April showers bring May flowers . . .

April brings light, growth, and fresh beginnings — a perfect time to reimagine your home or your real estate goals.

Do you have family or friends who have questions about selling or buying real estate?  Have them reach out or connect me with them, I am happy to assist.

In this blog, we'll look at a unique, fun, free upcoming Red Oak art and community event!

PLEASE JOIN US!

Please join us for a very special evening on Wednesday, May 20th. We will be featuring the work of three local artists curated by Red Oak's DEIB group, celebrating the launch of Red Oak's first neighborhood publication, A Seriously Local Guide to the East Bay, and hosting a fundraiser for an organization near and dear to the Red Oak community's hearts: Little Lions.

DEIB Art Show
Three years ago Red Oak's DEIB Action Group saw an opportunity to showcase local, diverse artists and the result has been an evolving art series that grows each year. We continue to celebrate local artists and build community at each new art opening, and hope you'll consider attending the next one. This next event will feature the work of the following artists:

• Ashlie Kgo is a multidisciplinary artist and educator whose vibrant paintings explore identity, heritage, and the African diaspora through bold color, symbolism, and storytelling. Rooted in her Nigerian ancestry, her work has been exhibited at the de Young Museum and Richmond Art Center, and now graces the streets of Berkeley. Through art, education, and advocacy with "Sickle Cell 101", Ashlie uses her platform to connect, uplift, and inspire.
• Gwendolyn Elliott is an artist and educator whose practice is rooted in a lifelong devotion to nurturing others. After a distinguished career in Child Development, she found a new calling as a Creative Art Teacher — guided by a simple belief: art is healing. Gwendolyn now invites people of all ages to use creativity as a pathway to expression, reflection, and renewal.
• Darryl Thompson is an Oakland-based multidisciplinary artist working across painting, tattooing, murals, music, and digital media. Since founding his airbrush studio Point of View Graphics in the 1980s, he has built a practice grounded in rhythm and layered color, treating visual art the way a musician treats sound. His philosophy of "Artism" frames creativity as divine expression, exploring ancestry, resilience, and transformation through frequency and form.
   

A Seriously Local Guide to the East Bay
Red Oak is working with Greydoor Publishing to create a professional magazine with local content, featuring many of Red Oak's trusted partners and vendors. These market guides contain local information, valuable editorial content, Q&A for homeowners, buyers and sellers, and much more! We're excited to share this with all of you and hope that you will find useful information and a resource for finding trusted local businesses.
 

Little Lions
In addition to celebrating on the evening of May 20th, we will also be sharing with you the background behind an organization that has become very dear to many at Red Oak. The fundraiser portion of the event is vital for Little Lions, an ambitious educational project in the Kibera settlement of Nairobi, Kenya, which uses education, nutrition, and love to help children and their families escape abject poverty. Red Oak's CEO and Little Lion's Board Member, Vanessa Bergmark, is personally committed to supporting their mission, including the renovation of a recently purchased 5-story educational center to expand operations and serve more children. With your tax-deductible donation, we can deliberately change the lives of children and the generations to come. You can contribute now by visiting paypal.com/paypalme/redoakROOF and noting "Little Lions" in the "What's this for?" field or join us for the entire event at our El Cerrito office. If you personally would like more information on the organization, please reach out.
 

I am Simon Black — I always call back!