Rosesharon Oates
Visionary Multi-media Artist, Mama, and Healer, Rosesharon Oates was born in New Orleans, LA, but has deep roots in Oakland, CA, where she currently resides.
Ro’s primary medium is Pyrography; which involves hand burning detailed, ornate lines & shading into birch panels (and sometimes watercolor paper) with a soldering iron, then layering it with color washes to accentuate both the work and the innate beauty of the wood.
Her work is informed by her community of Beloveds, medicine women, and change makers, and by liberation & social justice movements. Working through her own grief with the alchemic nature of Fire, her art intends to be a counter-narrative to the extreme violence that surrounds us in the Americas, and an assertion of freedom as our natural state. Ro’s figurative work tends toward portraits of inspiring women that she personally knows, as well as women in sacred ceremony, in honor of our innate power and our profound connection to the elements. Every piece comes with a specific story. Every symbol, object, and being within the work is intentional.
Ro’s commissioned work has been featured in national conferences for Power California 2019, California Immigrant Policy Center 2020 and Color of Change Racial Justice Week of Action 2021, as well MNDFL’s Sattva Series for Wanderlust in Brooklyn, NY 2022.
Ro was a 2018 recipient of the City of Oakland's Cultural Arts Funding Grant as well as a 2019-2021 Cultural Strategist in Government Grant with the City of Oakland's Department of Health & Human Services through ReCAST (Resiliency in Community after Stress and Trauma).
Ro recently completed an Artist in Residency at Black (Space) at Minnesota Street Project in San Francisco. Her exhibitions have included solo gallery shows at Brick House Gallery in Sacramento, at Temescal Studios in Oakland, CA and at ArtHYPE Gallery in Los Angeles, CA and at groups shows at the Libra Foundation in San Francisco, CA and the East Bay Community Foundation in Oakland, CA. Her recent works are currently on display at Vibe Gallery in Petaluma, CA through July 2023
In addition to facilitating classes for adults in art and in wellness practices, Ro has been a youth mentor, advocate, and educator for over 20 years. To name a few, Ro has partnered with Youth Uprising, Alameda County Juvenile Hall, MOCHA, Artists As First Responders, Children's Hospital, East Bay Agency for Children, and Destiny Arts.
She is passionate about creating more safe space for our Youth to Be, to thrive and to have greater agency over their own bodies, voices, and joy. Ro currently teaches Restorative Arts for Girls and Gender Expansive Youth at Oakland Public Conservatory of Music's Saturday School.
Ro’s primary medium is Pyrography; which involves hand burning detailed, ornate lines & shading into birch panels (and sometimes watercolor paper) with a soldering iron, then layering it with color washes to accentuate both the work and the innate beauty of the wood.
Her work is informed by her community of Beloveds, medicine women, and change makers, and by liberation & social justice movements. Working through her own grief with the alchemic nature of Fire, her art intends to be a counter-narrative to the extreme violence that surrounds us in the Americas, and an assertion of freedom as our natural state. Ro’s figurative work tends toward portraits of inspiring women that she personally knows, as well as women in sacred ceremony, in honor of our innate power and our profound connection to the elements. Every piece comes with a specific story. Every symbol, object, and being within the work is intentional.
Ro’s commissioned work has been featured in national conferences for Power California 2019, California Immigrant Policy Center 2020 and Color of Change Racial Justice Week of Action 2021, as well MNDFL’s Sattva Series for Wanderlust in Brooklyn, NY 2022.
Ro was a 2018 recipient of the City of Oakland's Cultural Arts Funding Grant as well as a 2019-2021 Cultural Strategist in Government Grant with the City of Oakland's Department of Health & Human Services through ReCAST (Resiliency in Community after Stress and Trauma).
Ro recently completed an Artist in Residency at Black (Space) at Minnesota Street Project in San Francisco. Her exhibitions have included solo gallery shows at Brick House Gallery in Sacramento, at Temescal Studios in Oakland, CA and at ArtHYPE Gallery in Los Angeles, CA and at groups shows at the Libra Foundation in San Francisco, CA and the East Bay Community Foundation in Oakland, CA. Her recent works are currently on display at Vibe Gallery in Petaluma, CA through July 2023
In addition to facilitating classes for adults in art and in wellness practices, Ro has been a youth mentor, advocate, and educator for over 20 years. To name a few, Ro has partnered with Youth Uprising, Alameda County Juvenile Hall, MOCHA, Artists As First Responders, Children's Hospital, East Bay Agency for Children, and Destiny Arts.
She is passionate about creating more safe space for our Youth to Be, to thrive and to have greater agency over their own bodies, voices, and joy. Ro currently teaches Restorative Arts for Girls and Gender Expansive Youth at Oakland Public Conservatory of Music's Saturday School.