1. MacArthur Bart Station

By David Adams

This mural was created in 2002 by artist Mark Adams. What does it look like to you?

Some say it looks like a deflated hot air balloon. Others say it represents diversity, a flower in bloom, or peacock feathers. The beautiful thing about murals and public art, in general, is that they are up to your interpretation. What you see and pick up from it won't be the same thing as the next person.

Here are a couple of fun facts about this piece:

• This mural was initially a mosaic but was converted into a painted mural because the trains above would make the tiles fall off of the walls.
• The two murals in the MacArthur BART station are identical except for the colors used in them. Can you notice the differences?

2. Abundant Knowledge

By Community Rejuvenation Project and Blanche Richardson

Before reaching Telegraph Avenue, we’re going to take a quick detour to Marcus Books on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Here, you’ll find an incredible piece painted in 2013 by the Community Rejuvenation Project and Blanche Richardson.

If one person were to study all of the intricacies on this wall, they would come away with a rush of emotions, feelings, and questions. You could spend a lifetime studying the different books and people represented in them and on the mural. Notice the exclamation point on the last pillar, the Ten-Point Platform of the Black Panther Party.

The Ten-Point Platform was written in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale to establish the goals and direction of the Party. There's a lot of greatness right here on one wall.

Though powerful, beautiful, and necessary, this mural is a hidden gem. Similar to the culture of Oakland, it must be sought out. One must walk off the beaten path to find the true essence of this community, city, and culture.

3. Arrangements of Power

By Thailan When

Before we go up Telegraph, let’s take a few steps down the block to Wild Child Boutique. You’ll encounter a beautiful mural titled, Arrangements of Power. This mural, painted by Thailan When, “brings awareness to social hierarchies, namely race.” You will notice individuals represented by a single color and their identities flattened by the color they are assigned.

There is an acknowledgment of differences in this piece while maintaining “the hope and dream that we may find a way to come together.” In the words of When, “despite our differences, as a community and as a country, our destinies are inextricably intertwined.”

Are any of these silhouettes recognizable? Keep an eye out for Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks.

(P.S. If you’re wondering who that lady is in the photo, it’s me, your tour guide!)

4. Electric Boxes on Telegraph (15)

By Eduardo Valadez, Leticia Javier, and Aaron Hansen

You’ve officially started your ascent up Telegraph Avenue. Along this street, you’ll encounter art, even on the electric boxes. The first one reads, “Welcome to Temescal. Ohlone Land.”

Ohlone (oh loh nee) is the preferred name for the Indigenous people of the East Bay Area. More broadly, the term Ohlone includes a language group of approximately 50 tribes that inhabited land from the San Francisco Bay Area all the way down to the Big Sur coast.

If you look at the back of this electric box, it reads, “Bring back Temescal Creek and its rainbow trout.” You may not have known that Temescal began with a creek. Unfortunately, most of the Temescal Creek has dried up or flows underground, exiting near the city of Emeryville.

The history, culture, and stories are all around you, even on electric boxes! See if you can find the 15 painted electrical boxes that depict the nature, urban environment, and history of Temescal.

5. Bay Area

By GirlMobb and the Graffiti Camp for Girls

You've just arrived on the corner of 42nd and Telegraph. Across the street is a vibrant mural on the side of Temescal Studios with the words ‘Bay Area’ splayed across it.

Led by GirlMobb, this mural was created by five teen girls and a handful of volunteers participating in a graffiti camp. GirlMobb began Graffiti Camp For Girls, an Oakland-based nonprofit, with the mission of teaching teen girls and gender-expansive youth how to paint murals using spray paint. Participants learn how to paint and complete the final two days with a collaborative mural in the week-long camp.

The Bay Area mural theme was chosen by a 12-year-old student who dreamed about riding a BART train with zoo animals. The team composed a drawing to bring her dream to life, followed by completing the final mural design.

The garage door painting next door is a spray-painted mural of Kali, the Hindu goddess of creation, destruction, and death, done exclusively by GirlMobb.

Next to her work is a mural by GATS. Quoted from his Instagram account, “a familiar face in an unexpected place,” you can quickly recognize his public artworks throughout Oakland because they always take on a similar style.

6. Way To Remember

By Lena Gustafson

Ahhh, the lady in recline. This mural was painted in 2017 by artist Lena Gustafson. If you’re anything like me, you will immediately fall in love with this piece. I love it for its beauty, its colors, the natural curvature of her body, and the warm brown tone of her skin. But, I love it even more for exemplifying self-care. The lady in recline is depicted six times. Can you find them?