Alice Street: Film Screening and Director Discussion

The Cleveland Museum of Art invites you to Transformer Station for a free screening of the award-winning documentary film Alice Street, followed by a discussion led by the film’s director, Spencer Wilkinson. 

In Alice Street, two artists form an unlikely partnership to paint their most ambitious mural to date in Oakland’s downtown, ground zero for gentrification. Their site is situated at a unique intersection where Chinese and Afro-Diasporic communities face the imminent threat of displacement and gentrification. Fraught with challenges, the mural is finally completed to great fanfare and a vibrant celebration. Soon after the mural paint dries, a luxury condo is planned that will obstruct the art and cultural history. The community decides to fight back.

Spencer Wilkinson is the founder of Endangered Ideas, a production company based in Oakland, California. Spencer directed the feature-length One Voice: The Story of the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir (2018), which premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival. The film was featured on the PBS News Hour’s Brief but Spectacular series, was one of East Bay Express’s best movies of 2018, and was selected by the 2020 Truly CA series on KQED. Spencer’s 2020 film, Alice Street, premiered at the Newport Beach Film Festival. After 10 years working in disenfranchised communities focused on supporting gang-involved youth, Spencer began a career in community media and documentary filmmaking.

More information about Spencer Wilkinson and Alice Street can be found on the film’s website.

The views expressed by panelists during this event are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Museum of Art.