Mildred Howard's First Retrospective 'Poetics of Memory' Opens at Oakland Museum of California
The Oakland Museum of California is hosting Mildred Howard's inaugural retrospective, titled Poetics of Memory, which spans her artistic journey over the past fifty years, emphasizing the themes of Black American history and memory. Among the highlights are two bronze barrel keys, which served as prototypes for her public sculpture Locks and Keys for Harry Bridges (2001) located in San Francisco. Howard has produced a total of sixteen public sculptures throughout the Bay Area. Her upbringing in South Berkeley followed her family's relocation from Texas, where her father, Rolly, worked as a longshoreman and her mother, Mable, was a shipyard painter. The exhibition also features pieces such as Untitled (1979), Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: This Ain't My Real Life (2001), and Black Has Always Been a Color (2024), culminating in the final gallery displaying Untold Histories / Hidden Truths (2025–26) and Crossings (1997/2026).
Key facts
- Mildred Howard's first retrospective, Poetics of Memory, is on view at the Oakland Museum of California.
- The exhibition spans five decades of Howard's work, including sculptural assemblage and large-scale installation.
- Two bronze barrel keys in the first room are prototypes for the public sculpture Locks and Keys for Harry Bridges (2001) in downtown San Francisco.
- Howard has created sixteen public sculptures and semi-permanent installations across the Bay Area.
- Howard's family relocated from Texas to South Berkeley during the Second Great Migration; her father Rolly was a longshoreman and her mother Mable was a shipyard painter.
- Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: This Ain't My Real Life (2001) features portraits of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls on silk paper pillows in a heart-shaped box.
- Untold Histories / Hidden Truths (2025–26) depicts Peter Burnett, William Gwin, Francis Scott Key, and Junípero Serra as shrouded figures.
- Moving Stills (2026) uses 8mm footage Howard shot in 1959 on a train trip from Oakland to Galveston, Texas.
Entities
Artists
- Mildred Howard
- Rolly Howard
- Mable Howard
- Harry Bridges
- Tupac Shakur
- Biggie Smalls
- Joy DeGruy
- Ishmael Reed
- Raymond Saunders
- Marcus Garvey
- Peter Burnett
- William Gwin
- Francis Scott Key
- Junípero Serra
- Chris Grunder
- Lewis Watts
- Maya Deren
- John Moore
- Diego Rivera
- Louise Bourgeois
Institutions
- Oakland Museum of California
- International Longshore and Warehouse Union
- Anglim/Trimble
- Berkeley Art Center
- The Mildred Howard Archive
- The Bancroft Library
- University of California, Berkeley
- Hyperallergic
- PBS
- KQED
- MoMA
- California College of the Arts
- California State University, East Bay
- Bancroft Library
- UC Berkeley
- Guggenheim Fellowship
- FOR-SITE
- parrasch heijnen
Locations
- Oakland
- United States
- California
- San Francisco
- Bay Area
- Texas
- South Berkeley
- Galveston
- New Orleans
- Ivory Coast
- Atlantic Ocean
- Fillmore Street Bridge
- the South
- Berkeley
- West Oakland