50 artists from 10 different countries celebrated Star Trek’s 50th Anniversary with new artwork. The exhibition unveiled at San Diego’s Comic Con and has been traveling around the country since last summer and I believe Oakland is it’s last stop (since it’s pretty much been 51 years now that it’s 2017).
Even if your aren’t familiar you are with the art world, there should be at least two artists that you are already familiar with because they’re known actors.
Leonard Nimoy is fitting because he was also a photographer. He used to sell prints and tees on an Etsy store which is now shopllap.com, run by his grand-daughter, Dani Nimoy Schwartz.
And Mayim Bialik also has a piece where she is the model. You know her as Blossom and Amy Farrah Fowler, and she is also a neuroscientist! My favorite of her photos is of her as Lt Cmdr Data, it’s not displayed in the show, but in the book.
And there were other artists whose work I was familiar with such as JK Woodward, Paul Shipper and I knew of Lynn A. Norton’s work from the Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments. It was exciting for me was to see someone from San Francisco who attended the same art college as me. Many of the artists are professionals already established with working in the entertainment industry and with the Star Trek franchise so I can’t be too mad that I wasn’t invited. haha! Maybe for the 60th Anniversary they will call me.
The artwork was mostly focused on the original series and the Next Generation. The characters from the other spin-offs only showing up in big group illustrations. But I can actually appreciate that they went with the classics.
The event I attended was located at Chabot Space and Science Center in my old stamping grounds located on Skyline Blvd in the Oakland Hills, right in between my old house and high school! I haven’t been to this (new) location before. I went the one one located on Mountain Blvd on field trips in elementary school. This newer Skyline location opened in the year 2000. So it’s really like 17 years old so I really can’t call it new. And that makes me feel really old.
As my 3 regular readers know, I am a huge fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation. So of course I had to go see this show in person! Chabot was hosting an event called Highly Mixological for the last night before the exhibit closed. (The art was scheduled to be on display for 2 weeks, and has been extended to March 12th.)
We were greeted with a Theremin Performance in the Rotunda. And it opened up for anyone to try their hand at it. In the video is someone who knows what they are doing!
The other event I was interested in was a presentation by Thomas Marrone the Lead Artist of the Starship and User Interface Art Teams at Star Trek Online. Do I have to explain? Artist wants to see working artist speak about art stuff. I would have caught the tail end of the speech but the classroom was so full that there were people standing at the back of the room.
There were three bar areas (Quark’s Bar) where they made glowing drinks for $10, the one near the dj was definitely the place to be! While I didn’t spring for any, I did go to the cafe (I can never pass up pizza!) I had to try those pancake puff-a-doodles, but they sold out! I will have to make this, looks like there is chocolate inside according to Yelp photos.
There was a lot of stuff I liked from the Starry Nights Gift Shop but I had to choose 1 out of the 4 t-shirts I liked. But I regret not taking advantage of the 3/$15 astronaut ice cream deal. And they had freeze-dried cheese… that was a must get. It tasted like Cheese-its. And I ended up buying the Stardust tee. There was galaxy printed stuff galore and a lot more Star Wars toys than Star Trek merch!
Other activities included a Klingon 101, a Talk by Berkeley SETI Research Chief Scientist Dan Werthimer, a telescope viewing and a Star Trek episode viewing of Mirror, Mirror. And of course their permanent exhibits were open to us. It was really interesting to see actual space suits (they were small people!)
The Costume Contest is not something I’d normally stick around for, but as soon as I saw Khan I knew he was the winner and had to go see him strut and slay. Aliens costumes are really the way to go, special FX makeup… okay this isn’t Comic Con, no one’s spending the time or money at a small event in Oakland. But it would have been killer to see someone go all out dressed as a Klingon, Borg, anything complicated that includes makeup and an elaborate costume! Khan put the most effort into his costume I would have given him the first prize if he didn’t win! (It was the book that I had bought!)
Chabot put on a really good event! Now I know that there is something cool to do and attend their other events!
I’m trying a new thing by having the photos in Lightbox form. I’m not putting my watermark on any of the photos of the art because I just took the photo, the artist is the one that spent hours on that piece. If you want to pin these on Pinterest, be sure to credit the artist. Sorry that these photos aren’t perfect, with so many people around it was hard to get a perfectly square on photo.
I really appreciated that photography was allowed (just no flash, but it reflects so why would you use it anyway?) In the age of social media, I think posting photos on social media actually inspires me to actually buy things or see things in person. And I hope I inspire you to go support the show by attending the new showing or even buying the book. I think it’s was a great gallery show and I have been inspired to start painting again. I would sure like to be invited to submit a painting for the 60th anniversary!
This show will be on display At Chabot until March 12th! Many of these need to be appreciated in person! If you missed the show and aren’t anywhere near Oakland, do not fret because you purchase the book! I paid full retail price at the gift shop, but you can save and spend about $25 on Amazon. But really I am happy to support the science center that I went to as a kid.
Chabot Space & Science Center- 10000 Skyline Blvd, Oakland CA
You can buy mugs printed with selected pieces! I am getting the Nicky Barkla one for myself! If you make a purchase through the link, you help support this site! (If you have an ad-blocker you will not be able to see these)
More photos from the Highly Mixological event and Chabot Science Center:
Disclaimer:
I paid for my event ticket and the book with my own money.
The link to the book and mugs on Amazon are afflilate links.
