Artist Spotlight: Camila Aguilar

“Poetry is like my little corner of the universe.” - Camila Aguilar

For Bay Area Creative teaching artist Camila Aguirre Aguilar, spoken word is more than an act of expression. “Poetry is like my little corner of the universe,” she explains. As a poet, performer, and teacher, her journey with writing dives deeper than words on a page; it is a bridge to salvation and community.

Sacramento-born and raised in Vista, Aguirre Aguilar’s upbringing was wrapped in the lyricism of music and word. Between her mother’s reading and her father’s music-playing, the young artist quickly grasped the beauty of speech, how one could pin rhythm to a sentence to form something larger than language itself. The idea that these same words could also hold the weight in truth, story, and conviction, however, did not present itself until her teen years, when hardship and trauma ushered her into the world of performance.

At age 15, Aguirre Aguilar attended her first slam. Here, she witnessed Alfred Howard perform, and how his pieces carried far more than lines of poetry; he spoke of war, empire, family, and vulnerability. From this moment, Aguirre Aguilar understood how deep the range of possibilities lay; how far she could dive to express herself and reach out to others. She would return to the La Paloma Theater a year later, her pieces focused on matters of oppression and justice, including the war in Iraq, sex-trafficking, and the effects of climate change on her local community. Being only 16, she captured the crowd and ultimately won 1st place. “My voice mattered,” she recalls on the shock of the win, the first success still leaving a lasting imprint.

Hardship, however, would continue to chase her. Amidst struggles at home and in her personal life, addiction became a crutch. Support from other institutions also began to fail her, the artist’s teachers and peers writing her off as incapable and unscholarly – an experience not uncommon for other underserved youths of color. Despite all of this, however, Aguirre Aguilar continued to find salvation in the arts; slams and community events received her with respect, her words rippling across a resonating audience that understood and felt. As the poet explains, “I had a little spot of healthy soil I could root myself in on the Earth.” Aguirre Aguilar’s relationship with art became a symbiotic one in which both grew alongside one another, poet tending to word, word tending to poet.

Aguirre Aguilar first began mentoring public speaking at Miracosta Community College in Oceanside, where she attended class after high school. She assisted with the school’s Performance Writers Club, who showed great interest in slam poetry, allowing Aguirre Aguilar to begin to share her passions through mentorship. She eventually transferred to UC Berkeley, where her continued poetry performances caught the attention of Bay Area Creative; from here, she realized the call to teach and share this “little corner of the universe” with others who may have struggled like her.

Since then, Aguirre Aguilar has taught at several middle schools and high schools throughout the East Bay, and continues to help students through Bay Area Creative and RYSE Center in Richmond. Looking forward, she plans to also begin teaching at community colleges, prisons, and juvenile detention centers, hoping to support underserved communities to find empowerment in art the way she did. According to Aguirre Aguilar, mentorship is not a one-way service. Rather, it is a mutual exchange of knowledge, experience, and opportunity: “I want to continue to be a student of my students and a teacher for my students,” she expresses. “These are also spaces I need right back.”

"I want to continue to be a student of my students and a teacher for my students. There are also spaces I need right back."

Using her own hardships as guidance, the poet roots her heart deeply in community and healing, hoping to be the figure she was missing as a struggling youth. Aguirre Aguilar presents poetry as a form of therapy, expression, and rebellion, demonstrating its ability to carry a range of truths, from personal to global. “The youth are always a reflection to us where our broken bones are as a society,” Aguirre Aguilar states on the power of art and community, and how her current goals connect both. “I’m exploring where I can be in community, where we can empower each other…where we can inspire each other, and laugh with each other, and heal with each other.”

Positive Force for Change Benefit

Coming March 2026

What truly defines a change maker? Though some are recognized by name or popularity, real change begins with the drive to create better experiences for our communities, homes, and lives beyond our own. It grows from the desire for a better future, no matter who is watching. Hosted by Bay Area Creative, our annual Positive Force for Change Benefit seeks to honor local changemakers who model this leadership. 

In addition to our change maker awards ceremony, this event will feature a dance, spoken word poetry, hip-hop dance, and visual arts performances from youth and Bay Area Creative teaching artists, uplifting the creator in everyone. Positive Force for Change is a key fundraiser that helps us continue to provide resources and a voice for underrepresented artists and youth, extending our impact and uniting audience members into a larger, stronger community. 

