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Street Level Got Space? What began in 1986 as a collaboration between California Lawyers for the Arts (C.L.A.) and the San Francisco Arts Commission,dedicated to arming artists with information and resources, has made its way down the state and back again. ArtHouse, an organization which provides education, legal advice, lawyer referral, and dispute resolution services, has announced the addition of an Oakland branch. Together C.L.A., the City of Oakland, and the Craft and Cultural Arts Department have created ArtHouse-Oakland to specifically address space issues facing artists in the city. The services offered include: a database of existing and potential art spaces in Oakland; assistance to artists and arts organizations seeking space; and workshops and seminars for Oakland artists and arts organizations. ArtHouse-Oakland is located at C.L.A.'s downtown office at 1212 Broadway, Suite 834. For more information about services contact Abby Wine by phone at 444.6358 or by email at [email protected]. -Leigh Saffold Brawny Babes In Gaelic mythology, a Banshee is a wailing female spirit with a shriek of death. It's a perfect name for Oakland's new professional, all-women's, full-contact football team. The newest member of the Women's American Football League's South Pacific Division, the Banshees played their first game against the Seattle Warbirds last Saturday at Burrel Field in San Leandro and lost 41 to 0 (apparently that howling death was their own). But the team can still turn it around. First, they have the innovation: owner and player Kisha Frady says women's football is "an idea whose time has come." Second, they have experience: each one of the forty players has a pro-sport background. Some are petite fireballs, measuring in at 5'1", 105 pounds. Others are flesh walls, measuring in at 5'7", 325 pounds. But the whole movement has community and mayoral support. Last Wednesday, Mayor Jerry Brown and Council President Ignacio De La Fuente formally recognized the Banshees and welcomed them to Oakland. Still settling in, the team is currently recruiting local coaching talent. Visit their website for more information: www.thewafl.com/teams/banshees/. -Erica Pedersen Pony Up Dressed in dog and pony costumes, hundreds of Oaklanders and other East Bay families gathered last weekend to present a "State of Welfare in the Bay Area" report to a panel of local elected officials and prompt open dialogue about the future of welfare in the face of a recession. The "dog and pony show" was the second of several planned gatherings protesting the exclusion of welfare recipients from the debate on the reauthorization of federal welfare laws. Parents on welfare say they want to make elected officials privy to their experiences of discrimination, forced foster care, dead-end paths, time limits, and domestic violence when making decisions for reauthorization in 2002. "In California and across the nation, poverty has not declined during welfare reform even though the number of people on welfare has decreased," says Cameron Yee of PUEBLO (People United for a Better Oakland). "Clearly, families who leave the welfare rolls remain in poverty." GROWL (Grassroots Organizing for Welfare Leadership), an Oakland-based national network of more than 50 organizations concerned with the future of welfare in the U.S., sponsored the event. -Leigh Saffold Celeb Siting The Bird Kage has served as a refuge for big names after Oakland performances -- Pharoah Sanders cooled down after his last high profile Yoshi's show with a free improv jam session. This weekend Jamie Foxx, engulfed in a swarming entourage of well-dressed men, dropped into the Bird Kage after his stand-up show at the Paramount Theater. People gawked and Foxx promptly exited. -Leigh Saffold If you have news to report, please email us at [email protected] or fax to 510.645.1331. [ East Bay | Metroactive | Archives ]