Public Tours

Saturday, May 21 & Sunday, May 22

10:30 am — 12 pm
12:30 pm — 2 pm
2:30 pm — 4 pm

This event is free and open to the public. Advance reservations are now full. Remaining slots will be held for walk-ups on the day of the events. Tours will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Please arrive at least 30 minutes early to park and check in. Walking, biking and public transportation are strongly encouraged. Bicycle valets will be available, and volunteers will be on site to guide visitors to parking and registration.

Each tour covers a half-mile walking route. All outdoor pathways and indoor sites are ADA-compliant. Public restrooms and a water station will be available. Please, no pets (registered service animals only).

Related Programs

Throughout history, specific events have caused waves of population to crash onto Alameda’s shores. Whether Gold Rush settlers, World War veterans or recent tech transplants, certain groups have arrived at various times to change Alameda’s population significantly. Through the discussion of 12 historic waves of immigration, local historians Dennis Evanosky and Eric J. Kos will highlight events that transpired around the world to move people to Alameda. 

As part of the event, participants are invited to record a short video response to the question, “How did you get here?” in a kiosk dedicated to collecting stories about the circumstances that led people’s families to come to the Bay Area.

“The shore is an ancient world, for as long as there has been an earth and sea there has been this place of the meeting of land and water.” —Rachel Carson

In conjunction with Island City Waterways, the K Gallery at Rhythmix Cultural Works presents a three-person exhibition featuring new works by environmental painter Ginny Parsons, photographer Pons Maar, and industrial designer and artist Marc Ribaud. All three artists reside in Alameda, and each investigates the industrial landscape along the water’s edge.

Parsons draws inspiration from the natural environment to create abstracted landscapes that incorporate household materials such as Borax and house paint. Maar photographs the shoreline, deserted warehouses, and the natural beauty of Alameda Point as a way to capture what is disappearing to make way for a new planned community. For this exhibition, Ribaud will render a large-scale map of parts of the shoreline in a site-specific graphite wall drawing, as well as construct a video kiosk resembling a boat’s hull where audiences can record stories about how their families came to the Bay Area.

Gallery hours are Wednesdays 6 pm to 9 pm, for events, and by appointment.

Meet award-winning choreographer Kim Epifano, along with professional dancers Antoine Hunter and Zahn Simon, who are deaf, as they share how they communicate through movement and serve as role models for success in the arts. This lecture and demonstration features dance that integrates sign language as a source of choreography, text and audience echoing. Presented in partnership with the Asian Pacific Islander Disability Awareness Project of Buena Vista United Methodist Church and supported in part through a generous grant from the James Irvine Foundation.

Join Rhythmix Cultural Works founder and artistic director Janet Koike for a presentation about Island City Waterways, the organization’s recent free public art event that took audiences on a guided art tour exploring how the waterways have shaped Alameda’s past and present. Featuring nearly three dozen dancers, musicians, storytellers and visual artists, the event took place from May 20–22, with a total of eight 90-minute tours leading more than 1,000 participants to public performances along the Waterfront Trail between the Fruitvale and the Park Street bridges. Island City Waterways celebrated the waves of immigrants who came from many parts of the world to settle in Alameda, and asked the audience, “how did you get here?” Audiences were invited to record stories of how their own families came to be in Alameda and the Bay Area.

Waves of Origin will feature a video selection of the stories, as well as a live musical performance by taiko fusion ensemble Maze Daiko and actor Ed Holmes in character as the Old Mariner.