Bay Area Event Designers Team Up To Defy ‘Doom Loop’

San Francisco, CA - June 29, 2023 -  Lily Spruce — a WOC-led event planning and design firm founded by Genevieve Roja for couples that strive for originality and authenticity — is entering a new era. Lily Spruce is joining forces with Make it Mariko, an experiential event agency led by WOC and founded by Gina Mariko Rosales focused on creating magical, meaningful moments for the community. In the face of a looming downtown “doom loop,”  Roja and Rosales are developing a creative events agency focused on creating jobs and opportunities for creatives, entrepreneurs, and artists of color in events, while curating events and activations that bring people back to San Francisco through arts and culture. 

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“Cultural Kultivators:” a Visionary New Podcast That Explores the Beauty and Complexity of the Filipino American Experience

San Francisco, CA - May 31, 2023 - The San Francisco Bay Area is the second most populous region for Filipinos in the United States, with Filipinos making up to 4.6% of San Francisco’s population. Filipinos are not only an integral part of San Francisco history, but an active part of the city’s identity today. “Cultural Kultivators,” a new podcast by Kutivate Labs and hosted by Nicole Salaver, honors the diversity and richness of the Filipino American experience while inspiring listeners to explore and celebrate their own cultural heritage. Salaver, the Program Manager at Filipino-American arts accelerator Balay Kreative, interviews Filipino American thought leaders, entrepreneurs, activists and artists who are making a positive impact in their respective fields. “Cultural Kultivators” launches on May 31st with Asian American studies scholar Dr. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales as its first interviewee, followed by rapper Ruby Ibarra for its second episode, street artist Allison Hueman for its third episode, and artist Nikbo for its fourth episode.

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Oakland Public Conservatory of Music (OPC) Announces Inaugural Black Banjo & Fiddle Fellows

Oakland Public Conservatory of Music (OPC) proudly announces the four fellows selected for the inaugural Black Banjo & Fiddle Fellowship (BBFF). Done in collaboration with the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention, this 2-year fellowship and teacher training program repatriates old time music in African American communities, illuminates the Black experience in creating old-time music, and repairs the historical and cultural ruptures that erased the Black origins of banjo and fiddle music.

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Jade Wave Rising: Portraits of Power

Asian American Women Artists Association and the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center present the multidisciplinary art exhibition Jade Wave Rising: Portraits of Power, opening April 27, 2023 in San Francisco.

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How An Asian American Family is Reimagining Healing and Liberation Through Farming, Education and the Arts

Unceded Miwok and Pomo Territory/Sacramento, CA - February 27, 2023 - The Remagination Lab, Founded by highly accomplished researcher and well-loved community advocate, Dr. Robyn Rodriguez, and her husband, second-generation Hmong refugee and nature expert Joshua Vang, incubates and experiments in producing creatively bold, unconventional, and deeply transformative programs and services informed by social justice movements, indigenous and land-based knowledge, the arts, radical love, and healing.

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Kultivate Labs Catalyzes A Thriving Community in San Francisco’s Filipino Cultural District, Generating $930k in Economic Development

San Francisco, CA - January 30, 2023 - Since its inception in 2017, Kultivate Labs has been dedicated to building a thriving commercial corridor in the SOMA Pilipinas Filipino Cultural Heritage District. After a successful 2022, the non-profit economic development and arts organization will continue rolling out programming in the new year that reflects the needs and vision of the community at large such as new artist grants, space and other resources for pop-up businesses and artists, a free outdoor concert series, and a creative market spanning three events.

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Impacting Headlines Through Public Relations

Headlines are the first thing that people see when they come across an article or news story, and they play a crucial role in determining whether or not people will engage with the content. It also helps shape public perception of your brand or organization leaving a lasting impact. Our work as Publicists not only impacts headlines, but also documents stories for public archive, advocates for their recognition as experts and change makers, and develops relationships on behalf of our clients.

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“Ancestor Altars” Honors Loved Ones Who Have Passed Away During the Pandemic

San Francisco, CA - September 19, 2022 - Filipino cultural center Balay Kreative, artist Cece Carpio and artist TITTY are collaborating with Filipinx/a/o and BIPOC community members to honor their deceased loved ones through art installation “Ancestor Altars.” On view from October 27-30 at Kapwa Gardens and in a virtual gallery.

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Group of Educators Provides Statewide Blueprint for Implementation of Ethnic Studies By 2029

September 19, 2022, Los Angeles, CA– First convened in April 2020, the Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium (LESMCC) provides curriculum and professional development rooted in the radical, grassroots legacy of Ethnic Studies. With a statewide deadline of 2029, the implementation of a true Ethnic Studies curriculum is at the forefront of school district agendas. But Ethnic Studies is more than a graduation requirement, it has a profound positive impact in the classroom that ripples directly to the communities of students.

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SF’s Largest Filipino Creative Market Returns As a Theme Park Inspired Daytime Festival

San Francisco, CA - September 19, 2022 - UNDISCOVERED (UNDSCVRD) SF — San Francisco’s premier Filipino Night Market and Food & Music Festival — is back for its sixth season as a daytime, theme park-inspired festival on October 22, 2022 from 12-6pm. This year UNDSCVRD, a Kultivate Labs and Make it Mariko creation, spans several locations in the SOMA Pilipinas Filipino Cultural Heritage District and welcomes notable Filipino American guests such as DJ Miles Medina and Chef Harold Villarosa.

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San Francisco Public Library Celebrates Local Black Artists Who Captured a Movement and Transformed Oakland

After the extrajudicial murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells, Oluwatoyin Salau and countless other Black people in 2020, thousands of artists painted murals on the streets of Oakland as an expression of protest, activism and solidarity. Recognizing the historic significance of this artistic groundswell, EastSide Arts Alliance teamed up with Nomadic Press to document and preserve the outdoor gallery and the stories behind them. Their new book, Painting the Streets: Oakland Uprising in the Time of Rebellion, is a full-color, hardcover art book featuring nearly 100 murals created in support of the ongoing struggle for Black liberation along with essays, poems and other reflections by activists and cultural workers.

In honor of its publication, San Francisco Public Library’s African American Center is hosting a 3-month exhibition showcasing the local Black artists who captured the spirit of the June 2020 movement and transformed Oakland.

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Black Artist Residencies Support Growing Demand for Black Art

Artist As First Responder (AAFR) launches three artist residencies to address the historical absence of spaces and resources for emerging and mid-career Black artists. Established and stewarded by independent curator Ashara Ekundayo, AAFR is an Oakland-based organization and 6-point philanthropic and interactive arts platform that reifies, engages, and financially supports Black, Indigenous, and other Artists of Color whose creative practices heal communities and save lives.

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“To Imagine is to Exist:” Kearny Street Workshop Celebrates 50 Years as a Vital Arts Organization in California for Asian Americans

San Francisco, CA – April 19, 2022 – Kearny Street Workshop (KSW), founded in 1972, is celebrating their 50th anniversary with a gala on June 11th at the San Francisco Mint (88 5th St, San Francisco, CA 94103), along with three other special events moving into 2023. The gala’s theme of renewal” promotes generational healing and rejuvenation and how KSW’s historical roots of activism and cries for self determination continue to inspire the collective imagination for an abundant future — a vision made even stronger in the face of ongoing anti-Asian hate.

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