Image from our Afghan Women’s Art Based Gathering – Arts and Wellness Program

Eight years ago, on June 25, 2017, ARTogether held its very first public event. It was a simple gathering in a borrowed space at CERI’s old building on International Boulevard — a day filled with art-making, community dialogue, and shared stories between newcomers and long-time residents.

What brought us together then — and still brings us together now — is the deep, human longing for connection. For safety. For belonging.

As we mark eight years of work with refugee and immigrant communities, it feels important to pause and reflect on what belonging truly means — not just as an idea, but as a lived practice.

Over the past few weeks, as conflict and fear have intensified around the world, many in our community have been quietly holding grief. From war zones abroad to immigration raids here at home, countless families are navigating fear, uncertainty, and separation. In places like Iran and Gaza, civilians are experiencing bombardments and forced displacement, while those with loved ones inside the country face the pain of silence and severed communication. Closer to home, families in the Bay Area are living with the constant threat of ICE enforcement, unsure of what tomorrow might bring.

At ARTogether, we often speak of belonging. But belonging isn’t just a warm feeling or a value we write down. It’s a responsibility. It’s something we build — together — in how we show up, listen, and care.

Belonging is what happens when we check on one another during a pandemic. When we gather after wildfires. When we dance in the streets of Oakland in celebration of the Warriors championship. When we send a quiet message across time zones just to say, “I’m thinking of you.” Belonging is found in these gestures — large and small — that tell someone: you are not alone.

For immigrants and refugees, this sense of connection often spans continents. Our hearts and histories are tied to many places at once. The weight we carry doesn’t always come from what’s happening here — it often lives in the elsewhere: in a homeland under threat, in family we cannot reach, in news that never makes the headlines.

That’s why the work of belonging must be both local and expansive. It means holding space for what’s present and what’s distant. It means recognizing that our communities are global, and the pain and joy we experience is just as layered.

When ARTogether was founded, it was out of a personal longing to feel connected. Over time, it has grown into something much bigger: a home for expression, healing, and visibility for people who are often made invisible. But eight years in, we are reminded that building belonging is not a task that falls on any one person, program, or moment. It takes all of us. It takes practice. It takes intention.

So today, as we celebrate this milestone, we also recommit. To paying attention. To listening. To building the kind of community where people feel seen not just in celebration, but in silence. Not just in joy, but in grief.

Thank you for being part of this journey. Thank you for believing in what we’re building — together.

Here’s to eight years of belonging. Will you stand with us and grow it together?

— The ARTogether Team