This new water map is a jigsaw puzzle

[Joel Pomerantz]

Hi, and brace yourself for happy good news. I know, it’s shocking.

While I was camping and bike riding and trying to pick out the condors from the smaller vultures, my collaborators produced a sweet, short video. It’s about the Lake Merritt watershed map I adapted, from original cartographer Scott Oliver.

I only made six shower curtains of that design, so contact me soon if you want one. There are three left, not available through the seepcity.org website.

That Lake Merritt Watershed map now has a new life as a jigsaw puzzle. The puzzle's a collaboration, too, with Liam O’Donoghue (East Bay Yesterday) and Brandon Jourdan, who's making a documentary film about Lake Merritt—and totally coincidentally was my mom’s neighbor early in the covid pandemic, running errands for her.

It’s all being facilitated by the relatively new and public-good-oriented Oakland Puzzle Company. Their Long Lost Oakland map puzzle was a gift to me by said mother last year. Through that, I learned my old biking pal DeAnna Tibbs has started this new company making local art into strangely shaped pieces that amazingly fit together to form the original art. What a cool invention! Okay, I’m a little behind on technology. I’m told puzzles have been around awhile.

I like how elegantly these stories loop back on one another. Momma Joanie, local mapping, bicycling, neighborliness…and just to rope in the bird side of it, I painted some typical lake birds (not condors) to adorn the puzzle.

Here’s the little intro video:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7q0tptiZEJc

As you’ll see, it’s all part of a fundraiser to support the Lake Merritt documentary. Enjoy!

Joel

PS: I’ll be making this available as a poster and as a puzzle at certain events, such as:
May 31 NOPNA block party (Lyon St at Grove 11–4)
June 21 LakeFest Oakland (11–7 at Lake Merritt)

And when it’s ready in a few weeks, it’ll show up on the seepcity.org order page.
—
Joel Pomerantz
thinkwalks.org
seepcity.org
415-505-8255 (flip phone)
Make your support tax deductible! Contact me for details about our 501(c)(3) nonprofit.