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Kala Art Institute

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Kala Art Institute

http://kala.org - Residencies, Exhibitions, and Education programs in Berkeley.
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Kala Art Institute helps artists sustain their creative efforts over time through its Artist-in-Residence and Fellowship Programs, and to increase appreciation of this work through gallery exhibitions, public programming and educational efforts. Kala also offers artworks for sale through the Kala Art Sales & Consulting Program, viewable during gallery hours and by appointment.

08/30/2026

Full moon. Summer is winding down. August artists-in-residence have headed home and we’ll welcome new artists-in-residence this Tuesday, Sept 1.

School is back in action. Kala’s Artists-in-Schools program starts Monday at Berkeley Arts Magnet.

Fellowship artists are installing new work in the gallery soon and you are all invited to the opening on September 19th.

All of these familiar rhythms mean we’re approaching the end of the fiscal year.

We take a look back at all we have accomplished this year and take note of what we still need to do to support Kala’s mission and work. That includes raising vital funds!

Kala’s goal is to raise $100,000 by the end of the fiscal year - September 30th for Kala’s artist residencies, arts education, exhibitions and public programs.

We have $71,000 to go. We have our work cut out for us so thank you for giving what you can to support Kala in our 52nd year!

We are finishing year two without NEA funding and are so grateful for so many of you for stepping up and supporting Kala!

🔗 Link in bio to donate.

Thank you for supporting the cause!

💕

📷 credit: Lizzy Montana Myers - SF Art Book Fair/ Susan O’Malley screenprinting workshop (images 1-2), Leyla Jamil Rzayeva (image 3), Minoosh Zomorodinia - Art Kala 2026 honored artists Ron Saunders and Libby Black (images 6-7), Otto Harris (image 13), Leona Christie - Aug AIRs andri 🐛 la tattoo and Savannah Burger peeking out from the documentation room (images 18-19), other images by Ellen Lake

08/23/2026

It’s a wrap! Thanks for joining us at Kala yesterday for the gallery talk, closing receptions for two fabulous shows, and open studios!

It’s the end of a beautiful summer run for We’re a Mystery Which Will Never Again, curated by Mayumi Hamanaka and Amrita Singhal: Hello, Moon, curated by Sonya Castillo.

Mayumi Hamanaka
Amrita Singhal
sonya castillo

Thanks for coming to the gallery talk and big thanks to artists Lucy Puls, Jane Hambleton, and Meghan Shimek for sharing more about your process, art practice and work in the show (images 1-3).

Lucy Puls
Jane Hambleton
meghan shimek

Special thanks to funders Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation and The Andy Warhol Foundation for helping to make Kala’s exhibitions and public programs possible (+ free and accessible to the public)!

After the gallery talk Leona Christie, Cullen Houser, Andri Santos-How, and Savannah Burger opened their project space studios for all of us to learn more about the work created during their August residencies.

We loved the deep dive into copper etching and learning about the process for each of you from start to finish.

andri 🐛 la tattoo (images 5-6)
cullen houser (images 7-9)
Savannah Burger (images 10-12)
Leona Christie (images 13-14)

Kala’s artist-in-residence (AIR) program welcomes international, national, and local artists to Kala to develop ideas and create new work across media. AIRs have 24/7 access to Kala’s printmaking workshop, digital lab, darkroom, sculpture lab, and for visiting artists project spaces by the gallery. We end each residency with open studios and new tradition that we’re loving.

Next up is the fellowship residency show! Details coming soon.

📷 Ellen Lake

08/20/2026

Kala is honored to announce the 2026-2027 Veterans Residency Artists: Gina Herrera (Bakersfield, CA), Jos Sances (Berkeley, CA), Stephanie Concepcion Ramirez (League City, TX). ✨

Slide 2: Gina Herrera Gina Herrera
Slide 3: Jos Sances - josart.net
Slide 4: Stephanie Concepcion Ramirez - stephaniecramirez.com

Kala’s Veterans Initiative in the Arts provides artist residencies and stipends to local, regional, and national veteran artists producing innovative work across media including printmaking, film & video, sculpture, textiles, ceramics, installation, photography, and book arts.

Kala’s Veterans Initiative in the Arts is funded in part by UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Community Partnership Fund. Special thanks to our project partner Cal Veteran Services Center.

07/26/2026

There is nothing better than artists making and sharing art!

Here are some July highlights.

Thanks Kristiana Chan 莊礼恩 (incoming Kala fellow) for walking us through your show, Countermyths: Fifty-Sixth Annual UC Berkeley MFA Exhibition Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive - so good!

Then made it to Sonoma to visit Linda Simmel at work in her studio. Linda Simmel has been an artist-in-residence at Kala since 2007 and can often be found in the printshop and digital lab working on a book project about landscape, memory, and history.

Loved seeing how the book has progressed, seeing the incredible source materials of Linda’s dad’s ledgers and letters, along with the scale of the paintings and drawings that she’s working on in her studio. Mind blown.

