Thank you California Arts Council for Supporting Creative Arts Programs in Bay Area Communities

To our community,

This is a week of gratitude where Bay Area Creative would like to show appreciation to our generous funders!

Bay Area Creative received generous funding from The California Arts Council. We would like to extend our deepest appreciation for the support and contribution that their organization granted Bay Area Creative. Our relationship has continued to create opportunities for creative expression that empower individuals to develop empathic communication skills and foster positive change in themselves and the community.

With conscientious advocates like The California Arts Council, we will advance student success, outlets to filmmaking, creative writing, stage performance, and social activism in classes and camp programs. Bay Area Creative has four key mission programs: SPARC Poetry, ReVisions -Therapeutic Arts, Educators for Empathy, and Cultural Crossroads; Bay Area Creative impacts over 6,000 people per year at over 100 different schools and community sites. We are greatly appreciative of The California Arts Council and their support of our work through their: Arts & Cultural Organizations General Operating Relief, Creative Youth Development and Arts Exposure grants.

Their contribution not only affects the number of communities we serve, but directly promotes well-rounded, healthy people by encouraging cultural sensitivity, social justice, and emotional balance. Bay Area Creative also predominantly serves families of color in underserved neighborhoods. Our developing relationship with The California Arts Council and Bay Area Creative has influenced our non-profit's expansion, its reach, visibility, and overall advancement of social/cultural reform!

Bay Area Creative will continue to showcase The California Arts Council's generosity through social media, donor collateral, newsletters, and the official Bay Area Creative Website. We look forward to continuing our relationship and will keep everyone up-to-date on event news, volunteer opportunities, and executive board openings.

Our links to recent Social Media posts

Instagram: Thank You CAC

Sincerely Grateful,

Patrick Ohslund and Mike Taylor

Founders and Directors of Bay Area Creative

Light The Mic @ The RYSE Center

Light the Mic is a youth performance event to celebrate courageous youth voices, their revolutionary creativity and the communities that support them. If you are a youth from ages 13 - 19 this event is for you!

Each performer will receive a $25 gift card and stage time of up to 5 minutes to do your thing. Much of the performances will be spoken word poetry written by youth in Bay Area Creative’s SPARC poetry program.

All forms of expression are good to go and the Mic is open for all youth!

Event details and a link to sign up are below - we look forward to seeing you at the show!

Sign Up

Location: The Ryse Center

3939 Bissell Ave. Richmond, CA

Date: March 30th

Time: 4:30 sign ups (Sound check if you are performing something with an instrument or backing track)

Youth Performances: 5:00 - 6:45

Are you a Bay Area Teacher?

Get a window into what it is like to have a poet in your classroom!

More Info: bayareacreative.org/sparcpoetry

Are you interested in bringing art into your workplace?

We do corporate performances and team building events with ERGs and departments

More Info: SpokenWorks.org.

Land Acknowledgement

Bay Area Creative acknowledges that the land where we provide our services was previously stewarded by the Tamien Nation, Ramaytush Ohlone, and Chochenyo Muwekma Ohlone, peoples whose connection to this land we remember, and whose presence—past, present, and future—we respect.

Furthermore, we acknowledge that the land currently occupied by the United States was taken from indigenous civilizations by force, consisting of genocide and cultural erasure. We acknowledge that the cause for this seizure of land was motivated by imperialism which has led to an amount of suffering on this planet that is rarely taken account of by those who have benefited from it. The creation of holidays is a common method used by imperialist countries to mask these atrocities.

Bay Area Creative would like to recognize these indigenous peoples are alive, present, and sustaining their cultures. We recognize that all people are sovereign on the land in which they live and that we, as a people, need to learn from the errors of our history so we can move to a point where imperialism is no longer tolerated in a global community.

For more information and ways to donate please visit these web sites:

muwekma.org

ramaytush.org

tamien.org