FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sabrina Chin
East Bay Community Foundation
schin@eastbaycf.org
East Bay Fund for Artists
Announces 2023 Awardees
Over $280,000 Awarded in Grants to 24 BIPOC Artists and BIPOC-Led Organizations
OAKLAND, Calif. — East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF) announced the 2023 awardees of the East Bay Fund for Artists (EBFA), which will provide $285,500 to 15 individual artists and nine to organizations. All grants from EBFA support Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) artists and BIPOC-led organizations.
“It’s an honor to uplift projects that are deeply rooted in collective healing and transformative change. Our local artists create visionary work to reflect the truth about us, allow us to channel and express our communal grief, help heal the generational wounds we carry, and ignite our generational strengths,” said Melody Rooshen, Program Manager of East Bay Fund for Artists.
Awardees were selected to create new and diverse works of art that would be important tools as creative expression to build community resilience and power in the East Bay. Funding will support pieces in various media, including storytelling, spoken word films, dance pieces, and murals across Alameda and Contra Costa counties. With funding, artists inspire and bring the East Bay community together by building on past work while helping to imagine new landscapes.
“Our performance is being made possible by EBFA to bridge gaps and foster appreciation for diverse cultural expressions, break down stereotypes, and foster a sense of unity among people from various backgrounds,” said Ibrahima Diouf, EBFA grantee and lead artist at Diamano Coura West African Dance Co. “These dances and rhythms are not only a means of entertainment but also serve as a medium of communication, storytelling, and community bonding. They encapsulate the struggles, triumphs, joys, and sorrows experienced by the people of West Africa in which connect to modern day American culture and society.”
All works supported by the East Bay Fund for Artists highlight narratives of future abundance through sparking radical hope, liberating unrealized potential and celebrating local historically marginalized communities.
“Our interdisciplinary storytelling project with low-income residents at the Harrison Hotel and members of the general public is meant to inspire people to value their pasts, their cultures, and their personal journeys,” said Justin Hoover, EBFA grantee, founder of Collective Action Studio, and co-director at City Studio. “I hope this project empowers participants to feel a sense of autonomy and leadership in their lives and communities.”
The 2023 awardees include:
- Alicia Kester / Independent Arts and Media, “Water Spirits”
- API Cultural Center, Inc. dba Oakland Asian Cultural Center “Interwoven Stories of Culture, Belonging and Change”
- ARTogether “The Diaspora Hub & Exhibition Project”
- Bay Area Girls Rock Camp “Sound Saturdays”
- Berkeley Art Center “Reframing Identity”
- Bryant Terry / Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project, “Visual Food Data/Sacred Larder”
- Cecilia Cassandra Peña-Govea / Brava! for Women in the Arts, “Auditory Culture Maps of Fruitvale”
- Clarissa Rivera Dyas and Ainsley Tharp / Circo Zero, “forever failing: two punq grrrls dance”
- Diamano Coura West African Dance Co “Soundiata Kieta; The King Of Mali Story”
- Dohee Lee / Dancer’s Group, “Ritual On the Road”
- Elaine Chu and Marina Wong-Perez / Philanthropic Ventures Foundation, “Oakland Chinatown Dragon Mural Project”
- Faye Carol / Intersection for the Arts, “Black Artists of The Bay: Icons & Unsung”
- Jackie Keliiaa and John Hodge / Cal Shakes, “Good Medicine Native Comedy”
- Justin Hoover / 500 Capp Street, “Recipes of Resilience: Harrison Hotel”
- Karl Evangelista / Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center, “Auntie + Tebs”
- Kimberly Arteche / ARTogether, “Paglilikha ng Kaliliwanann”
- LaTajh Weaver / Berkeley Community Media, “Can I Paint, Here?”
- Lena Chen and Evan Sakuma / The Regents of the University of California, “CELESTE”
- NIAD Art Center “We Are Creating Our History”
- People’s Programs “Tales of The Town: Berkeley”
- Poor Magazine “Crushing Wheelchairs”
- Priyanka Suryaneni / Filmmakers Collaborative SF, “Saranam Gacchâmi (I take refuge)”
- Tommy Wong and Alana Landrum / Civic Design Studio / Philanthropic Ventures Foundation, “Our Communities: Past, Present, and Future”
- Torange Yeghiazarian / Central Stage, “Leyla & Majnun”
The East Bay Fund for Artists, a program of East Bay Community Foundation, is administered through a multi-step process. Following an open call for applications, submissions are reviewed by a panel with deep knowledge in the arts and culture field representing the diversity of Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
Since 2003, the East Bay Fund for Artists has partnered with more than 200 nonprofit organizations to commission new works by over 300 local artists. The Fund has leveraged $3 million in new financial support for composers, playwrights, choreographers, and visual and media artists in the East Bay. The Fund is part of EBCF’s core program strategy for arts and culture with a social and racial justice lens.
The East Bay Fund for Artists is currently supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett, and the generous donors of East Bay Community Foundation.
ABOUT EAST BAY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
Founded in 1928, and supported by over 400 local donors, the East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF) connects donors with community-led movements to eliminate structural barriers, advance racial equity, and create an inclusive, fair, and just East Bay. Recognized as 2019’s “Boldest Community Foundation” by Inside Philanthropy, EBCF is committed to ensuring that all members of our community are treated fairly, with equitable opportunity and outcomes. EBCF has charitable assets under management of over $800 million.