“Unpacking Impact” Unit at Street Academy: 28th Annual ArtEsteem Exhibition Series
ArtEsteem's 28th Annual Exhibition is just one day away!
In this final exploration before the big day, we're shining a spotlight on our Digital Media class at Oakland Emiliano Zapata Street Academy for their Unpacking Impact photography unit.
If you missed the previous exploration, check out Cultural, Political, & Environmental Art at Greenleaf TK-8 & West Oakland Middle!
When crafting his curriculum for the school year, Teaching Artist JD wanted to use the medium of photography to help his students identify and process how they are impacted by their built environment and lived experiences, and how those aspects of life are impacted by them in return.
JD developed lessons where the primary goal was getting outside and taking in The Town. The learnings from these "photo walks" were enhanced by historical, technical, and cultural context taken in through field trips to physical spaces like the Oakland Public Library and the Oakland Museum of California archives, and digital spaces like the University of California's Calisphere, a primary source database.
“A lot of them have never held a physical picture of their own. We print photos in class,” JD explained during our class progress interview. With most students owning smartphones, the interest surrounding photography as an art form has dwindled. JD intends to bring intentionality back into photographic practice, and with it, a reflection of the self.
The students are moved by JD's call to look within themselves, focus on the present, and capture small yet significant moments.
Carol, a 10th grader, writes in an artist statement, "I enjoy the process of noticing small things and turning them into something important through my work. Through my art, I want people to feel a sense of connection, warmth, and appreciation for the little things in life. Most importantly, my work reflects how much I genuinely enjoy creating and sharing what I see."
Fellow 10th grader Jaydee feels similarly: "Taking these pictures shows how powerful a single moment can be when you pause long enough to notice it."
JD elaborates on his experience working with his students: “Kids nowadays are different. They have different priorities, different interests, different value systems. Different things have impacts on them.” In speaking to the unique experiences and issues youth face in the current era, he acknowledges the significance of the evolution and accessibility of technology. Linking the two within his curriculum makes for an effective, educational, and fundamentally, relatable art practice.
It’s clear that JD takes his role as a teacher and a mentor with weight as he delves further into his experiences with his students. He astutely concludes that, “Any space where people care about the kids… that matters. It’s important for them to know somebody cares. They get this negative energy pushed at them from every direction all day long, I think it’s important for any of us that can push that positive energy to counteract the negative as much as we can.” With that statement, it’s hard not to agree that giving these students a safe space to explore their own experiences through self expression is crucial.
This marks the final installment of the 28th Annual ArtEsteem Exhibition Series.
We hope to see you at the 28th Annual ArtEsteem Exhibition tomorrow!
Cultural, Political, & Environmental Art with Greenleaf TK-8 & West Oakland Middle School: 28th Annual ArtEsteem Exhibition Series
In this 28th Annual ArtEsteem Exhibition exploration, we are sharing units from two of our 6th-8th grade classes: Cultural and Political Art: Faux Stained Glass at Greenleaf TK-8 and Creative Ecosystems: An Ecology of Art at West Oakland Middle School.
If you missed the previous exploration, check out “Global Textiles” Unit with Hoover Elementary!
At Greenleaf TK-8…
Teaching Artist Cristina is guided her 6th and 7th grade students in creating ‘faux stained glass’ pieces on acrylic glass, exploring how visual art functions as a powerful form of communication, identity, and resistance across cultural and historical moments.
She integrated an environmental justice lens into the project by connecting materials, imagery, and themes to issues of sustainability, access, and environmental injustices faced by various communities. Over the course of the project, students discussed how art is political and brings visibility, storytelling, and public awareness to issues such as climate change, environmental racism, social justice, and indigenous land rights.
This builds upon learnings from previous projects. When the students created piñatas, they explored topics such as consumption, waste, and who is affected by environmental harm. This exploration fed into the artmaking process, where they used recycled cardboard and scrap paper, reusing and repurposing materials in a reflection of traditional and resourceful practices across cultures.
Cristina’s inspiration for this project was the historical use of stained glass as a storytelling medium. She worked with her students to design their imagery as a “window to the world,” and to think about whose stories are visible and whose are ignored.
