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[Ritual] Union
A Goodwill-turned-music venue, open studios, artists from the Queer Ancestors Project, and a Filipino-inspired pop-up
Goodwill is the true Fountain of Youth. Pots, records, and everything in between find a second life, and those of us sheepishly dropping off unused popcorn makers and lightly-worn aspirational jeans are (momentarily) pardoned for our wasteful sins. How meta to watch an Oakland Goodwill find a second life as a music venue.
Dance the night away at a former Goodwill, attend the free screening of a historic queer film, and dabble in coffee and vinyl at an Uncommon location.
Grand Opening: A New Ritual
Category: Music
Date: Friday, March 7th @ 9pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Ceremony (East Bay)
Price Range: Free+
Why I Care: Oakland is home to music venues both large (Fox Theater) and intimate (The New Parish). Ceremony plans to Goldilocks between the two. The idea for Ceremony took shape when the makers of Oakland-club Crybaby took over the lease of a former Goodwill store in 2019. Six years later, the opening party celebrates all the work that has gone into creating a new performance space, with DJ Andre Power among others dropping the beat until closing time. When Ceremony isn’t serving as the center of the party, the space is headquarters for a nonprofit organization that supports underrepresented communities that need financial and professional assistance entering the nightlife industry.
And if 9pm is past your bedtime, be on the lookout for their daytime food pop-ups.
Root Division: Open Studios
Category: Art
Date: Saturday, March 8th @ 4pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Root Division (SF)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: An SF Has [No] Culture ‘open studio’ would be a sad affair of observing me save Instagram posts, go down Google rabbit holes in bed, and edit newsletter drafts that initially make sense only in my head. Root Division’s open studios, on the other hand, will be a fun and cheeky peek behind the artistic curtain. Root Division has been around for over two decades supporting emerging Bay Area artists through their annual auction, studio spaces, and educational programming. Artists include Jasper Wilde, Elaine Nguyen, Edy Cahueque, along with several other artists willing to share one of their most intimate spaces with the public.
Looking to see artists in action? Check out Superfine Art Fair’s ArtBattle this Friday.
Film Screening: Tongues Untied
Category: Film
Date: Thursday, March 6th @ 6pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: SFAC Main Gallery (SF)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: “Because my film, Tongues Untied, affirms the lives and dignity of [Black] gay men, conservatives have found it a convenient target,” director Marlon Riggs, NYT op-ed, 1992. Tongue Untied tackled the uncomfortable realities of homophobia in the Black community, racism within gay culture, and the resulting limbo of queer black men. The work became a culture-war lightning rod after its censored premiere on PBS, its weaponization during the 1992 Republican Party presidential primaries, and its receipt of a taxpayer-funded NEA award. Riggs passed away only a few years later from AIDS complications at the age of 37. But his legacy lives on at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Riggs' alma mater, where documentary students can receive a fellowship in his name.
Looking to find your own space and time to process? Watch on Kanopy for free as a public library cardholder.
Vinyl Sale + Coffee Pop-Up
Category: Music + Culinary
Date: Saturday, March 8th @ 10am (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Uncommon (SF)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: Uncommon started as an online vintage seller and has evolved into a community fixture with a brick & mortar location, evening art markets, and even a lovers market, flowers, vintage, and all. This pop-up will provide all of the Uncommon classics of vintage clothing, art, and furniture, but alongside a bit of liquid enthusiasm and PVC, commonly known as vinyl. This will be Foozool Coffee’s first coffee pop-up, so be sure to give them a high five with your caffeinated purchase.
In the meantime, continue building that vinyl collection and if the mood strikes, maybe throw a thrifted couch in the mix.
Opening Reception: Nature Wins
Category: Art
Date: Friday, March 7th @ 5pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Rock Paper Scissors Collective (East Bay)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: As we all learned in the paleontological classic Jurassic Park: “Nature finds a way.” Nonprofit artist collective Rock Paper Scissors seems to agree with their upcoming exhibition Nature Wins. Details on the exhibition are limited, but I can only assume from the poster that animal beats man. Curators Ember Avalos and Pamela Ybanez are featuring local Bay Area artists, in line with the collective’s mission and will open the exhibition as part of Downtown Oakland's March First Friday.
Get your reception pre-game on at Berggruen Gallery with their double opening on Thursday, March 6th.
Artist Panel: Queer Ancestors Project
Category: Art
Date: Saturday, March 8th @ 7pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Strut (SF)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: Queer history deserves documenting. The Queer Ancestors Project builds community through writing and printmaking to document Queer stories with limited historical visibility. Artists from their 2024-2025 cohort will chat with project director Katie Gilmartin at Strut, the home of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which has served the Bay Area community since 1982 with the mission of ending HIV/AIDS in San Francisco.
Come for the chat, stay for the art, and bring home a souvenir from the button workshop for all to enjoy.
iMasala Collective: March Pop-Up
Category: Culinary
Date: Sunday, March 9th @ 12pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: iMasala Collective (East Bay)
Price Range: Free to enter
Why I Care: It’s been a long week of events, so you deserve a Filipino-inspired treat. iMasala Collective is a carousel of vintage pop-ups, Children’s Day fairs, and workshops, each with their own community touch signature to the Berkeley space. This March pop-up will feature food vendor Likha, whose name means “to create” in Tagalog, and whose founding chefs cut their teeth in Michelin-starred restaurants like Napa’s La Toque and Eleven Madison Park follow-up NoMad.
Their Instagram page features empanadas de kaliskis, ensaymada, and ube halaya buns galore, so tread lightly if scrolling on an empty stomach.
Next Drop: Thursday, March 13th
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