Voices of the Community

Arts Equity, Advocacy, Impact

"Artists, cultural bearers, creatives are essential contributors to the economy… so that arts are not a luxury, arts are not a hobby" – Ron Muriera

This episode of Where Art Meets Impact features Kristen Sakota, Michael Alexander, Ron Muriera, Meghna Bhat, and Josiah Bruny, discussing arts advocacy, economic empowerment, storytelling, arts and health, and youth leadership. They offer solutions including ...

"Artists must be at the center of decision-making, shaping policies and funding structures that directly impact their work and their communities” - Nataki Garrett

Show Guests

1. Tiara Amar
   • Title: Advocate for Art Workers’ Rights
   • Key Points:
     • Advocates for fair pay and professional protections for musicians.
     • Highlights the Fair Play Initiative for setting pay minimums.
     • Showcases transformative impact through grassroots cam...

“So, if people need potable water, then we need to provide them with that. Or if people are looking for a job that we don't need to categorize that. We can start to put away our own judgment and provide them with the opportunity that they're putting in front of us versus us telling them, no, no, you need to go get treatment before you get a job”- Mary Carl

In Part Two of our “Finding Home” Live Show, experts and those with lived exp...

"For the first time, we are centering artists in our work with an equity-centered, artist-centered cultural plan... with a big emphasis on affordable housing and live-workspace for artists” - Jonathon Glus, City of San Diego

In this engaging episode of Voices of the Community, we spotlight transformative policy wins and the visions shaping the future of California's arts and culture sector. Recorded live at the second annua...

"Our philosophy is simple: without rest, there is no healing. We open our doors so that people can have a safe space to rest, restoring a basic dignity often lost on the streets.”- Lydia Bransten

In Finding Home, host George Koster speaks with leaders from San Francisco-based organizations committed to supporting unhoused residents. This insightful conversation highlights the unique challenges and solutions surrounding home...

"It’s really important for arts advocates and tradition bearers, artists, and cultural organizations to participate in the visioning and guiding principle process in your community plan, to get named in the vision statement of the community" - Tracy Hudak

Join Tracy Hudak, Director of Field Engagement for California for the Arts, and Jackie Melendez, Assistant City Manager of the City of Chino, for an insightful discussion in "Casem...

"We’re living through the greatest art heist of all time. Billions of images, data, and content were scraped illegally, impacting creative jobs, and AI is at the forefront of this transformation." - Nicole Hendrix

The creative economy is at a crossroads, grappling with issues of fair pay, technological disruption, and access to resources. The panelists in this insightful discussion offer solutions and strategies for artists and advo...

“So if you have not tapped into community members that you are serving, that you are working with, then you are missing a large, piece of the solution to your problems”. - Heather Heslep

Gentrification, displacement, the struggle for ownership... these are the challenges faced by many communities today. But what if art could be the key to preserving cultural heritage and building economic resilience? 

The panel discussion features Ta...

"At the structural level, we don’t make decisions based on evidence. If we did, we would have universal healthcare and basic income. The arts can be part of this shift” - Tasha Golden

Join Nefesha Yisra’el from California for the Arts as she introduces our second episode, featuring a powerful panel discussion on the intersection of arts and health. This episode is part of our exclusive interview series with California for the Arts a...

 "Together we can create a world where arts and culture are recognized and invested in as essential to society, embedded in community life, and intersecting with broader policy change to reshape systems towards equity and justice." - Julie Baker

Join us as we kick off our second season, celebrating the vibrant and resilient arts and culture scene that shape our community. This season, we bring you highlights from the second annual C...

"The interesting thing about a Land Trust is that it's a split title, we'll split the title and the land trust will own the land forever. And then we'll either sell or lease the housing or creative space on top of it to artists" - Meg Shiffler

Welcome to the finale of our series on affordable housing for the creative workforce, brought to you in partnership with Arts for a Better Bay Area and the State of the Arts Summit. T...

"The resilience that we have to live through booms and busts and pandemics and continue to serve the community, continue to drive foot traffic, continue to create economic opportunities for local people to have jobs and work and express themselves is just incredible. So if you're struggling with a storefront or a vacancy or empty space, just remember to think about the arts” - Julie Phelps

In this episode, we delve into our special ...

“It's about forcing the city to make sure that they build affordable housing. And there's lots of, programs that we have in the Citywide People's Plan that can make, huge steps towards, building affordable housing” - Dyan Ruiz

This episode is part of our ongoing Special Series on How the Arts and Culture sector is coming back from the covid 19 pandemic. In our co-production of Arts for A Better Bay Area’s [ABBA] State of th...

"I think the action and the continuity of the coalition from Prop S to Prop E went from 40 organizations to 140 organizations. That was something that was huge” - Vin Seaman

In this seventh episode of our series focusing on the arts and culture sector's recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, we bring you highlights from the Co-Production of Arts For A Better Bay Area (ABBA) State of The Arts Summit, held at the Strand Theatre...

“Bringing the scale of human life to the community again so that we can kind of start seeing our humanity and our everyday Experiences” - Melissa Abercrombie

This episode is from our November 4th 2023 live event co-production with the Petaluma Arts Center, our broadcast partners KPCA 103.3fm and Petaluma Community Access TV and BAVC Media. This special event was focused on exploring the question, “How Do Community Based Art...

“I think really being open minded and also really trusting artists is a really big, important factor because. Artists know what they're doing, at least when it comes to making the artwork, that's why people hire them and allow them to have the most creative freedom as possible, really. Usually allows the project to be as best as it can be or as good as it can be” - Meredith Winner

This episode is the long form of our one-on-one inte...

"So of course, the pandemic was a struggle for all of us, and so we all know the arts organizations are the first to close and last open, especially the performing arts are really still struggling" - Rachel Osajima

This episode is the long form of our one-on-one interview with Fernando Pujals, the Deputy Director of the Mid-Market Business Association & Foundation and a great deep dive into how he and his team our supporting artists...

"There's been a lot of talk about, how do you make this sustainable, and there's not one answer, but one piece that is core to that, is really galvanizing and cementing around this notion that arts and culture is already right here and we need to lean into it and value it and uplift it. And in that way it won't be able to be ignored'“ - Fernando Pujas

This episode is part of our special series on how the arts and culture se...

"So looking at how do we build an ecology where affordable housing isn't just a place you stay, it's a place you stay and work and build a business and raise a family and, you know, build the economic resources,for the next step. " - Josh Simon

This episode is part of our special series on how the arts and culture sector is coming back from the Covid 19 pandemic and features voices from our co-production of Arts For a Bette...