People’s Grocery Garden and California Hotel murals created by students of Eduardo Pineda's ENGAGE:Mural Arts class, Fall 2012

In fall of 2012 Eduardo Pineda's ENGAGE: Mural Arts class created murals for the People’s Grocery Garden and the California Hotel. The class worked with the People’s Grocery, a social justice and food advocacy organization that established an urban farm in the food desert of West Oakland. The mural project was for the California Hotel, on San Pablo Ave in Oakland near Emeryville, owned by the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, and where The People’s Grocery operated a community garden on the Chestnut Street side of the building. The historic hotel was under reconstruction. Students also helped to tend the farm and provided administrative support in order to better understand the role of the organization in the expansion of the urban food system. Remarkably students discovered a zoning ordinance that saved the newly planted West Oakland farm from imminent closure by the City. The class created seven mural panels – five for the San Pablo Avenue side of the Hotel, that were temporarily mounted on plywood covered storefronts windows, and two for The People’s Grocery Garden at the back of the building. The murals celebrate urban farming, reclaiming nature, community connection, and the musical roots of the California Hotel. The spiritual connection with nature, the resilience of plants, and the relationship with food animals, were also expressed. The project was supported by graduate teaching assistant Regina Acebo