Thursday was open studio at Kala highlighting the work created during July artist residencies at Kala.

Thanks Ellen Shattuck Pierce, Cathleen Ficht, Ria Rajan, Julie Allen, and Sofia Valiente for sharing work ranging from installation, lithography, etching, screenprinting, cyanotype, photography, storytelling, installation, and more - super fun!

Ellen Shattuck Pierce
Cathleen Ficht
Ria Rajan
Sofia Valiente

Yesterday Erina Davidson and Emily Harter were pulling prints all afternoon at the SF Art Book Fair of Susan O’Malley’s original designs: ART BEFORE DISHES (2015) or BE YOU (2015) from her Advice from My 80-Year-Old Self series.

Thanks again to the Minnesota Street Project Foundation, the Estate of Susan O’Malley, Romer Young Gallery, Christina Amini and Lisa Ellsworth for the opportunity, erina ; - / 絵理奈 + Emily Harter for your screenprinting expertise AND to all who stopped by.

📷 Ellen Lake (inages 1-13); Rebecca Bird Grigsby (14-15)

07/18/2026

Join us in celebrating Susan O’Malley’s ART BEFORE DISHES mural installation and the Chronicle Books release of IT WILL BE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE: THE ART OF SUSAN O’MALLEY at the 2026 San Francisco Art Book Fair, presented by Minnesota Street Project Foundation

Kala will be there pulling prints for a special screen printing workshop, Saturday, July 25, 12-3pm, 1201 Minnesota Street, SF.

Mark your calendars!

More info below or head to link in bio.

Join erina ; - / 絵理奈 and Emily Harter to discover the screen-printing work of Bay Area artist Susan O’Malley (1976–2015) at this hands-on workshop presented by Minnesota Street Project Foundation and Kala Art Institute.

Participants will create a 5 × 7 screen-printed postcard using one of O’Malley’s original designs—ART BEFORE DISHES (2015) or BE YOU (2015)—from her Advice from My 80-Year-Old Self series.

Presented in conjunction with SFABF26 and the debut mural installation of O’Malley’s ART BEFORE DISHES (2015), this workshop is made possible through a partnership with the Estate of Susan O’Malley and Romer Young Gallery.

SAN FRANCISCO ART BOOK FAIR
mspfoundation
Susan O'Malley
Romer Young Gallery
New Bohemia Signs, SF (New Bohemia Signs)
Kala Art Institute
Chronicle Books

You can see the full list of SFABF26 exhibitors and related programs on the SFABF website, and programming/project highlights on the Minnesota Street Project Foundation website.

Special thanks to Christina Amini and Lisa Ellsworth for bringing Kala into this project.

Additional image of Amanda Curreri installing BE YOU from Susan O’Malley’s Print Public project along San Pablo Avenue, part of the inaugural public art residency program at Kala, 2013-2015.

07/11/2026

We are very excited that Kala has been awarded a multi-year programming grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts!!!

Distributed over the next two years, these funds will support Kala’s innovative artist residencies (deadline July 15) & fellowships, exhibitions & public programs - offering support and visibility to artists working in printmaking, photography + image-based media, sculpture, installation, public art, and other interdisciplinary practices.

This grant supports exhibitions including We’re a Mystery Which Will Never Happen Again and upcoming shows through June 2028.

This support also makes it possible to bring back Kala’s Media Arts Fellowship program (look for application in early 2027) and continue with Kala’s Curatorial Fellowship pilot program.

We’re in good company this year and big congrats to our neighbors Headlands Center for the Arts and The Lab and to Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive curator Margot Norton - so many great orgs, people, programs close by!

This cycle The Andy Warhol Foundation are awarding a total of $5,166,000 to 78 organizations advancing the visual arts across the United States.

The Spring 2026 recipients reflect the Foundation’s ongoing commitment to fostering experimentation, scholarship, and public engagement in the visual arts.

Kala is grateful for this award and opportunity!!

“The work of visual artists is essential to how we understand ourselves, challenge one another, and imagine what is possible,” says Joel Wachs, President of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, “The Foundation is committed to supporting artists and the organizations that sustain them as they carry out some of the country’s most important cultural work, often under extraordinarily difficult conditions.”

Images by Cole Chang from We’re a Mystery Which Will Never Happen Again curated by Mayumi Hamanaka and featuring work by meghan shimek Jane Hambleton David Huffman Woody De Othello Paulson Fontaine Press Lucy Puls and Maryam Yousif

Additional images from from Media Arts / Fellowship installations Kala Gallery - Pegah Pasalar Jamal Ademola 🇳🇬🇺🇸 Lani Asunción Trina Michelle Robinson Pianist-Composer Motoko Honda Lydia Greer

07/02/2026

We have TWO watercolor classes with the amazing Jennifer Nicole Mazzucco starting later this month - Intro to Watercolor for beginners, and Watercolor Explorations: Flora, Fauna & Beyond for those looking to build on their watercolor skills. Dive into the world of water-based media!

