More Than a Cultural District: SOMA Pilipinas is Community-in-Action and a Cultural Movement
San Francisco’s Filipino Cultural Heritage District Celebrates Their Five-Year Anniversary Launching Their Strategies for Economic Recovery And Racial Equity
Cece Carpio piece. Photo by Erina Alejo
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - April 13, 2021 - SOMA Pilipinas celebrates five years as San Francisco’s Filipino Cultural Heritage District on Thursday, April 29, 2021, 4-6pm PST at new art and wellness pop-up Kapwa Gardens. The cultural heritage district honors the over 120-year Filipino history and living legacy of making home, celebrating culture, building community and fighting for economic and racial justice. Embodying the spirit of bayanihan, SOMA Pilipinas supports a community-in-action in the highly gentrified South of Market neighborhood — the technology capital of the world for the last decade.
SOMA Pilipinas was officially established as SF’s Filipino Cultural Heritage District in 2016 and was among the first selected for state designation by the California Arts Council in 2017.
Ribbon cutting ceremony for new mural at Bayanihan Community Center
In its first five years, SOMA Pilipinas has raised the visibility of the Filipino community, helped increase funding for Filipino artists and established baseline funding for cultural districts to protect vulnerable communities and preserve San Francisco’s cultural diversity.
Working with residents and other community groups, SOMA Pilipinas worked with community groups to block the development of luxury condos that would have shadowed Victoria Manalo Draves Park and preserved the Gran Oriente as a Filipino historic landmark and cultural asset for generations to come.
The cultural district has earned numerous accolades: receiving the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts “Our Town” grant, being honored for their revitalization work by the Architects International Association SF and being recognized for their work in building sustainable and equitable communities by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
“SOMA Pilipinas continues a rich history and legacy of Filipino-American activism that shaped California and San Francisco history, from the farmworkers movement to Manilatown, to the current struggle against displacement and to preserve the cultural diversity of our city,” shares District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney. “They have accomplished so much in the last five years and I have no doubt that they will continue to be trailblazers in advancing community development strategies and creating new public art that lifts up the rich history and culture of the Filipino community.”
Working with other Filipino groups to support their community through the pandemic, SOMA Pilipinas is now poised to help in the recovery as they build out the Filipino Cultural Heritage District with extensive new public art and cultural project such as: Filipinx literary & visual arts anthology Liwanag Volume III, SOMA Pilipinas archway, historical plaques on 6th Street, decorative crosswalks on Folsom Street, a new Sarimanok School Bus Mural and cultural programming at Kapwa Gardens and SOMA Pilipinas street signs throughout the district.
SOMA Pilipinas is also partnering with other groups to provide programs:
Self-Defense Workshops at Kapwa Gardens
Free Mental Health Services with Filipino Mental Health Initiative-SF
Supplemental Groceries and COVID Education with Bayanihan Equity Center
Restorative Arts for Seniors with Bindlestiff Studio
Filipino Language Training with SOMCAN
“As we reach our five year milestone, we are so grateful for all the grassroots support and activism of so many community members, artists and organizations that have built the foundation for SOMA Pilipinas,” says SOMA Pilipinas Executive Director, Raquel Redondiez. “We are excited to be part of the recovery of our City, a recovery based on racial equity and economic opportunity and sustainability for marginalized communities. As we re-emerge from the pandemic, we are excited to re-imagine our public realm and create new public art and cultural markers that honor our ancestors, our history, contributions, and cultural movement.”
SOMA Pilpinas is currently seeking donors, organizations and other partnerships to continue to support their mission. To become a supporter or donor, visit www.somapilipinas.org.
SOMA Pilipinas Five-Year Anniversary Celebration Details:
Date: Thursday, April 29th, 4-6pm PST
Location: Kapwa Gardens, 967 Mission St. between 5th and 6th Street in SOMA Pilipinas, San Francisco, CA
Featuring Pilipinx Diasporic Cultural Ritual ‘Lakbai Diwa’ by Kularts, guest speakers and more
Visit www.somapilipinas.org for more information and to RSVP
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About SOMA Pilipinas:
More Than a Cultural District: SOMA Pilipinas is Community-in-Action and a Cultural Movement. The cultural heritage district spanning 1.5 square miles honors 120+ history of Filipinos in San Francisco, and celebrates the community’s living legacy of making home, celebrating culture, building community and fighting for economic and racial justice in the rapidly gentrifying South of Market neighborhood. SOMA Pilipinas is proud to be part of a community-in-action — and a grassroots movement carrying on the legacy of Filipinos fighting for recognition and racial equity.