Bay Area student artists 'reclaim' sidewalk outside their school

art Beauty poetry Community all flowing onto the streets of Oakland today as students from Oakland School for the Arts took over the sidewalks to fight back against the loss of safety outside their school ABC 7 news reporter Leslie Brinkley felt all that positive energy we wrote Love Is Love We have activism hundreds of students from Oakland School for the Arts armed themselves with chalk to express their feelings of being trapped inside their Urban School in Downtown Oakland behind the Fox Thea

ter recently the conditions have shifted as we've all seen I now have a security guard accompanying every PE class and what they witness on the streets daily is not something I want young people to have to see and have to be exposed to because if people know it's a school zone crime is less likely to happen in that immediate area so I feel more safe I guess in not like worrying about getting a cat call or something yeah you don't have to look over your shoulder today yeah yeah yeah instead of ch

alking up their safety these students use chalk to create new uplifting energy messages of Joy messages of Hope messages of safety needs of our students and just you know show Oakland what it looks like when we're all out here and we're bringing life to the streets the artist who spearheaded this was gratified it is reclaiming the street that's exactly what it is and identifying that there's a school here part of the plan is to fundraise and create a safe Zone on this one acre parcel across the

street from Osa to build basketball courts a soccer field and a performance Amphitheater for the students to use by day and for the community to use by Night the goal by the end of the year is to transform the vacant lot across the street and create a bubble of security and positivity here at this vibrant School in downtown Oakland the drawings are a start I kind of just drew this flower because I thought it was pretty it could represent re-blossoming in Osa yeah in Downtown Oakland I'm Leslie B

rinkley ABC 7 News