‘Rising Seas’ Special Exhibit Set for Saturday, August 24

Rising Seas, a free climate art event presented by Rhythmix Cultural Works in partnership with the City of Alameda , shares the joys and concerns of living on an island amid a climate crisis and rising sea levels. The event started June 8 with an exhibition featuring 10 different artists’ responses to the threat of sea level rise, and will conclude with a special exhibit on Saturday, August 24, featuring live music, dance, visual art, and theater at 2513 Blanding Avenue.

• Maze Daiko will highlight Japanese taiko and traditional dance.
• SF Mime Troupe veteran Ed Holmes, as The Climate Detective from the Future , will tell stories of Alameda’s waterfront past, present, and future, directed by Jeff Raz (formerly of Cirque du Soleil).
• Where do we draw the line? —an interactive dance choreographed by Izzy Award winner KT Nelson—moves to a soundscape that weaves together the voices of Alameda residents and sustainability leaders.

The community will be invited to view the work of 10 local artists in the Rising Seas Exhibit and contribute to a rope of personal pledges to help slow down climate change. Rhythmix is hopeful that this rope of climate action commitments will grow as it travels to future Rising Seas performance sites in 2025.

During the events, the community can participate in fun activities with the East Bay Regional Parks’ Mobile Education Unit and the City of Alameda’s Zero Waste recycle booth to learn about actions they can take to help mitigate climate change. The event is free, but RSVP is encouraged.

About the Artists

Maze Daiko is a world music ensemble that creates an exciting mix of instrumentation and rhythms with the physical elegance and powerful sounds of Japanese taiko. Seiichi Tanaka, the father of North American taiko, has described Maze as pioneers of the art form. Maze Daiko’s artistic director, Janet Koike, is also the lead artist and director of the Rising Seas project. Additional members of the ensemble include Kathryn Cabunoc, Tina Blaine (aka bean), Jeannie Mckenzie, Elaine Fong and Yumi Ishihara who combine traditional taiko with global instruments and cross-cultural grooves to create intricate rhythms that fill the stage with energetic choreography and vibrant sound.

KT Nelson is a choreographer and dedicated advocate for emerging artists and the environment. She was a dancer, choreographer, and co-artistic director of ODC/Dance from 1976 to 2020. Nelson has been awarded the Isadora Duncan Award four times—in 1987 for Outstanding Performance, in 1996 and 2012 for Outstanding Choreography, and in 2001 for Sustained Achievement. Her collaborators have included Berkeley Symphony, Bobby McFerrin, Geoff Hoyle, Shinichi Iova-Koga, Zap Mama, and Joan Jeanrenaud. Nelson’s Dead Reckoning was presented at Jacob’s Pillow and the Joyce Theater to explore the ways our species ignores or forgets how we contribute to the climate crisis.

Veteran actor and director Ed Holmes has been heralded as “a local treasure” by the San Francisco Chronicle . Ed scripted and performed as the narrator of three Island City Waterways productions from 2016 to 2022. In the San Francisco Mime Troupe, Ed wrote, directed and performed free outdoor public theater in Bay Area parks for 28 years. He is the founder of the annual Saint Stupid’s Day Parade in San Francisco and performs a solo show, Subhuman: Tales Beneath the Sea , about his seven years in the navy. Ed has performed with Antenna Theater and Fratelli Bologna, and has taught workshops in physical theater for ACT, Mills, SFMOMA, Sony, and DreamWorks.

Jeff Raz is an American clown, actor, teacher, and director. He founded and served as director of the Clown Conservatory in San Francisco, and taught at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College and the San Francisco School of Circus Arts. As a performer, he has had leading roles with Vaudeville Nouveau, Make*A*Circus, Pickle Family Circus, and Cirque du Soleil.

Inspired by nature, Ginny Parsons , Rising Seas exhibit curator, paints intuitively with materials such as borax, dirt, glue, and peanut butter, along with miscellaneous bits of acrylic paint, photos, and beeswax. Capturing landscapes, still life, and other abstracted beauty, she paints, drips, and splatters on found materials. She curates annual exhibits at the Rhythmix K Gallery, bringing together dozens of local artists, and shows her work at the Gray Loft Gallery.

Event partners

Additional event partners including local non-profits CASA (Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda), the REAP Climate Center and the City’s Sustainability and Resilience team will be on hand to share information about the recently updated Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (CARP). Community members can also hear a series of interviews from Bay Area climate adaptation leaders and local activists on the Rhythmix Rising Seas website .

Rising Seas’ goal is to encourage the community to become aware of a citywide effort to mitigate climate change and imagine a better future through dialogue and action. It is presented in partnership with the City of Alameda, RADIUM Presents , and the West End Arts District as an anchor project of the Rising Tides Climate Initiative.

The Rhythmix Rising Seas Project is supported in part by the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, Zellerbach Family Foundation, the Fleishhacker Foundation, Port of Oakland, Taiko Ventures, and the City of Alameda Recreation and Park Department and Public Art Commission .

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