Wolfe Pack Studios’ Final Show Isn’t Bad News

Even when venues close and galleries shutter, the idea that led to the creation of the space can remain; sometimes that idea can grow.

This is true for Oakland-based painter Rachel Wolfe-Goldsmith, whose event space, studio and gallery Wolfe Pack Studios is set to host its final exhibition May 9 through May 18.

Unfinished Business, a solo show of Wolfe-Goldsmith’s latest work, is a series of sandy golden-brown painted canvases, each based on a photograph of Wolfe-Goldsmith’s recent lived experiences. Those include a scene of West Oakland’s Wood Street, an image from a trip Wolfe-Goldsmith took to Morocco last year, and a silhouette of Wolfe-Goldsmith in a harness while rock climbing, made to look as if she’s flying.

The artwork flows beyond the borders of the canvases, with lines and shapes enveloping the entire gallery as one big continuous piece. Within that, there’s a metaphor: when the canvases come down, blank spaces will remain where the images once hung.

“I’m working on a story based on myself,” says Wolfe-Goldsmith of the exhibition, while sitting on a couch in her studio-gallery. She adds that the driving notion behind her latest work is “death and transition — whether that be in a spiritual form or in a real world of things changing, dying and moving into a new form.”

The title Unfinished Business was inspired by a 2018 fire at the M0xy Warehouse in Oakland, in which Wolfe-Goldsmith lost all of her paintings.

She’s since gained recognition for her large-scale murals that span multiple stories on the exteriors of huge buildings. Her work can be seen all around downtown Oakland, as well on walls in Sacramento, Detroit and Washington D.C. “I was mostly a canvas painter at that time,” Wolfe-Goldsmith reflects about the 2018 fire. “I lost everything, and that was kind of the time where I transitioned toward mural paintings.”

In addition to making murals, she’s been holding events at her Wolfe Pack Studios. Since opening in October of 2022, Wolfe Pack has regularly hosted comedy showcases with Langstyn Avery, as well as events like Writer’s Block, a gathering for wordsmiths led by Deej Letemps.

But her fondest memory? “The feeling of standing in an idea,” Wolfe-Goldsmith says, without hesitation. Looking around her space, she adds, “It’s not just thinking about it or praying for it, it’s coming in everyday and doing a little bit, and doing a little bit more.”

Standing in your own idea is one thing, but seeing its impact on others takes it to the next level. “This wouldn’t be possible without everyone else,” says Wolfe-Goldsmith. “Standing in an idea, and watching other people be a part of it… Seeing that infectious creative energy take with other people — it’s really dope.”

There’s good news for anyone who’s benefited from that infectious energy: the idea isn’t ending, it’s growing.

Without yet going into details on what’s next for Wolfe Pack Studios, Wolfe-Goldsmith says the closure isn’t altogether bad. The idea behind the gallery-studio is moving to a bigger shared space, she explains, that will still be accessible to the public.

‘Unfinished Business’ is on view at Wolfe Pack Studios (306 13th St., Oakland) from May 9–18. Details here.