Her intention is for their designs to serve as an outlet: “a form of storytelling through visuals, and because of everything that's happening in our world.” She aptly recognizes that the students experience and interpret everyday realities of life. “So I felt like it's, in a way, letting them process, but also express some of their feelings and thoughts and beliefs through art.”
The day we visited the classroom, there was a quiet atmosphere of focus as the students used pencil and paper to create cohesive and refined mockups from their design ideas.
A 6th grader named Delilah used light strokes of a pencil to outline Peanuts character Snoopy holding an “Abolish ICE” sign. When we asked about her message for the piece, she said, “a lot of people are fighting ICE around the country and trying to reunite their families.”
Vitalia, another 6th grade student, drew a teddy bear in front of a geometric pattern and shared that “the bear is meant to be a safe space,” an expression of comfort and empathy in response to the fear and anger communities are feeling from the current administration’s violently racist and anti-human actions.
At West Oakland Middle School…
Teaching Artist Gabby’s project oriented their students’ creative expression toward an environmental direction. When developing their unit plan, Gabby intended for students to explore the fundamentals of visual art through the lens of ecology and human experience. In Gabby’s curriculum notes they wrote, “just as ecosystems are made of interconnected parts that sustain life, and communities are shaped by diverse cultural and social interactions, art is built from elements that interact to create meaning and balance.”
The students explored ecosystems as interconnected systems where living and non-living elements depend on one another. Inspired by ecology, world-building, and sandbox games, students designed and sculpted a cohesive set of clay magnets that exist within the same ecosystem.
Gabby wanted to bring environmental awareness into their classroom through artistic interpretations of ecosystems, allowing the kids to explore the relationships between flora, fauna, and even food, with the rest of their environment. They delve into how giving environmental lessons an artistic twist makes the students much more open to learning and exploring the topic.
Students began by creating an 8-box planning grid to thoughtfully design each magnet as part of a whole environment. For additional scaffolding, students selected a specific biome (ocean, forest, desert, tundra, etc.) and assigned each box a required ecosystem role (ground element, plants, animals, food source, and natural resource). Students then used clay tools to sculpt their designs, emphasizing form, texture, and relationship between elements. The final magnet sets will function as modular ecosystem stories that can be rearranged and displayed.
This is an arts integration project—Gabby teaches during the school day in science teacher Mr. Chalo’s classroom. The day we visited the classroom, Gabby’s students were shaping and forming their portions of clay with intent and purpose.
7th grade student Nakiyah shaped ants and centipedes alongside fried eggs and pancakes for their imagined “Bugs and Breakfast” ecosystem. “This is a random concept,” they elaborated, “since these are all things I like.”
Fellow 7th grade student Emely was directly inspired by Japanese animated shows, crafting the clay to represent characters and key objects like masks and symbolic plants.
Each student’s unique individual interests shone through their ecosystem themes.
“Global Textiles” Unit with Hoover Elementary: 28th Annual ArtEsteem Exhibition Series
In this 28th Annual ArtEsteem Exhibition exploration following “Rooted In Oakland, Rooted In Self” with the Legacy Project, we're sharing progress from our after school class at Hoover Elementary for their Global Textiles unit!
Teaching Artist Alexa created a curriculum in which students learn about textile techniques from around the world, the difference between synthetic and natural materials, and how to create their own pattern work by integrating those techniques and materials.
When conceptualizing this unit, Alexa was inspired by her previous cyanotype printing projects, igniting a deeper love for the color blue and a heightened interest in indigo. Through research and project testing, she decided to focus on textile practices from Nigeria, Peru, and Japan. The primary textile practice of the unit is Adire Eleko, an indigo resist-dyeing technique originated by women of the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria (Adire = tied and dyed, Eleko = with starch).
After teaching them about the Adire Eleko process and Adire symbols, Alexa encouraged them to integrate the symbols they learned and symbols of their own choice into a design blueprint on paper before starting on the cloth. One student, Ma’Liyah, was focused on applying her concept design centering a tree of life (Ige Iye Adire symbol) to her cloth when we visited Alexa’s classroom. Aaliya, a student who was using symbols ranging from spirals to hearts said, “I like how I get to be creative,” reflecting similar sentiments about personal expression we heard in the classroom: “I used my imagination” and “I really love to draw!”
