Berkeley for the Starving Artist
Berkeley’s best arts and culture travel spots for the curious artist with a limited budget.
A friend of mine calls Berkeley the “Portland of California,” and it’s easy to agree. Maybe it’s because it most likely holds more vegans per square mile or could make you rich if you had a dollar every time you encountered the word “organic.” But to its people, Berkeley is about two things: culture and community. And perhaps the places that best mirror those values are their art establishments. For anyone who wants a simple trip to appreciate some impressive masterpieces, Berkeley delivers some great alternatives to complicated, costly trips to famous museums in famous cities. Instead, Berkeley is a city which enforces that art really is for all. Just a short drive away are some great choices for arts and culture that make for a great trip and great bargain.
Shotgun Players Theater
Located at the Ashby Stage on Ashby Avenue, a bright, red, concrete corner on a busy street with an old fashioned marquee hanging above the entrance, Shotgun Players is a local landmark of performing arts with prices that are agreeable to the masses. Previews for shows are pay-what-you-can, whether it be as low as a dollar, or as high as a hundred and for anyone 25 years old or younger, any show is an easy $7. At Shotgun Players, they believe affordability is key to making a difference, which is something they value greatly. “We’ve realized that if you’re thinking about theater as a lens through which to experience society and kind of understand things differently, the only way that that’s going to work is if the mix of people that are inside watching that play together are a really diverse mix of people,” explains Liz Lisle, the theater’s managing director. And their key to get that diversity is having a diverse mix of ticket prices.
Another eye-catching aspect of this establishment isn’t just their prices, but their rather unique promotional methods. With each new show, a new mural is designed on the corner for all to see and enjoy. Lisle likes to call it a “cultural offering” or a “front facing invitation” to the community. And to those that frequent the intersection at Ashby and Martin Luther King Jr., that’s exactly what it is. “Even if people have no idea what we do in this building, they’ll be like, ‘Oh yeah! Shotgun Players! You’re the ones that always repaint the mural. I bring my kid by there when you’re doing a new one,’ ” Lisle says.
Today, a painting of the silhouette of three girls climbing a hill against a lush green background promotes their current show “Iron Shoes.”
Whether it’s for a great performance or for a cool snapshot with their newest mural, a trip to Shotgun Players is a good way to make some memories at an agreeable price.
1901 Ashby Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94703
(510) 841–6500
www.shotgunplayers.org
BAMPFA — Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
If you prefer visual arts, or identify as a film enthusiast, BAMPFA delivers on both aspects. Located in the heart of the city right across the street from UC Berkeley, the museum is a great place for a more modern, chic art experience with it’s high ceilings and monochrome aesthetic.There’s always something happening at BAMPFA, with over 20 art exhibitions and over 400 film screenings presented each year and from the full spectrum of history. “If you come into the museum now, there’s everything from Tibetan art from the 17th century, to Renaissance old master paintings, to really contemporary film and video in the galleries as well as in the film theaters,” saysBAMPFA Director Lawrence Rinder. “With one stop, you can get a really broad range of not only time periods and cultures but also approaches.”
“When you come into the museum, I want people to feel like they’re in a community,” Rinder says. “They’re with people who are different from themselves.”
Despite the variety in art from all eras and all over the world, BAMPFA still stays very true to its roots. “We’re a global museum from a Berkeley perspective,” explains Rinder. “We collect and show art from all over the world but we try to bring a kind of Berkeley attitude to it.” On display now is the exhibit “Way Bay” featuring and celebrating works from Bay Area artists. But what made the exhibit specifically unique was that the museum took a chance — “like we do in Berkeley all the time,” Rinder made sure to add — , and included artists no one had ever heard to showcase the museum’s values of connecting directly with people. “I don’t want folks to feel like to come into the museum they need to have an art history degree,” Rinder adds. “[The exhibit] is organized to show in a way that art can be relevant to anyone.”
BAMPFA keeps up the pattern of affordable art with gallery tickets at $11 for students and film tickets at $9. Even better? Every first Thursday of the month is free! And in true Berkeley fashion, the accessibility of those prices encourages community. “When you come into the museum, I want people to feel like they’re in a community,” Rinder says. “They’re with people who are different from themselves.”
2155 Center St, Berkeley, CA 94720
(510) 642–0808
www.bampfa.org
Berkeley Art Center
Shining away from Shotgun Player’s bright, red walls or BAMPFA’s fancy architecture, the Berkeley Art Center is instead a small wooden cottage of a building nested in a dense set of trees. Fairy lights hang above the entrance and the sound of a creek that runs underneath echoes through the air to capture a serene, blissful atmosphere. It’s a great place to get to know more about the city and the Bay Area as a whole: The center only features the work of Bay Area artists, allowing for a more local and insightful perspective.
The center has plenty of exhibits planned for the year such as the “Wonder Women: Local Treasures” exhibit in the summer, highlighting female Bay Area artists, or their “Or Dreams and Reality” fall exhibit showcasing Bay Area photography.
What makes this place truly special however is that admission is completely free. Community value is a priority for the Berkeley Art Center and the way to preserve it is to make sure that the doors are always open for everyone. “There is this sort of unfortunate misunderstanding of art as being for the elite,” says Ann Trinca, the center’s gallery director. “In a community art center, it really brings it to the level that everyone can access. So, it’s really important that we stay free and that we welcome people of all backgrounds, ethnicities, and levels of art experience.”
The center is able to value their community, and share that community with others, through educational programs for kids, workshops, and having recently started to include music performances and poetry readings as part of their events.
1275 Walnut St, Berkeley, CA 94709
(510) 644–6893
www.berkeleyartcenter.org
For any art lover that may feel like art is out of reach, all you really need is a car with a full tank of gas, a $20 in your pocket, and the curiosity to learn and see something new.
