Open Thursday–Saturday, 1-4 pm
For most people in Berkeley today, the western side of I-80 is a bit of an afterthought, a pleasant place for a walk along the Bayfront Trail or for flying a kite. But it wasn’t always this way. The Berkeley waterfront was once a bustling place of industry and transportation, one of the main centers for work outside of the University. It was also a place for the city to dump its trash and a way to fill shallower parts of the Bay in order to “create” more usable land.
The waterfront was also the focus of environmental activism in Berkeley between 1960 and 1998, helping to stop the filling of San Francisco Bay and creating the string of parks along the Bay so beloved today. Today, Indigenous Ohlone people continue to fight for the preservation of their sacred spaces where the waterfront used to be, and local activists spar with the city over potential uses of the Berkeley Pier.
Photographs, maps and drawings covering more than a century will help tell the complex story of the evolution of westernmost Berkeley and provide background on potential future changes.
The exhibit will continue through September 26, 2026 with multiple related programs.
Curatorial team for this exhibit: Mitch Fleischer, lead curator; Camille Antinori, John Aronovici, Elizabeth Dougherty, Ann Harlow, Chris James, George Petty, Rosalyn Sproule, John Steere, Charles Wollenberg, and Judy Ziajka. Many others provided valuable support.
Admission is free (donations appreciated).