Alexa modified the project to accommodate her 4th grade artists, streamlining the resist-dyeing method of laying a paste made from cassava flour onto the cloth, letting it dry, then dipping the cloth in a tie-dye color of the students’ choice. The paste then can be washed off, leaving a pattern in its absence. “What I envision, thinking about textile from different places, immediately my mind goes to markets. I would love for [these pieces] to hang on the wall [at the Exhibition], drape over chairs…” Alexa explains.
It’s easy to see Alexa’s vision in progress. During our classroom visit in early February, the students scattered across the pavement, warmed by the California sun, spreading the cassava flour paste onto muslin in various shapes and letters. There’s a levity and peace to the space.
When asked about her favorite aspect of working with her class, Alexa answers candidly. “We’re learning together. I like to get outside of my box to show them that it’s okay to get out of their box, and that’s when really cool things happen.” She explains how the unbridled creativity of young children is her favorite thing about working with this age group.
The after school class is a crucial space for the students as well. Alexa explained to us how it’s impacted everyone positively: “Starting off there was a student who refused to speak to me. The first day of class, he wrote ‘I hate art’ on a piece of paper. Then, one day, we had a chitchat, and found out what he was feeling, why he was feeling, and we explained to him that he could use [the class] as an outlet.” It’s clear to see how helpful a designated space for self expression can be: “Now he speaks to me. He’s coming out of his shell a lot. He’s a good artist—he focused. He’s very into it.” Alexa continues to explain how exploring different forms of art has excited her students. They enjoy exploring and experimenting with new materials more than they do when they’re given materials that most standard classrooms tend to have access to, like colored pencils and crayons.
Alexa’s class is getting closer day by day to producing the final projects you will see at the 28th Annual ArtEsteem Exhibition! Stay tuned, and we hope to see you there on Saturday, April 18th!
“Rooted In Oakland, Rooted In Self” Unit with the Legacy Project: 28th Annual ArtEsteem Exhibition Series
As we approach our highly anticipated 28th Annual ArtEsteem Exhibition, we want to share about what's going on in our classrooms, and what you can look forward to at the Exhibition.
We'll start with the 2025-2026 cohort of ArtEsteem's in-house after school environmental arts, advocacy, and leadership program, the Legacy Project!
In his 1967 “A Time to Break Silence” speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. shared, “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.”
Legacy honored MLK’s birthday and call to action by supporting Bay Area Youth Climate Summit in their second annual climate justice rally. In collaboration with 100+ youth, our students designed environmental justice posters, performed speeches about hope, and participated in the rally around Dolores Park in San Francisco. Their chants were heard throughout the park, with cars beeping and people clapping as they passed by.
The following weekend, Legacy students went on a Frontline Communities Toxic Tour of East Oakland hosted by Communities for a Better Environment. From the airport expansion at MLK Shoreline, to the abandoned lots at the Coliseum, to community organizing at EnCompass Academy (one of our ArtEsteem school sites), students were exposed to the health, environmental, and racial disparities that directly impact their neighborhoods. This tour allowed students to contextualize the climate justice movement to include environmental justice within their own communities. To finish MLK’s quote, “In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there ‘is’ such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”
Legacy students are undergoing an interdisciplinary year-long course which empowers them to become the artists, heroes, and changemakers their communities need. Through art-making, oral history, civic engagement, and ecological exploration, students honor ancestral wisdom while envisioning themselves as agents of transformation in their communities.
The course is divided into interwoven threads of artistic expression and environmental justice, with both strands guiding students through personal and collective storytelling, hands-on studio practices, and real-world activism. Throughout the year, students deepen their understanding of how art and activism intersect, developing both their creative voices and their roles as cultural and ecological caretakers in their communities.
In the fall, students created Día de los Muertos-inspired altars and sculptures, investigating ancestral stories and cultural memory through portraiture, symbolism, and mixed media. In the winter, students are designing life-size Self as Super Hero paintings, envisioning themselves as heroes addressing real-world social and environmental issues they care deeply about. In the spring, students will learn more about local ecology and address a local pollution problem through eco-friendly reuse cardboard sculpture.
