"Omi" means Water.
It is Essential. Natural. Necessary.
Omi Arts is an award-winning digital platform and pop-up project space for producing material/media and ongoing interactive programming for artisans, theorists, creative entrepreneurs, and students to feature diverse voices and genres that are artistically and socially relevant. Launched in 2013 as a social practice art gallery (formally known as Omi Gallery at Impact Hub Oakland), and curated by Ashara Ekundayo in Oakland, CA, Omi Arts creative arts practice pedagogy intentionally nourishes partnerships between creatives, businesses, educational institutions and the public.
Some past and current projects include, The Sweetwater Sessions Black Writers Salon; Breaking the Silence Town Hall on Girls & Women of Color; “Grits & Greens” FAT Breakfast Salon; “Art & Race” Conference; the GAZE: LGBTQI Art Series, HushhhArt Black Collectors Salon; our Omi Arts Summer Studios at Ashara Ekundayo Gallery, and the Artist-In-Residence Program.
Omi Arts Project Space is supported by the City of Oakland - Dept. of Human Services ReCAST Grant, and is fiscally sponsored by the Girls & Womxn of Color Collaborative at the Marcus Foster Educational Institute.
Selected Exhibitions
Survival Pending Revolution: Black Panther Party 50 | Oct. 7, 2016 - Jan. 7, 2017
Caldera: Works by Joshua Mays | Jan. - Feb. 27, 2016
Who Taught You How To Love Yourself? Black Womyn! | July 3 - Aug. 29, 2015
UBUNTU: Can Art Save A Community? | Aug. 1 - 29, 2014
Expansion Contraction: New Work by Favianna Rodriguez | Summer 2014
Selected Events & Programs
#TodayAtAppleSF | Feb. 5 - 28, 2019
Nasty Women Oakland | April 7 - 30, 2017
Art + Race Conference: A Convergence of Provocation, Strategy & Beauty | June 3 - 4, 2017
The Sweetwater Sessions: Black Authors Reading Series | May 3, 2016 - June 9, 2017
Omi Gallery Pop-Up at Thought Works San Francisco | 2016
Breaking the Silence Town Hall on Girls & Women of Color Oakland | Feb. 27, 2016 & Sept. 23, 2017
Grits & Greens: Talks on Food, Art & Technology | 2012 - 2016
