FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 22, 2007

Press Contact: Nina Sazevich (415) 752-2483; nina911@pacbell.net

A Former Manufacturing Plant is Transformed into
Alameda’s First Center for the Performing and Visual Arts

Rhythmix Cultural Works celebrates its grand opening

Opening Event: Saturday, June 2, 2007 ALAMEDA, CA – Four years ago, artist Janet Koike stood on Alameda’s Blanding Street in front of the drab former headquarters of the Clamp Swing Pricing Company (manufacturer of plastic supermarket pricing tags) and saw a vibrant home for artists and the community. This spring, Koike’s dream comes true with the grand opening of Rhythmix Cultural Works (RCW), a new community art center featuring a stunning 250-seat theater, classroom space, gallery and book arts store nestled in the heart of Alameda’s first ever live/work development for artists. The gorgeously renovated center opens with a day of performances, exhibitions and art-making for all ages on June 2, 2007.

In 2001, Koike unexpectedly inherited a sum of money. While most others would have paid off debts or purchased a home, Koike saw a chance to share her good fortune with other artists and the community at large. She began to search for a building to house an artist-run cultural center where her vision for community-building and creative living might be realized.

Koike is a founding member of a non-profit world music ensemble dedicated to promoting cultural expression and exchange also called Rhythmix Cultural Works (RCW). Through the ensemble’s education programs, Koike had repeatedly seen the power of the cultural arts to bring people together in a positive way and was passionate about creating a unique environment that would facilitate this on a broader scale. “I think it’s really important for people to have a place to experience the connection between art and daily life,” she says. “There are not enough places that encourage people to explore their creativity.”

As a performer and the former resident of a West Oakland artist warehouse community, Koike learned the value of having enough space to work in and of being in close proximity with other artists. She wanted to re-create this environment, adding a community into the mix.

After two years of searching far and wide for an appropriate location, she chanced on the Clamp Swing Building in Alameda. With room for six artists' housing units and a 4000 square foot community art center, she knew she had found the spot and purchased the building in 2003. Even though this project was a first for the city and required several rounds of hearings, Koike quickly found out that many residents welcomed the idea wholeheartedly. “The community is really embracing the project,” she says. “parents, teachers, families, city officials, local businesses and artists are really engaged in the planning process and sincerely want to make RCW happen. I was delighted and surprised to find such a welcoming home for this idea.”

After three solid years of renovations, RCW is set to open in June. Koike and a dedicated group of artist collaborators have ambitious plans to enliven Alameda and the Bay Area with a non-stop program of performances, classes and exhibitions that will eventually welcome 50,000 people annually.
Plans are in the works for an annual Rhythmix World Music and Dance Series, drawing from the cultural richness of the Bay Area as well as a mix of contemporary theater, dance and music. The 2007 season kicks off with performances by the Mark Izu Ensemble (Asian Jazz Fusion) with Pacific Asian Stories from Brenda Wong Aoki on June 8, Jorge Alabe and Rio Samba (sounds of Carnival) on June 9, and Mary Ellen Donald with the Arabian Passion Ensemble and the Mack Rucks Jazz Ensemble, on June 10. Artists scheduled for the fall include former Kronos Quartet cellist Joan Jeanrenaud, Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir, John Santos, Jackeline Rago and the Venezuelan Music Project and more.
In addition to performances by local, national and international artists, residents will be able to participate in the many classes offered for youth and adults. RCW plans to offer afterschool classes for young people, summer camps, weekend events for the whole family and a diverse selection of classes for adults from Polynesian dance to printmaking.

Visitors to the facility will also be able to enjoy K Gallery, featuring fine art exhibitions throughout the year, artist talks, films and demonstrations. The inaugural exhibition, “The Art of Food,” features artists Guy Diehl, Ralph Goings, and Janet Delany from Magnolia Press in Oakland, who use food imagery in their work and artists like Charlie Milgrim who creates a map of "Red and Blue" States sculpted entirely from Jello.

Unique to RCW will be one of the few Book Arts bookstores in the country called Another Room. Another Room gives local book artists and the public an exciting showroom for the display and purchase of original artists’ books. The well-known San Francisco Center for the Book will offer workshops here in partnership with RCW.

RCW opens with a special free daytime celebration on June 2, 2007. The public can enjoy hands on art activities for children and families, performances from taiko drumming to capoeira with special guest appearances by Alameda Children's Musical Theater and the Alameda High School Jazz Band, delicious food, stilt walkers and even the Lucky Juju Mobile Pinball Museum from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day. That evening at 8 p.m., RCW presents a two-hour extravaganza of the Bay Area’s leading theater, dance and music performers including the San Francisco Mime Troupe, Youth Speaks, Rio Samba, Halau Makana Polynesian dance, storyteller Brenda Wong Aoki, DJ Vordo and more. A dessert reception follows the performance. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door

For tickets to the opening performance or more information about the center and the grand opening celebration, the public should visit www.rhythmix.org or call (510) 845-5060.

BACKGROUND
Housed in a renovated industrial building at the center of a new live/work artist community in Alameda, Rhythmix Cultural Works is a lively, new community art center offering arts experiences and education for youth, families and adults. Through exhibits, performances and classes, RCW provides the local community access to a wide range of high quality art experiences, encourages community awareness through participation in the arts, supports artists in the creation and presentation of new work and establishes an affordable, new venue for local artists, community events and gatherings.

High resolution JPG images can be requested electronically. Please contact Nina Sazevich, Publicist, at (415) 752-2483 or nina911@pacbell.net for more information.