A sampling of work GEMS has produced with individuals, families, communities and event spaces.
COMMUNITY-FOCUSED PROJECTS
Stories from Oakland Kajukenbo Kwoon
GEMS trained and recorded young students in the OKK Summer Camp interviewing other martial arts students. GEMS edited the interviews into these audio gems.
90 Years at the White Horse
90 Years at The White Horse tells the story of the oldest gay in the country’s legacy through stories recorded at the 90 year birthday party.
SF Small Business Week Closing Ceremony 2024
Recorded and edited stories of small businesses vendors for the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce at the Closing Ceremony of Small Business Week 2024. Video with the audio stories produced by Kasey Bruce Media.
Destiny Arts Town Nights 2023
Recorded audio stories with community members and youth participants at 3 Town Nights events presented by Destiny Arts during the summer of 2023. Videographer + Editor: Jay Gash
Mapping Queer Oakland
With funding from the City of Oakland, an oral history project mapping the stories of 10 LGBTQ+ individuals over the age of 60 in Oakland, CA. Mapping Queer Oakland Zine
Grandparents & Special Friends Day
GEMS supported Park Day School to record stories at the Grandparents and Special Friends Day in 2023. Some of these special stories are showcased on the student’s podcast, If You Knew Me Mondays
Save Your Oakland Stories
In partnership with the Oakland History Center, GEMS recorded a day of oral histories at the Oakland Main Library in 2023 with various members of the Oakland community. Recordings will be available in the library’s online collections.
On Being & Dance Generators
Recorded and edited audio for On Being and Dance Generators videos where pairs of younger and older members of the dance company reflect on their experience connecting and moving together as intergenerational partners.
Recorded in 2019, this independent project highlights stories of LGBTQ+ individuals over the age of 60 who have lived in the Bay Area for 20+ years. Excerpts offer a taste of the rich experiences of LGBTQ+ elders and add their narratives to a larger landscape of East Bay stories.
INDIVIDUAL CLIENT WORK
50+ individuals interviewed for private family archives. Creative projects include: oral history recordings, transcripts, edited segments (audio mementos, audiobooks, end of life memorials), consultations.
MOBILE STORYTELLING BOOTH
A unique recording booth to compliment important family or community events. Recordings can be edited to sharable
90 Years at the White Horse
90 Years at The White Horse includes memories and juicy stories recorded with party attendees to honor the bar’s 90 year legacy.
40th Wedding Anniversary
40th Wedding Anniversary highlight reel. Recorded in the Mobile Storytelling Booth.
EDUCATION
Currently leading Sound Space audio storytelling programs at Chapter 510 for high schoolers.
Tales of Surviving High School
Nine students document pieces of their education experience and ask important questions. Each audio story explores a topic like success, grades, and sex ed. With interviews, personal reflection, and creative sound, these students unpack their educational experiences.
Oakland Belonging: The Voices of Swan’s Market
An audio walking tour and podcast of past, present and future stories of the people and places in and around Swan’s Market which is a historic landmark with rich history in Oakland.
Oakland Futurists
Oakland Futurists asks you to explore and visualize a new world. In this series, seven high school students ask:
What does the future look like? What kind of world do we want to live in?What do we want to change?
gemsoralhistories.com 