In August, we wrapped up our fourth annual Youth Summer Art Camp. This year we teamed up with the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants (CERI) and the Department of Occupational Therapy at Samuel Merritt University to develop a unique experience for children from refugee and immigrant communities in the East Bay.
Ours is a story of forced migration, ours is a story of multiple worlds. As a child we knew when a relative had died back home – it manifested in my father’s silence, or my mother’s many bodily ailments. We are familiar with distant loss and nearby silent suffering.
In a studio in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood, Sen Mendez readies themself, gracefully poised above a piece of linoleum. Carving knife in hand, they will cut images into the linoleum in practice known as block printing. Later Sen will cover these carvings in ink and press them into paper or cloth to create prints. Sen, also known as Queen Sen Sen, is a non-binary fat artist born and raised in Oakland, California. A friend introduced them
Miles Markstein’s shift into the social sector was with the city of Santa Cruz, where he helped draft public statements and prepare events for the city, like the Tour of California. Further back, Miles designed websites, a fast-paced job mainly done solo, with a quick start-to-finish turnaround. But his job with Santa Cruz gave him an appreciation for seeing through long-term projects and doing work to build community engagement and belonging. At ARTogether, Miles found
What excites ARTogether board member Goli Hashemi about art is how adaptive it can be. Goli leads ARTogether’s Expressive Arts-Based Occupational Therapy Program at Oakland International High School (OIHS). This program provides newcomers and ESL youth a safe space where they can use the various mediums of art art as a means of self-expression and engagement. By exploring activities that support skill-building and healing, the class aims to promote school performance and success. As an