2025 Cycle of Gratitude Fundraiser - December 6th
Thank you for joining us to forge unity through discussion!
We engaged in critical conversations to enrich our perspectives and open our hearts
We heard from Oakland youth and connected with our amazing community
We enjoyed a delicious 3-course lunch from Jusla Catering’s Chef Christina “Lala” Harrison
Snapshots of this year’s event.
Special Thanks
Catering from Chef Christina “Lala” Harrison of Jusla Eats
With over a dozen years of experience, Chef Christina “Lala” Harrison is a proud Black chef serving Oakland & the greater Bay Area through her self-made business, Jusla Catering. Her food is an expression of Black Heritage Cuisine with a California twist, focusing on historical African American experiences through food. Her flavorful dishes utilize ingredients from local farmers, prepared with love and positive energy to feed the mind, body, and soul.
Sponsors of the Fundraiser
Friends of the Fundraiser
Our fundraiser sponsors and friends are steadfast allies to us and other organizations that uplift community and enrich the Bay Area. We are thankful for their continued support!
2024 Cycle of Gratitude Fundraiser - December 7th
We’re sold out!
Dine in with us & forge unity through discussion!
Rooted together, we grow stronger.
Engage in critical conversations to enrich your perspectives and open your heart
Enjoy delicious catered 3 course lunch from Jusla Catering’s Chef Christina “Lala” Harrison
Hear from Oakland youth and connect with fellow members of our amazing community
ArtEsteem is dedicated to uplifting, inspiring, & empowering youth through art and creativity to express themselves, become critically aware and envision positive solutions for themselves and our communities.
In our current social, political, and economic realities, ArtEsteem’s healing arts work is especially vital.
“High school students in Oakland outpaced their peers in California and around the U.S. in one particularly distressing category: 36% of respondents — nearly 1,300 students — said they witnessed someone in their neighborhood get shot, stabbed or beaten.”
“Oakland teens witness more violence, feel sadder than U.S. counterparts”
San Francisco Chronicle (June 9, 2023)
“…the arts facilitate personal and emotional growth by providing opportunities for students to reflect on who they are and who they want to be.”
American Academy of Arts & Sciences (September 2021)
Over the years, our students have spoken to the impact of participating in ArtEsteem programs:
“We are all different, but everyone should be treated equally. Everyone has different skills or talents, but we are really all the same - we are all human. I want my art to inspire others to find the courage to do what they are passionate about.”
Nikko, 8th Grade, Westlake Middle School
“I am a very anxious person and I occasionally will become closed off to the people around me, but when I am with AHC, all of my worries go away. This safe space is never discriminating or criticizing, I feel emotionally and physically safe here. I am not afraid to show my real self.”
Rodney, 11th Grade, Oakland Legacy Project
“This mural project allowed me to step up as a leader, in my school and in my community and within myself. It taught me how to be committed to something and to never give up, and always put your mind to something and believe you can do it and never let anyone tell you that you can't do it. It allowed me to step outside my box and explore my imagination.”
Umiika, 11th Grade, McClymonds High School
Snapshots of 26th Annual ArtEsteem Exhibition.
Lunch from Chef Lala of Jusla Catering!
With over a dozen years of experience, Chef Christina “Lala” Harrison is a proud Black chef serving Oakland & the greater Bay Area through her self-made business, Jusla Catering. Her food is an expression of Black Heritage Cuisine with a California twist, focusing on historical African American experiences through food. Her flavorful dishes utilize ingredients from local farmers, prepared with love and positive energy to feed the mind, body, and soul.
When she’s not in the kitchen, Chef Lala works with local area youth and undeserved communities to teach important trade skills, because kitchens build character. She’s also a lover of her dogs, and the World Champion Golden State Warriors.
Chef Lala works hard to partner and share opportunities with fellow black entrepreneurs in the community. She partners with other small businesses around the Bay Area owned by Black women, showcasing talents and skill sets to make each experience special and give fellow Black women entrepreneurs opportunities to network and thrive.
We are proud to partner with Chef Lala, and are ecstatic for you all to join us in enjoying her cuisine!
NAVIGATION:
Our new property is located in the residential neighborhood of the Hoover Corridor at 3111 West Street.
