A name is called from the list of people who got to Air Lounge early enough to sign-up for the open mic. Everyone claps as the DJ plays a bit of music.

It’s hard to think of a better First Friday event during Black History Month than AeroSoul 2, which began a monthlong residency at the Joyce Gordon Gallery on Feb. 4.

Graffiti art by itself is fresh. Graffiti art in a gallery setting is dope. And graffiti art in a gallery setting with a historical/cultural/educational theme?

Oakland's harsh cold breeze did not keep the young urban professional crowd from attending the Trends Urban Vintage episode at Era Art Bar this past Saturday night.

Men wore their favorite tailored suits, women wore their favorite winter faux fur and shimmery tights with pockets of glitter. The lower floor of the two-floor building was packed with people drinking cocktails, chit-chatting in circles with their friends and two steppin' to the tunes that DJ Hector Salazar spun in his respective space.

"Twenty-ten" was an interesting year for Oakland.

Amidst rebellion and protest in the streets, the invasion of an occupying army of police in riot gear and senseless shootings on both sides of the law, there was actually quite a bit of hopeful positivity where arts, culture and entertainment was concerned.

Without further ado, and in no particular order, here are 10 things that Oakland Local believes helped improve Oakland’s cultural index in 2010.

The Bay Area is the independent capital of the free world. Oakland, in particular, is known for its political history and the Black Panther Movement. The city is continuously cultivating creative culture.

This year, there were creative accessories, clothing lines and music artists standing out amongst the crowd. 2010 was a great year for people with creative ideas and agendas, so I decided to make a list of my personal favorite fashionable artists, brands and events of this past year.

Let's go!

(Editor's note: The following piece written by OL writer/videographer Oriana Bolden is a first person account of events that took place Nov. 5 in downtown Oakland, following the sentencing of Johannes Mehserle in the Oscar Grant murder trial.)

As night fell arrests became free flowing. Information, not so much.

Imagine a Halloween event on the grounds of one of Oakland’s oldest landmarks - with a large Victorian house and gardens and room after room of antique furniture, standing just as the three now-long-gone generations who lived there left it.

On Wednesday, Oct. 13, local curator Kheven LaGrone will bring "Coloring Outside The Lines: Black Cartoonist as Social Commentators" to Laney College. The panel discussion will begin at 11 a.m. in the school's library at 900 Fallon St. in Oakland.

On Saturday, Oct. 16, the Oakland Asian Cultural Center will host its annual fall fundraiser, premiering the work of Dohee Lee’s PURI 5: SPORA - a piece that incorporates dance, art, music and spoken word.

Nenna Joiner was born and raised underneath the bright lights of Las Vegas, Nevada.

She refers to the famous strip as “downtown” naturally. Growing up under the luminous, sultry marquee that Vegas forms over the desert left a mark on the 35-year-old Oakland resident.

“Vegas is sex,” she said. “But I didn’t see anyone that looks like me growing up.”