🎨Intro to Watercolor Painting💧
Mondays, 7/20 - 8/31 (6:30-8:30; 6 sessions)
General Tuition: $365

Participants will learn fundamental concepts such as brush strokes, color theory, composition and watercolor techniques through guided painting prompts. There will also be room for experimentation as participants are encouraged to embrace spontaneity and the playful dance between water and color. No experience required, all are welcome!

🪷Watercolor Explorations: Flora, Fauna & Beyond🐚
Wednesdays, 7/22 - 9/16 (6:30-8:30; 8 sessions)
General Tuition: $460

This class is designed for students who want to strengthen their technical skills while exploring a wide range of fauna subjects in a relaxed and supportive environment. Students will practice traditional techniques including wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, dry brush, lifting, glazing, and blending. We’ll also experiment with mark-making and detail work to help create expressive and dynamic paintings.

You can sign up for these and all of our workshops through our website - Education tab —> Adult Art Classes. Limited tuition assistance and reduced tuition spots are available. Questions? Reach out to [email protected]!

06/28/2026

Lots to celebrate this month!

PRIDE 🏳️‍🌈- today, tomorrow, and everyday.

CAMP KALA creativity and energy - love this drawing by a camper of work in the gallery (Meghan Shimek sculpture in We’re a Mystery Which Will Never Happen Again, curated by Mayumi Hamanaka - on view through Aug 22)

OPEN STUDIOS - thanks to June artists-in-residence Brandan Henry Brandan Henry - David Richards, Laurie Darby Laurie Darby and Iris Moyan Wang Iris Moyan Wang 王默言 for inviting us in to your project spaces and thanks to Tina Villadolid Tina Villadolid for sharing the work you were experimenting like debossing, blind embossing, and transfer techniques.

ART NEARBY- lots of inspiring exhibitions in Oakland right now!

+ Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory at the Oakland Museum. Mildred Howard OMCA

+ Debra Greene, Accumulation at The Fourth Wall
debragreeneart The Fourth Wall

+ Jenny Hacker at Transmission Gallery
Jenny Hacker Transmission Gallery Oakland

+ Emily Shepard at Mercury 20
Emily Shepard Mercury 20 Gallery

+ Meghan Shimek, Blending at Orchard Gallery
meghan shimek The Orchard / Galleries on 25

WE LOVE ART + ARTISTS - keep up the good work!

📷 by Cole Chang (image 2), Jane Hambleton (image 3), Ellen Lake (images 1,4,5,7-18), Eiko Nishida (image 6)

06/07/2026

Such excellent exhibitions at BAMPFA!

What an honor to be part of the celebration and opening of the Maren Hassinger retrospective Living Moving Growing, June 6-Nov 29, 2026. Mind blown!

Big congrats to Maren Hassinger, Julie Rodrigues Widholm, curators Margot Norton, Anthony Graham, Omar Jason Farah, and everyone at BAMPFA who worked on this inspiring show.

Living Moving Growing includes half a century of work by Maren Hassinger across a range of media from large-scale sculpture, site-specific installation to video and participatory and performance pieces too.

Yesterday there were tributes to the artist and we participated in twisting and knotting newspapers for a new, large-scale installation, Wrenching News. These workshops will continue, faciliated by Julia Goodman.

Next up and down the street the other direction from Kala - we are looking forward to the opening of Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory - June 12-Oct 18, 2026.

Spanning Howard’s five-decade practice, Poetics of Memory brings together her renowned collages, found-object sculptures, and immersive installations that explore memory, identity, and the African American experience.

is a long-time neighbor, friend of Kala, and Print Public alumni - Kala’s public art residency.

We LOVE that we are celebrating the art of Maren Hassinger and we are celebrating the art of Mildred Howard! Icons. 💕

06/05/2026

JULY 1st AIR Application Deadline!⏳Free to apply through June 15th; after June 15th through July 1st there is a $15 application fee.

Apply for the Artist Residency (AIR) Program; Veterans Artist Residency; Jen Cole Artist-in-Residence Award (local printmaker); and CCA Hamaguchi Emerging Artist Residency at Kala (9 month residency).

Find out more about the residency and the application process here, and visit Kala’s SlideRoom link in bio.

Slides 1-2 - Paper mounting tutorial with Max Valentine .valentine (and AIR’s Regina Stadnik , Alexandra Cicorschi , Helen Morgan, Jayne Foster ).

Slide 3 - residency staff: Cole, Emily, and Leyla; AIR Veterans Residency recipient Mark Micchio .

A full application includes: completed application questions in SlideRoom, Artist resumé or CV, work samples up to 5 images, and/or 5 minutes total of video.

Address

Emeryville, CA

Opening Hours

Tuesday	12pm - 5pm
Wednesday	12pm - 5pm
Thursday	12pm - 5pm
Friday	12pm - 5pm
Saturday	12pm - 4:30pm

Telephone

+15108417000

Website

http://kala.org/

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