community cohesion continue during the pandemic? As the prolonged quarantine morphs into our new mode of daily life, Commons Archive is developing ‘Block by Block’ in collaboration with North Oakland neighborhood groups. This neighborhood networking will form new pathways to share information, resources and camaraderie among neighbors to ease isolation and emotional overwhelm. Commons Archive is committed to supporting community resilience by nurturing opportunities to listen to each others’ stories.

Commons Archive is initiated and developed by cultural researcher marksearch (Sue Mark), an Oakland-based artist with over 20 years’ experience creating interactive opportunities for people to publicly share personal histories for empowerment and preservation.

Commons Archive began in 2014 through Kala’s Print Public initiative, a public art residency program supporting temporary public art installations and innovative acts of culture engaging the community along the San Pablo Avenue corridor where Kala and the Golden Gate Library are located.

“Sue Mark was one of the first Print Public artists animating public space and bringing neighbors together across differences. Now seven years later Commons Archive has taken engagement to a whole new level, shifting the paradigm from a temporary installation or pop-up project to a model for deepening neighborhood ties through extended work over time. Central to Kala’s mission is equitable engagement, supporting artists, and connecting artists and the community in meaningful and authentic ways and Commons Archive does just that.” ~Ellen Lake, Kala’s Executive Director

Visit the Commons Archive website for more on their past programs and follow them on Instagram: @commons_archive

About Kala: Kala is a non-profit arts organization and a vital community hub for artistic experimentation. Located in West Berkeley, Kala annually serves 125+ artist-in-residence and offers exhibitions, art sales, public programs, and education including over 100 workshops open to the public in techniques ranging from letterpress and etching to photoshop and professional practices. Kala’s youth art programs reach 2,500 students in partnership with Alameda County public schools during the school year and through an on-site (currently online) summer art camp and year-round studio offerings.

With access to a wide array of traditional and digital equipment in the print studio and media center, Kala fosters a fresh approach to artistic experimentation, as Kala artists investigate the interface of digital work, work made by hand, and everything in between. Now in its 46th year, Kala has grown from its early days in a tiny garage studio with one etching press and a single hot plate to its current 15,200 square foot art making facility with studios and a gallery in the historic Heinz Building. Its mission remains the same: to be a thriving, creative hub for artists and to provide engaging, artistic public programming now and into the future. Learn more at kala.org

Kala Gallery Address, 2990 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94702

Change is Afoot at Kala – Announcing the appointment of new Co-Directors

Archana Horsting, Executive Director and Yuzo Nakano. Artistic Director, Emeritus, founded Kala Art Institute 46 years ago. Due to their hard work, vision, inspiration, and dedication and an exceptional staff Kala has grown from a garage studio with one etching press to the thriving international artist residency and community art-making hub in the historic Heinz building in Berkeley, CA where we are today. Kala is adapting during this time of Covid to support artists in new ways, partner with local schools and connect with youth, and continue to cultivate creativity.

At this time the board is pleased and excited to announce that the planned and working transition of leadership that has been taking place in the last two years formally takes place on October 1st. Ellen Lake is now Kala’s Executive Director and Mayumi Hamanaka, Kala’s Artistic Director, and Archana Horsting is Kala’s Founding Director. There will be programs later in the coming year celebrating this transition and Kala Founders: Archana Horsting and Yuzo Nakano.

Mayumi and Ellen have been at Kala for a combined total of 25 years and are passionate about the arts, civic engagement, growing and sustaining a thriving and equitable artist-centered Kala.

Mayumi, originally from Japan, is a visual artist, curator and educator with an MFA from California College of the Arts and BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. At Kala since 2007, she has been the Gallery Director since 2013 – working with artists on themes of belonging and questions of identity and personal politics, stories of immigration and more. She’s excited to deepen our work on diversity, equity, inclusion, and access, and build new community partnerships with our neighbors in Berkeley, Oakland and Emeryville.

Ellen, an East Coast transplant and dedicated artist and arts administrator has called Kala home since 2008. With an MFA from Mills College and BA from Amherst College, her artwork experiments with technology, explores archives and collections, and ranges from public art to site-specific installation. As an administrator and leader (she’s been co-directing Kala since 2018) she has extensive nonprofit experience specializing in grant writing, development, strategic development, financial planning, and building creative teams.

Starting October 1, Archana is planning to spend more time in her studio while working at Kala two days a week to mentor staff, be a resource for artists, and help with this transition. We’re looking forward to celebrating Archana’s leadership at Kala and her artwork with an exhibition at the Kala gallery in 2021. We will also be celebrating Yuzo Nakano with an exhibition of his work to follow.