The Healing Garden

The Healing Garden is a living testament to how the vision of a few strong community leaders can mobilize the goodwill of many to produce something truly inspirational. A collaboration between West End Arts District and the West Alameda Business Association, the vision started with the exhibition of BLM artwork on the plywood boards donated by local businesses after the protests, expanded to the design and creation of a beautiful garden space, and would soon host an Alfresco Dining Park.

The Art Wall

The art wall at the center of the Healing Garden is a symbol of the diversity and creativity of our community. In May 2023, WEAD announced the second round of artist commissions for the wall. Artists were invited to submit proposals based on the theme “difference is the essence of humanity” (John Hume).

WABA and WEAD would like to thank the selection panel for hours of hard work deliberating between the many competitive applications: Jennifer Crane-Doyle, Marie Ortega, Ryan Lalonde and Yolanda Cotton Turner. And, a huge thank you to Rick Driemeyer, owner of Both Sides of the Door, for donating the mural boards and leading the team to rebuild the mural wall.

We are hugely grateful to the following artists for their contributions.

Dadadoodles

Sun in Motion
Mila’s work is often formally characterized by bold, brightly tinted, highly saturated color schemes achieved through acrylic and aerosol paints. He flows between hard angular edges and soft blends to formulate a balance between rigidity and fluidity. Using a flamboyant urban contemporary style, his fragmented compositions create landscapes that have a strong visual impact and a personalized notion of queer aesthetics.
Creation Video
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dadadoodles.com
Ginny Parsons

Tree of Differences
An intuitive painter, I use leftovers and common household ingredients. I grew up in Chico, watching the orchards disappear. Living in Alameda for 30 years, I run Ginny's Art Camp from my home/studio near Lincoln Park and show art at Rhythmix and Grey Loft Gallery.
Beast Oakland

Torn
This mural depicts me stuck between my father's ranch and town in Mexico which he loved and where we came from and the Eastbay and Oakland that saw me grow up. I lost my father 01/24/23. Having being born in Mexico but raised in Oakland California, I am torn between both places which I love dearly. The buggy is my father's, which he used to move around in and tend to his land, his lemons, corn , etc. On the opposite side is my truck which I use to load up my gear to sell shirts at festivals.
Creation Video
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beastoakland.com
Craig Wesley

I wanted to show these two seemingly contradictory points about humanity. How in one view we’re all the same and yet it truly is our differences that makes humanity so rich and special versus other beings on this planet. Therefore, my mural is an abbreviated Periodic Table of Elements as though each cell was drawn by a diverse group of modern and contemporary artists.
Creation Video Part 1
Creation Video Part 2
Creation Video Part 3
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annewesley.com

Yim (Ivy) Wu

We are the Community
Cultural differences include race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, and language, gender, age, and disability. The three ladies in "We are the community" represent the different races of the people in community. They look towards the aerial view above Lake of Merritt in Oakland, California where represents our community. I hope this mural brings out a message of the rich diversity of clutures that make up our community. People with different backgrounds and cultures look forward to building and developing our meaningful and massive community together.
ivywufineart.com
Joanna Ruckman

Culture Keepers: Hālau Makana
The mural, "Culture Keepers: Hālau Makana", illuminates a matrilineage of dancers including: Lillian Cid, Lani Cid-Iulio & Jade Makana Iulio, who run the Hālau Makana Polynesian Cultural Arts Center in Alameda, CA. These three generations of Kumu teach traditions, rhythms and stories from times far before their ancestors used written language to record their histories. Hālau Makana’s mission is “preserving the Hawaiian, Tahitian, and Maori cultures through dance, art and music, and to share these cultural art forms with anyone who has a desire to learn”.
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joannaruckman.com
Island High led by Alexa Navidad / Heidi Guibord art teacher

You
This piece is called "You" because I wanted to show how people are still finding who they are as individuals. We are still learning and growing and I wanted to showcase that. We are all skeletons at our core. Interspersed within this piece are puzzle pieces that represent different flags of the LGBTQ+ community. This mural was co-created with various Island High community members intentionally so that the process allowed many different voices.
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heidiguibord.com
Todd Russell Hallenbeck

Shoreline Dreams
Shoreline Dreams is inspired by the fishermen and women that come to the rock walls and jetties of Alameda seeking communion with the Bay and connection to one another. It is a celebration of the shoreline—a liminal space where the tides dictate the flow of fish and people. As an island community, we are surrounded by water. The Bay defines our landscape and is inextricably linked to the diversity of cultures along its shoreline. For the people drawn to this place, the wonders below and above the surface call to them. By casting their lines into the unknown together, they seek a shared dream.
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fishyart.tumblr.com

Thank you to all the artists who have contributed in previous years.

Nicole Mendoza, Yolanda Cotton-Turner, Marybeth Soriano, Margaret Belton, Heather Blaikie, Alex Bargas, Yolanda Patton, Cheyanne Valera, Ngoc Nguyen, Scott Melcher

Watch the creation of the murals

Thank You, Donors!

Andrew & Chantal Currid, Rachel Spence, Nick Winkworth, Kristi Budzinski, Lindsay Kemp Bruckstein, Mitzi Richardson, Lauren Davis, Sarah Neubauer, Ashley Rogers, Lois Butler, Alameda Arts, Colleen Connery, Kevin Johnson, Janice Mason, Karen Beckles, Tina Blaine, Brian J Kenny, Elaine Louie, Sandra Russell, Ann Moore, Kathy Weber, Lyndsay Newman, Jennye Garibaldi, Robert Paine, Alison Taggart-Barone & Larry Barone, Adam Gillitt, Amy Gerard, Raul Castro, Gene Kahane, Rachel Campos de Ivanov, and a number of generous anonymous donors!

Thank You, Sponsors!

Hawthorne Suites by Wyndham

West Alameda Business Association

Rick Driemeyer, Owner of Both Sides of the Door