Oakland-based artist Stacey Goodman’s multidisciplinary work can be described with any number of words. Even so, words fail to capture his broad portfolio and the vision that spurred him to found Seven Mirrors, a new, public-facing art studio/gallery. Launched in March 2024, the enterprise is housed across from Swan’s Market on Ninth Street in a gorgeous brick building in Old Town Oakland.
A few weeks after Seven Mirrors’ one-year anniversary, Goodman said he established his studio to support artists whose work encompasses “somatic movement, social art, mystery and magic.” A primary focus is fostering community engagement through workshops, film screenings, performances and exhibits of work by artists who invite public participation and encourage direct access to their philosophies and work processes.
“I wanted to have a public art space, not just a private practice,” Goodman said. “I wanted it in Oakland because it has become my home city, after years of living in San Francisco. It’s on a charming street, and there’s a diversity of people.
“There was an entire Black working-class community when I moved to Oakland—a mix of low, middle and upper income people,” Goodman added. “Despite downtown Oakland’s troubles, people here want the area to be more than it is.”
When he signed the lease, the landlord said his role as an artist was “to activate the area.” Goodman admitted to rolling his eyes, but then thought deeply about what his role was and how to move art from its solitary conventions into public, participatory and experimental realms without becoming commercialized.
“Certainly, I want to see more galleries and shops, but I don’t want fancy condos going up all around me,” Goodman said. “Why do San Francisco when [it’s] right across the bay? I want to see art and artists in downtown spaces, not just industrial areas or struggling communities. Presenting something less commercial while still paying the rent is tricky. I have to come up with programming that’s experimental but also engages the community.”
Goodman believes that art seen and experienced inside Seven Mirrors must resemble the people just outside its doors—and their lives, priorities and desires. Which brings forth themes of reflectivity and the name he selected.
“To be honest, the name came to me in a mystic, esoteric way,” he said. “It popped into my head, and when I looked it up, I liked the connection between the name and what it actually means. I like how it aligned with involving community.”
The Essenes were an ancient Jewish sect in existence from 150 B.C.E. to 70 C.E. They identified personal relationships according to seven categories called mirrors. Collectively, the mirrors reveal how individual identity, behavior, perceptions about the world, actions and relationships can be seen in what the mirrors display.
Goodman said the art space’s high ceilings, natural light and large front windows where videos can be projected or artwork prominently placed are perfect vehicles for attracting passing pedestrians, along with artists interested in showcasing their work. “We can do large installations, small workshops, solo or shared exhibitions,” he said. “In addition to the front windows, there’s a space in the back dedicated to video projection.”
Past shows included Goodman’s inaugural video exhibit that was accompanied by a workshop involving sense-based movement and an observation day to watch and join practitioners of tuning. Led by Margit Galanter and Zoey Huey, the public events honored his promise to the community.
Subsequent shows included “Mindscape,” featuring work by Ajaya (Maggie) Bhatnagar, an international student. While studying in the U.S. from 2020 to 2024, she created art pieces in response to her thoughts and dreams about dual identity, homesickness and belonging.
“Acknowledge the Shadows” closed March 22 and included the work of artists Quinn Keck and Luz Marina Ruiz “holding conversation” with each other. The exhibit included printmaking, art books, paintings, sculptures and video-based installations. And the shared space offered a measure of creativity in the display, in one case with the two artists’ imagery fused and projected simultaneously on the front window during opening night.
“Right now, I have an experimental somatic dance workshop that involves drawing,” Goodman said. “I have my own connection to that world, and I want people to bring their entire self—the body, emotions and consciousness—into the art practice. Yes, there’s expression, but there is also what is happening within your body.”
A to-be-named project relates to “Buy Nothing” mutual aid ideas. “People bring in objects and talk about how they engage with them,” Goodman said. “It’s a conversational project that touches on social, political and ancestral worlds while keeping in mind joy and creativity. It’s about the liberation from material things and freedom found through sharing and art.”
For more information, contact [email protected].
