Is Oakland Really Still an Artist’s City?

I arrived in the East Bay from the Midwest years ago to study at California College of Arts and Crafts, as CCA was formerly called before upgrading its image by dropping the folksy “crafts” from its name in 2003. An immersion in community and daily practice nurtured my creative soul, but little guidance was given for survival once I left the hallowed bubble. For years I have struggled to work out of one makeshift space after another, yearning for something more substantial. Finding affordable rent for an art studio has always been a challenge in the Bay Area—and that doesn’t seem to be budging an inch.

For current students at the school, conversations have become more candid, said K. C. Rosenberg, associate professor at CCA. “What do I tell my students about their future lives negotiating space and creative time when they tell me they are renting couches for $700 a month?” asked Rosenberg. “They already know about the struggle here, so we talk about not letting your material things hold you hostage to a space.”

Though artists love this town and all it has to offer its diverse denizens, Oakland won’t show up on any Googled lists of “best cities to be an artist in” anytime soon, especially for those who are young and fresh out of art school. Instead you might want to try Fort Collins, Colorado, or Madison, Wisconsin—or even Vilnius, Lithuania, or Leipzig, Germany.

The reality is that over the past couple of decades, San Francisco’s art scene has been dramatically reduced due to rising costs, with many artists migrating to Oakland, building on the already vibrant creative scene here. Now, though, the East Bay’s woes are nearly as dramatic as the city’s. So the question is, Will artists continue to flee elsewhere, or will the Town make them a priority?

Owners of large warehouse spaces look to pad their wallets by luring wealthier tenants, like those in the marijuana-growing business or the tech industry, to fill their large spaces, forcing artists out.