Awardees are community-nominated, recognized for their contributions to uplift and aid others. Whether it be through education, innovation, or neighborhood projects, their actions demonstrate the power of a unified force, driven to action with a collective goal. They may be artists, educators, and community members who help open these doors of inspiration. Corporate teams are also celebrated for leadership that looks beyond profit to create meaningful impact.

Positive Force for Change leaves guests with more than memories of who was honored. They will carry the proof that hope is not abstract, that generosity creates momentum, and that when communities come together for a common goal, change becomes possible.

Because positivity is a force. And when it is amplified, it changes everything.

Nominate A Change Maker

Sponsor This Event as a Partner in Change

Sustainable Arts Funding: The Fight to Create

In a polarized political and social climate, practices that ground and feed the soul are more necessary than ever. Often, we turn to creation as a form of salvation and solace. Whether it be writing, dancing, music, or painting, art helps remind us that we are capable of cultivating softness amidst the harsh headlines that flash across our screens each day. But what happens when access to these practices is also attacked? The unfortunate redistribution of federal funds continues to drain arts programs, hitting education and local nonprofits. While counterbalances are in effect to help support the arts sector, the question remains - why are artists still fighting to create art?

A major fiscal reshaping to education has consumed a sizable portion of access to arts programs, which are primarily provided by local nonprofits and organizations. This is abundantly clear at home in the Bay Area, an area marked by its creative expression. Art’s ability to bloom here is thanks to the various networks of culture, community, and teachers that encourage creativity, especially in areas that are often under-resourced. Nonprofit Bay Area Creative (BAC) is one such example, which has reached over 7,000 youth through interactive arts workshops, school programs, and community events. Unfortunately, however, continuing these programs is becoming increasingly difficult with the current administration. Senior Program Manager for Youth Creating Change, Shanti Bond-Martinez, explains, “a majority of our funding was through the government, that was Prop 63… but in the last 6 to 7 years, funding began to dwindle, so we had to look to more corporate sponsors.” This is largely due to Project 2025, a federal plan that has led to a thorough reworking of administrative policies, causing the budget cuts to arts-related education. This lack of government funding has leached creative organizations’ expenses, causing a reliance on corporations and neighboring counties for support. Yet, the funding remains inconsistent, affecting programs, teachers, participants, and ultimately - the youth: “There’s a void now that there isn’t a space for kids to express themselves,” Bond-Martinez continues. “We have youth from all over who use this as a safe space to process whatever is going on in the moment…and it’s really unfortunate that we can’t offer that to them right now.” Ultimately, the issue runs deeper than fiscal matters. It shoots straight to the core of culture and society by attacking the children who bear the brunt of shaping our future.

What about the funding guarantees meant to safeguard these spaces? How much of an impact do they actually make? Passed in 2022, Prop 28: Arts and Music in Schools (AMS) was created as guaranteed financial support to AMS sectors of education. This includes classes, programs, and art educators. Although, as art access in schools continues to disappear, there are increasing concerns as to whether this support is actually reaching classrooms. Patrick Oshlund, Bay Area Creative’s Deputy Director, explained that only about 20% of Prop 28 funds are received by nonprofits that work with schools to provide poetry, dance, music, and visual arts programs. These are especially necessary in underserved school districts, where access to arts doubles as safety, mental health care, and exploration for self-identity. Additionally, organizations themselves rely on the ability to provide services. Mike Taylor, the BAC’s Executive Director and teaching artist, elaborates on how these cuts have affected those running these programs: “When you have this really amazing thing that disappears, you miss out on a number of levels. It’s cultural enrichment of the community, it’s the jobs it gives artists, and it’s resources for the kids.” Community is a tightly knit web of various strands, which includes the teachers and organizers who help tie us all together. When one string is plucked, all are affected.

"When you have this really amazing thing that disappears, you miss out on a number of levels. It’s cultural enrichment of the community, it’s the jobs it gives artists, and it’s resources for the kids.”

In a time in which art has become an object of profit, one that the current administration does not deem fruitful enough for attention, our need to create is as crucial as ever. Dwindling finances are a major strike to the value of culture and education, ultimately costing the youth and organizers who rely on it. While the question of why we must fight to create art continues to echo from the halls of every school and community center, artists still persist in crafting light amidst the fog.