CAST secures space and works with nonprofit arts organizations to navigate the San Francisco and Oakland real estate markets, among the most expensive in the U.S., and find long-term, affordable facility options. CAST employs three strategies to address arts organizations’ real estate needs: Property Acquisition, Master Leasing, and Knowledge Building. This tiered approach is undergirded by a commitment to organizational capacity building that aims to match arts groups with the right facility option for their needs and capacity, and engage in a process of building their organizational acumen to lease, buy, and/or manage their facility, one of the most resource-intensive elements of any nonprofit arts organization’s operation.

CAST also provides forums for arts organizations to hold conversations and connect to resources for space-related concepts. In 2016, CAST launched Keeping Space – Oakland (KSO), a two-year initiative that provided real estate services and support to a wide range of Oakland arts nonprofits and creative enterprises with grants and individualized technical assistance to stem displacement and preserve the cultural character of Oakland.

Post-pilot, CAST was able to continue KSO and evolve it into a peer-learning technical assistance model that leverages existing artist knowledge and cultural assets of the Oakland arts community for knowledge-sharing, knowledge-building, and relationship building opportunities. In 2018, CAST created the Cultural Space Ambassadors (CSAs)––a body of cultural practitioners, arts workers, and creatives that embodied the breadth and depth of Oakland’s arts ecosystem, ranging from the traditional arts nonprofit to the grassroots group and arts entity operating with alternative structures. In a year-long process, the CSAs worked to build community across geographies, disciplines, and networks to create a forum of discussion on the new models of operations and cultural space preservation strategies emerging from the Oakland arts community. This year-long process inspired and informed the theme for KSO 2020–Dreaming Spaces.