Parking is limited to spaces on the surrounding streets. We recommend that you walk, bike, take public transportation, carpool, or rideshare to ease your arrival experience.
Major thanks to our sponsors!
Mechanics Bank, Community Bank of the Bay, and Beneficial Bank are steadfast friends and supporters of us and other organizations that uplift community and enrich the Bay Area. We are thankful for their continued support!
Capital Campaign Phase I Open House - June 22nd, 2024
DATE: Saturday, June 22nd, 2024 | TIME: 1:00 - 3:00pm
LOCATION: 3111 West Street, Oakland, CA 94608
This past Saturday was an absolute joy for us all!
We thank everyone who supported this Open House in person and in spirit.
Our new building at 3111 West Street is now filled with your radiant energies of love and hope, primed to become a beacon of healing arts in Oakland.
Gratitude to:
- The donors and funders below for making our vision possible.
- WhaleCat Studios for creating video-stories
that showcase our work and impact.
- The HEAR HERE Community Billboard Truck team
for broadcasting the video-stories.
- ASÚKAR Palestinian Cuban Fusion for
providing wholesome and delicious catering.
ArtEsteem launched our capital campaign to ensure sustainability in Oakland’s ever-changing cityscape. The establishment of The Center for ArtEsteem at 3111 and 3115 West Street, less than two blocks from our original location on 33rd and West where we formed our identity and made decades of healing, creative, and educational impacts is indicative of a universal pull to maintain our deep-rooted legacy in West Oakland.
Our Phase I building at 3111 West Street is constructed, complete, and ready to be filled with ArtEsteem’s foundational energies of love, joy, and creativity. This Open House will serve as a showcase and celebration, demonstrating the building’s design, features, and potential as an arts, healing, and administrative space.
ArtEsteem hired two dedicated professionals with diverse backgrounds and abilities to create culturally-connected architectural, landscape, and urban designs. Christopher Andrews, a Black architect and town planner, and Catherine Chang, a native Hawaiian architect and landscape designer, each bring over 30 years of experience to their practice and have extensive experience with environmentally and culturally sustainable methods to the design process. Their general practice and approach to The Center for ArtEsteem’s new buildings celebrates the critical juncture between architectural and urban space, articulates and advocates for environmental and social concerns, and helps preserve, enhance and create beautiful neighborhoods and buildings. Christopher and Catherine have worked with the ArtEsteem team from design to build, providing support with project management as well as managing and navigating city planning and permit processes.
Madrone Design Studio, Catherine Chang’s sustainable development and design firm, is staffed by a diverse team of culturally informed and responsive junior architects who operate from a culture of listening and respect. This collaboration has allowed our capital campaign to prioritize our unique cultural and programmatic needs, resulting in a unique space that stands out to ArtEsteem’s residential neighbors and provides an optimal community resource.
We want to serve as an example of an organization that uplifts and provide spaces for resilience, imagination, and ingenuity, an imperative aim to mitigate the oppressive systems that have divided and degraded marginalized peoples and spaces. We welcome you to our Open House, and ask you to instill love, optimism, and hope into the space.
FEATURING:
Art activities including gel plate printing, tablecloth decoration, and screen printing.
Video engagement with the HEAR HERE Community Billboard Truck.
Catering from ASÚKAR Palestinian Cuban Fusion.
NAVIGATION:
Our new property is located in the residential neighborhood of the Hoover Corridor at 3111 West Street.
Parking is limited to spaces on the surrounding streets. We recommend that you walk, bike, take public transportation, carpool, or rideshare to ease your arrival experience.
COVID-19 CONSIDERATIONS:
We strongly recommend wearing a mask and having up-to-date vaccinations.
According to Alameda County Public Health: “Wearing masks is strongly urged in indoor settings and required in certain high-risk settings. You may choose to wear a mask in outdoor crowded settings, and in non-public indoor settings, like a private residence, when you are around people who may be unvaccinated, elderly, or immunocompromised. While fully vaccinated people are well-protected from severe illness due to variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, they may get asymptomatic or mild infections. To protect everyone, wear a mask to help slow the spread of the virus.“
Please be mindful of social distancing, and respect everyone’s space.
