WELCOME to SHARED GROUND
Shared Ground is a community arts and history organization dedicated to enhancing the vitality of the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland, California, and urban neighborhoods in general. Values underlying the projects of Shared Ground include sustainability, love of place, strengthening local identity, historic preservation, diversity, collaboration, and activism on behalf of the common good.
Every project of Shared Ground springs from the premise that art and community history, when presented in our everyday surroundings and in a form that is widely accessible, can transform our understanding of the places where we live, increase our connection to them, and lead us into a more active role in shaping their future.
The projects of Shared Ground are community projects: they take place in the community, are for the community's benefit, and rely on the expertise, participation, and financial support of the community.
Shared Ground Advisory Board
Martha Bergmann
Temescal Branch Library Manager (retired)
Steve Costa
Bookseller and community builder
Kathy Geritz
Film curator and educator
Carla Koop
Outreach Coordinator, Rosie the Riveter National Historic Park
Pamela Magnuson-Peddle
Oakland history researcher and writer
Ray Raineri
Oakland historian, writer, and collector
Jeff Norman, Founder
For thirty years, community artist Jeff Norman has been using images and text to explore our understanding of our everyday environments. In 1997 he founded Shared Ground and through this organization has facilitated several interdisciplinary projects that examine the connections between Temescal's past and present. He has made his home in Temescal since 1984.
Supporting Organizations
Organizations that have supported Shared Ground's projects include the Alameda Countywide Clean Water Program, Artship, City of Oakland Community and Economic Development Agency, City of Oakland Cultural Arts Program, East Bay Community Foundation, Friends of Temescal Creek, Healthy City Oakland Fund, Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, Oakland Heritage Alliance, Oakland History Room (Oakland Public Library), Temescal Arts Center, Temescal Branch Library, Temescal Merchants Association, and Temescal Neighbors Together.