Description

We designed and are currently incubating a new arts, culture and environment district in the City of Oakland that we’ve labeled the The Lake Merritt Arts, Culture and Environment Sanctuary (The Lake Merritt Sanctuary). The Lake Merritt Arts, Culture and Environment Sanctuary is situated at the most vibrant crossroad of the San Francisco Bay Area, including and between: the environmental jewels of the 155­ acre Lake Merritt (the nation’s first National Wildlife Refuge designated in 1870), the Oakland Estuary which connects Lake Merritt to the San Francisco Bay; an active wetland which transects two of the facilities; the bustling business, residential and cultural life of Chinatown and the Eastlake neighborhood; and, the renown arts scene of Oakland’s Uptown/Downtown. We have proposed, and are assembling teams to design and implement, projects related to food concessions to generate revenue for the lake’s maintenance, arts and event presenting in existing venues surrounding the lake, and bring institutional partners together to create an economic driver for long-term sustainability.