Graffiti as Artistic Expression: One on One with Teaching Artist Cristina
Before we explore the creative expression of our students at the upcoming 26th Annual ArtEsteem Exhibition on April 13th, let’s delve into the minds of one of our ArtEsteem Visual Arts teaching artists: Cristina Delgado.
Cristina (she/they) has brightened classrooms with us since 2021. She was born in Autlán, Jalisco, Mexico, raised in Tongva land (Los Angeles, CA), and is currently based in Ohlone land (Oakland, CA). She is a first-generation graduate from UC Berkeley with a BA in film and media studies and a minor in education. As an undergraduate, Cristina participated in CREATE (Creative Residencies for Emerging Artists Teaching Empowerment) where she taught classes in visual arts, creative writing, and art therapy to local schools and community organizations. Post graduation she worked at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts and Kala Art Institute before landing with The Center for ArtEsteem.
This year for her students at Encompass Academy, Cristina developed a project integrating graffiti arts and one of ArtEsteem’s core curriculums, the Self As Super Hero (SASH), developed by Executive Director Amana Harris.
With artist Aeos One (DeVante Brooks) sharing his skillset as a style writer, sculptor, sign painter, and muralist, Cristina's classes are expanding their world views and artistic education with each lesson in the project series.
The following interview allows us a view into Cristina’s unique perspective as teacher and artist.
What is your intention behind this project? How did it all come together?
I was inspired to create this lesson plan because when I was talking to students at the beginning of the school year in August/September many expressed an interest in graffiti, and I wanted to incorporate something they were interested in into their SASH portraits. I know graffiti is a subculture and often criminalized because it's associated with gang culture. However, graffiti is another way we can visually communicate, self express, and represent ourselves and our communities politically, humorously, bluntly, or any way we feel like it.
I met DeVante a couple years ago at First Fridays. He was vending with AeroSoul. I saw his work and was so amazed by his talent that I bought a jean jacket he painted. I followed him on social media and I've been seeing his work online with calligraphy, graffiti, and repurposing signs with positive messages and words. I DM'ed him and asked him if he would be down to do a graffiti skill share with elementary students in East Oakland and he replied with “I’m open to helping the youth of Oakland.” He suits this project because he was born and raised in Oakland, has been doing graffiti for about 15 years, and his philosophy in creating art is uplifting his community.
I merged SASH with graffiti art concepts by doing a mixed media collage portrait painting. Students learned about can control by spray painting their canvas, which will be the background to their SASH portrait. They were also encouraged to come up with one word for their superhero; it can be their name, an adjective, or a word that represents them. DeVante took the time to write each word using graffiti techniques, and the students will paint their word with paint markers using graffiti techniques and tricks.
From your perspective, how have the students engaged with and reacted to the project?
Students have been brainstorming and developing their SASH portraits, and have now begun sketching and painting with watercolors. When we returned from winter break I told them we were going to have a guest artist come and teach us about graffiti.
All the students were excited to use spray paint as a medium. I think their first impression of graffiti was that it was a bad thing to do because there is a lot of stigma associated with it and it is often described as vandalism. But after hearing Mr. Aeos One (DeVante) share his story and work with the students I think their perspective changed. They now understand how graffiti is an artistic expression and can lead to a career if that is something they're interested in pursuing. Additionally, we will soon begin painting the graffiti words that Mr. Aeos One did for them, and they will get the opportunity to paint and decorate their graffiti word in their own stylistic way. I hope this process can highlight key elements to graffiti and demonstrate to them that graffiti is more than spray painting.
What do you hope the students will take away from this project? What do you want audiences to feel at the Exhibition?
I hope the students enjoyed this project and got to authentically express themselves in their SASH portraits. I hope the audience can have a greater appreciation for the community and culture that graffiti stems from.
A Rising Tide Benefit Screening - March 24th, 2024
This benefit screening, the creation of Oakland Super Heroes Mural Project Wall #5 , and the restoration of Wall #2 are funded by the Bay Area Creative Corps program, a joint initiative by the San Francisco Foundation and California Arts Council.
