6 days ago
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
An antidote to ‘isolation and chaos:' KQED ‘Forum' host opening Oakland community space
Oakland is getting an ambitious new community space from two prominent local writers who hope a combination of coffee, local goods and events will create a much-needed refuge during what they deem an 'era of isolation and chaos.'
Couple Alexis Madrigal, co-host of KQED's daily public affairs show 'Forum,' and author and creative director Sarah Rich are opening Local Economy at 6028 College Ave. in the Rockridge neighborhood this fall. The duo, who have lived nearby for 14 years, have long flirted with the idea of starting something similar, but finally seized the moment.
'I'm feeling deeply the many concerns swirling around us in the nation and the world,' said Rich, who has worked as an editorial director for Heath Ceramics, grocery delivery service Good Eggs and design firm Ideo. 'Doing something in local space, in community, to physically connect people is one of the best forms of concrete action we can take right now.'
Rich and Madrigal intend Local Economy to be many things. The owners have partnered with Painted Leopard, a West Berkeley microroaster that uses beans from El Salvador, to set up a coffee cart in the front. A retail section will be stocked with goods from independent makers. They plan to host authors (Local Economy is conveniently located next door to East Bay Booksellers), food popups and zine-making for kids. Community members have already made their own suggestions, like a kimchi class or fungi-centric book club. A neighbor is building them two large, 8-foot tables that will anchor the space. Madrigal and Rich hope to replicate the connection of weekly dinners the couple has hosted with friends since the pandemic.
Local Economy will offer memberships, though programs and events will be open to the public.
Madrigal and Rich said they were inspired by various local models, like Berkeley's La Peña Cultural Center, a community and social justice hub founded in 1975, and the Swallow, an experimental restaurant and collective food writer Ruth Reichl ran inside the Berkeley Art Museum in the 1970s. Newer reference points include the Ruby, a creative collective in San Francisco, and Oakland's Womb House Books, which specializes in work by female, nonbinary and queer writers and authors of color.
'I feel like it's such a Bay Area tradition,' said Madrigal. 'There's a thing the community needs and we're going to D.I.Y. it and call in a constellation of people who want this thing to happen. It feels like we're in another moment like that.'
