Rotten City to Fertile Ground: Emeryville’s Transformative Investment

Emeryville — all 1.2 square miles of it — punches way above its weight when it comes to public art. As you stroll through this pedestrian-friendly town, you’ll spot colorful murals, playful fountains, metal and ceramic sculptures, light and video installations, whimsical utility boxes, mini-galleries in bus shelters, and more. Plus, many buildings have art-filled lobbies that are open to the public during the week. And that doesn’t count the art inside City Hall, the Emeryville Senior Center, and the Emeryville Police Station.

We could not ask for a better guide to these not-so-hidden gems than Amber Evans, a community and economic development coordinator for Emeryville. Her official title doesn’t begin to cover all that she does to make Emeryville so much more than home to Bay Street Shopping Mall, Public Market food court, Pixar, the headquarters of Peet’s, and a cluster of biotechnology campuses.

“Sometimes I call myself the ABC coordinator,” she explains, “which stands for arts, brownfields, and community development.”

Join us for Amber’s “show and tell” at Arts & Culture on Wednesday, May 1. She’ll share how the town that Earl Warren once called “the rottenest city on the West Coast,” became a place where artists flocked to live and work and a pioneer in requiring developers to invest in public art. 

Tickets for this program are $5 for club members and $10 for non-members. Please register early so we can be sure to accommodate everyone comfortably. Wearing masks for this event is strongly encouraged.

Amber’s presentation will focus on six of the critical forces that led to such an impressive concentration of both artists and artworks, literally transforming the city:

• 45th Street Artists’ Cooperative that marked its 50th anniversary last year.
• Emeryville Celebration of the Arts that has spotlighted the city’s artists every year since 1986.
•  Art in Public Places Program that, since 1990, has required private developers devote 1% of their budget to art.  
• State designation of the Rotten City Cultural District in 2017. 
• Relocation of Compound Gallery from North Oakland to Emeryville in January 2022.
• Pangea Seed Foundation Sea Walls Mural Festival when 16 ocean-themed murals were painted across the city during two weeks in September 2022.

Amber also will preview what lies ahead, such as the ambitious 40th Street Streetscape Project at the southern edge of the city. It will run from Adeline Street to Shellmound Street, just south of Christie Avenue, and include the plaza at the base of the Bay Bridge Pedestrian and Bicycle Path. In addition, after years of planning that stalled because of COVID, efforts have resumed to develop Emeryville Center for the Arts. 

Amber has managed the Emeryville Art in Public Places Program for twelve years.  For much of that time, she was the only city employee assigned to it, along with interns who only now are returning after a long, pandemic-related hiatus. 

Amber came to Emeryville with no background in the arts but with 15 years of experience in economic development and planning. In 2011, she attended a brownfields conference in Philadelphia, where she was impressed by the city’s extensive public art. When she returned, she talked more about that art than about the conference. About the same time, a loss of redevelopment funding led to the elimination the city’s arts coordinator, and Amber seemed like a natural fit to step in. Since then, her job description continues to lengthen, in no small part because of initiatives that she helped to launch, including commissioning the first Emeryville Public Art Master Plan. 

She now manages the city’s annual Purchase Award, which adds to the city’s own art collection. She oversees three installations a year for the Sharon Wilchar Bus Shelter Art Program; and manages the installation and maintenance of city-commissioned art in public open spaces and buildings. She also is responsible for the city’s Murals Program, the Rotten City Cultural District, and the Visual Art Grant Program. In addition, she monitors whether private developers have fulfilled their obligation, under the 1% Ordinance, to invest in public art. 

Amber has a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning, with a concentration in Urban Revitalization Planning, from UC Berkeley. Before she worked in Emeryville, she was the Economic Development Project Coordinator for Berkeley’s Redevelopment Program and, among other assignments, worked on the Aquatic Park Streetscape Bicycle and Pedestrian Project.

Amber’s talk will surely inspire you to pay more attention to Berkeley’s small neighbor to the West, not only to admire its public art but also to appreciate the policy decisions and leadership that helped Emeryville become a model for other cities.

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