DATE: Sunday, March 24th, 2024 | 12:30pm
LOCATION: The New Parkway Theater | 474 24th St, Oakland, CA 94612
Special thanks to:
The Beautification Council for engaging the unhoused residents in cleaning the east wall of the Market Street underpass in preparation for the restoration of Mural #2.
The Homeless Action Center for giving us a starting point with advice and a guided session for outreach to the unhoused residents of the underpasses.
The City of Oakland’s City Administrator’s office for providing connections to unhoused service organizations we could learn from and collaborate with.
Commons Archive’s HEAR/HERE Community Billboard Truck for sharing our OSHMP video-stories with the public.
Our Panelists
Nikko Cabrera
Alumnus of ArtEsteem’s Oakland Legacy Project
Ronald Broach
Director of Shelter Networks at Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency
Jonathan Russell
Director of the Alameda County Office of Homeless Care and Coordination
The Center for ArtEsteem (ArtEsteem) hosted a benefit screening of Oakland filmmaker Cheryl Fabio's A Rising Tide to uplift the voices of Alameda County's unhoused residents and ignite conversation about preserving the visions of our youth through public art.
ArtEsteem is proud to join the growing number of community entities hosting screenings of this vital documentary as we aim to spark conversation and community action related to the housing crisis and our community beautification effort, the Oakland Super Heroes Mural Project (OSHMP). The OSHMP cultivates, educates, and engages youth in community issues and solutions through the power of public art. Since its inception in 2011, the OSHMP has engaged over 500 youth and beautified over 16,000 square feet of I-580 underpass wall space in West Oakland. Through this screening, we will spark conversation about the intersections between community health and public art, and envision what’s required to inspire youth voices while rebuilding healthy and vibrant communities.
In the past five years, and more dramatically from the onset of the pandemic, Oakland’s murals have been devastated by the symptoms of structural, political, and social dysfunction–made especially visible with the destruction of OSH murals #2 and #3 from tagging, dumping, and fires. The murals also serve as a backdrop for residents facing homelessness in the Market Street and West Street highway underpasses. With this screening, ArtEsteem hopes to garner community resources to support the restoration of the murals and assist the underpass residents. A part of this effort includes informing our community on the intricacies of the housing crisis through A Rising Tide.
We need help to restore murals #2 and #3 to their original radiance and execute the final Mural #5. All donations raised at this screening will go into The Center for ArtEsteem's fund to support the Oakland Super Heroes Mural Project.
Documentary Summary: "Through the eyes of children, their families, and the helping industry that has developed from the housing crisis, A Rising Tide follows the strategies of families and service providers struggling with homelessness." (CR: A Rising Tide Website)
COVID Notice
We strongly recommend masking at public events. Please refer to the California Department of Public Health’s masking guide for detailed advice.
Please read the New Parkway’s COVID policy update from November 2022 for more information.
Getting to the New Parkway: Theater Guide
Cycle of Gratitude Fundraiser - December 9th, 2023
Thank you for joining us!
This season of giving, we are basking in the spirit of gratitude—to
our team, to our supporters, to those we serve: thank you!
Purchase a ticket today to secure your spot.
*Each ticket purchased may be tax deductible for all but $25 of its price. Please consult your tax advisor on the taxable status of your ticket purchase.
This year’s Cycle of Gratitude fundraiser honors the message of Attitudinal Healing Principle #3: Giving and receiving are the same.
Our work is made possible through your contributions, and we are excited for this opportunity to share time, love, and laughter with you all on December 9th.
We will be celebrating in Oakstop’s beautiful Gaines Gallery, featuring a spacious indoor gallery and outdoor roof deck with a view of Telegraph Avenue, overlooking the Fox Theater.
With words from our esteemed special guest Brandi Howard,
President & CEO of the East Bay Community Foundation.
Join us for…
custom art activity designed and led by our teaching artists
blessing and manifestation exercise for the in-construction Center for ArtEsteem
catering from Café Fifteen and Cupcakin’ Bake Shop
raffle with prizes from Minimo Wine, Numi Tea, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Parking is limited in the area. We recommend walking, biking, public transportation, ride share, carpooling, or another form of travel to ease your arrival experience.
The Gaines Gallery is on the top floor of 1740 Telegraph Avenue. Access available by elevator or stairwell.