East Bay & SF Events to Nurture Your Inner Artist by Vanessa Li
Cafecito & Crafts Club and Watercolor Playdate in Oakland, Vibe Artisans Market and Crochet Workshop in SF, Summer Vision-boarding in Berkeley and more!
Welcome to a guest post by my friend, community builder and events producer Vanessa Li:
Vanessa Li is the founder of Tomatokind, a growing community of multi-passionate professionals redefining what it means to build a creative life. She asks: What are the many ways we can ignite our inner spark and celebrate our multitudes? She is a public health practitioner by training; service designer by trade; and working musician, writer, and community-gatherer by passion. If you were to peek into Vanessa’s world, you would be greeted by Broadway musicals on full-blast and her 100-lb Great Pyrenees (followed by a lint roller). This year, Vanessa will be launching the Possibilities Club Podcast, an immersive audio docu-series that will follow the inspiring yet ordinary lives of multi-passionate individuals around the world. Follow Tomatokind for more stories, tiny experiments, and a community reigniting their creative spark together. You can find Vanessa on socials at @tomatokindmagazine.
Today, I have the absolute pleasure of featuring Vanessa Li as a guest contributor! We were introduced to each other through our friend Magali Mathieu in March, co-hosted a Substackers gathering in Oakland in June, and thought it would be fun to swap guest posts!
I always enjoy shining a light on the people who are building community through art, conversation, and shared experiences. Vanessa is doing incredible things over on Tomatokind Magazine, and has kindly curated a selection of upcoming events and creative talks happening in the East Bay and SF this month, including several she's hosting herself.
So, I'll hand things over to Vanessa...
Summer is…rays of sunshine hitting my dewy sunblock-slathered calves, the meeting of grass and the edge of my not-quite-big-enough picnic blanket, a frisbee whooshing past my ears, and a cold piece of melon on the tip of my fork…
As someone who appreciates each new month for the way it guides me into a new headspace, I cannot confidently pick “a favorite season.” But, the months between June and August are definitely special. I crave the way summer invites me to fantasize, to frolic, to forget my worries, and to eat lots of watermelon. Creatively, it takes me back to scrapbooks filled with cutouts of middle-school memories, hanging up hammocks on trips to the river, and attending pool parties I felt (and looked) incredibly awkward at. As an adult, though, summers have evolved from a season of play to being about landing internships and squeezing in more work, traveling home to see family (because we otherwise live far apart), and booking last-minute getaways focused on relieving stress before the season’s magic wears away. Somehow, it became more about being the antidote to the everyday routine rather than truly delighting the soul.
So, as you step into this season’s calendar of barbecues, part-time jobs, family vacations, and overthinking about how you could have accomplished more during the first half of 2026, I hope you take time for your inner artist: that curious, intuitive part of you who just wants to drown out the noise and make things. Consider: taking your inner artist out for a date to the local antique market, buy them flowers and colored pencils, let them stare at the ripples on the lake, and invite them to go wild in one of those pretty notebooks you’ve been saving for “a special project.”
As a community builder and events producer, I deeply appreciate spaces curated and led by my fellow creative gatherers: ones that give permission for others to step inside and nurture their creative souls.
Here in the San Francisco East Bay (where I’m writing from), I’ve had the pleasure to visit many such spaces. And, it’s my joy to share a few that have caught my eye this July:
July Creative Events
July 11: Cafecito & Crafts Club
On July 11 from 11am-2pm, bring your crafty friends to Café con Carino in Oakland. Order a cafecito and come bask in Oakland’s favorite creative cafe experience hosted by That Art Party, an art and play experience by and for BIPOC adults.
The vibe: an open-studio hang where you can bring your own creative projects to work on (or start a new one with the large variety of art supplies provided), craft at your own pace, and connect with other creatives. There will be craft cocktails, specialty coffee, local vendors, mixed-media art supplies, and a live DJ.
July 12: Crochet Workshop & Watercolor Playdate
On July 12 1:30-3pm, join for a crochet workshop at Scrap & Sip in SF and create a beautiful yarn bookmark for all your summer reading adventures. You’ll learn the crochet basics, including the slip knot, chain, single crochet, and changing colors.
Later that day from 2-4pm, head to Nido’s Backyard in Oakland for a dreamy watercolor workshop led by artist Payal Desai. Through gentle, intuitive techniques, you’ll learn to paint loose, layered florals that feel alive on the page.
July 18-19: Vibe Artisans Market
On the weekend of July 18-19, enjoy a weekend of family-friendly creativity in the city at the Vibe Artisans Market at Pier 27, which will feature over 125 local artisans, immersive art galleries, local vinyl DJ, and fun community activations.
July 24: Creative Lunch Club
On July 24 from 12-1pm, bring a picnic blanket & your favorite summer snack, and join for a Creative Lunch Club Picnic hosted by Tomatokind at Strawberry Creek Park, Berkeley. The casual outdoor gathering is designed for creatives of all kinds to meet like-minded souls and seed meaningful friendships.
July 29: Summer Vision-boarding
On July 29 from 6-8pm, Tomatokind is co-hosting a Summer Vision-boarding workshop with Manifest Creative Club, designed to feel like a mid-year reset. You’ll immerse in a creative meditation of collaging, a shared sense of community and optimism, and the chance to envision exactly how you want the rest of the year to feel.
July Creative Talks:
July 11: Book Talk with Kate Washington
On July 11 from 7-8:30pm, visit Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary & Garden Arts in Berkeley for a conversation with Kate Washington about her memoir “Midstream: A Life Remade in 50 Swims.”
Kate will share the journey of embarking on a 50 Dunks Project (as she approached her 50th birthday and contemplating ending a 23-year marriage), her reclaiming of long-forgotten joys, and discovering a renewed sense of self.
July 15: Fruity Hot Ferments Talk & Tasting
On July 15 from 6-8pm, visit the beautiful Oakland third-space called Local Economy for Fruity Hot Ferments, a talk & tasting hosted by hot sauce connoisseur Osamu and forager Cindy.
At the event, you’ll play with different fruits and ingredients, learn the fundamentals of preservation and lactose-fermentation, and walk away with a delicious recipe and inspiration to attempt a hot sauce fermentation of your own.
Thank you so much to Vanessa for putting together this fantastic guide that encourages you to explore different neighborhoods, support community builders, and discover new corners of the Bay Area!
I hope this inspires you to venture across the bridge and discover somewhere new!
Also, in case you missed my North Bay Openings & Events in July - it includes a Cookbook & Mug Swap in San Anselmo, a S’mores & Craft Camp Night in Mill Valley feat Tracy Benjamin, a Mystical Makers Market in Novato, plus new brunch spot Pretti Platters, and a vintage store called Box Office that has opened in San Anselmo! The post also includes info about my next Substackers group on Thursday July 9th in Marin County!
Happy exploring!
Sophie
ABOUT: Hi, I'm Sophie Davies — a community connector and culture-obsessed Brit living in Marin County (30 mins north of San Francisco, CA). I share community events, workshops, talks, and boutique, c are or restaurant openings in my community, plus pop culture recommendations in CUPPA with Sophie Davies. My mission is to bring people together to soak up culture, and feel inspired and connected to where we live!
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