Oakland has launched the “Am I Next?” Art and Solidarity Campaign. Oakland artist Kalani Cecaci's aerosol work has already left a mark on the city's downtown core.
A Muralist Already Known for Honoring Oakland's Graffiti Roots
Cecaci is no stranger to large-scale Oakland commissions. In 2025, Kalani Cecaci, a third-generation East Oakland resident, creative-directed and painted a 3,500-square-foot mural at the intersection of Thomas L. Berkley Way and Clay Street in downtown Oakland, according to KQED. That piece honors Angus Cloud, Mike “Dream” Francisco and other fallen graffiti artists, and KQED reports Cecaci completed it with help from more than 50 self-taught aerosol artists.
That downtown mural sits on the PG+E substation at 604 Thomas L. Berkley and spans almost a full city block, per a GoFundMe campaign organized to help fund the project. The fundraiser describes the piece as an ode to Oakland told across three panels, and notes that Sorrell Tsui of ABG Art Group coordinated the project and selected Cecaci's team. A PG+E grant separately covered the cost of supplies and rentals needed to produce the artwork, the fundraiser's donation page states.
Graffiti Artists and Muralists Finding Common Ground
The same GoFundMe material frames the downtown mural's inclusion of elements painted by current graffiti artists as a deliberate gesture meant to build unity between muralists and the graffiti community. ABG Art Group coordinated Cecaci's downtown mural project.
That theme of collaboration echoes other recent Oakland public art efforts. Cecaci previously assisted artists Rachel Wolfe-Goldsmith and Kevin Lowry in completing a mural at a Bay Area Community Services building in Temescal, according to Oakland North. That 18-by-40-foot piece, titled “The Storm's Gift,” sits at 40th Street and Shafter Avenue and took three weeks to paint after the organization spent two months reviewing design edits with Wolfe-Goldsmith, the outlet reported.
Public Art as Memorial Across Oakland
Oakland's public art scene has repeatedly turned to murals as memorials for artists the city has lost. A 2024 mural by Oakland Roots and Soul SC was located above MacArthur BART, near the junction of I-580 and Highway 24. That project was tied to the incoming Longfellow Fields community soccer development, according to The Oaklandside.
The Oaklandside reported that the Longfellow Fields mural was planned for a 60-foot façade that was not an empty canvas to begin with — it already carried a tribute to the late graffiti artist Ghost51, whose real name was Farida Kohgadai and who died in 2022 at age 35. The episode underscores how fraught and personal these walls can be for Oakland's artist community, even before new paint goes up.
What Remains Unclear About the New Campaign
Community groups and schools may be able to advertise for free on digital billboards. Cecaci's large-scale work across Oakland is part of the city's public art landscape.
