With support from the California Arts Council, ON THE MARGINS INC is expanding ¡DALE!, a multicultural arts program designed to cultivate young artists and activists. ¡DALE! provides meaningful and culturally responsive arts experiences for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ youth aged 14-18 in Sonoma County. The program bolsters youth leadership, art and organizing skills, empowering youth to work towards a more inclusive and equitable California. Grant funds will specifically support youth engagement with the arts, communiy artists and menors and expand the program to include increased recruitment efforts of differently abled youth maintaining the priority on underserved target populations from communities of color and LGBTQIA2+ youth.
Arts-based interventions are at the very center of our work at On the Margins (OTM), an organization deeply rooted in Sonoma County, within the broader San Francisco Bay Area. We passionately believe in the transformative power of artists and creative expression as a vital tool for healing, liberation, and community building, particularly within historically marginalized communities. Our commitment extends across a range of impactful programs: ¡DALE! empowers youth through art to address social justice issues; SER utilizes artistic modalities in its bilingual, family-oriented approach to support identity and intergenerational healing; HEAL employs creative practices in peer support for processing trauma and fostering well-being; and RISE integrates artistic exploration into culturally responsive career counseling. Furthermore, LA ASAMBLEA, a collaborative initiative we spearhead, centers arts-based engagement as it distributes grant funds to Sonoma County BIPOC and Queer artists, supporting their economic stability, access to creative spaces, educational advancement, and overall health through grants and a variety of artistic events and workshops. Even within our therapy, clinical training, and consultation services, we prioritize and incorporate arts-based approaches, recognizing their unique ability to facilitate emotional processing, build resilience, and foster connection in accessible and profound ways, making art an integral and invaluable aspect of everything we do to cultivate a more equitable and liberated future. One of our strategic priorities is to cultivate a network where BIPOC and Queer artists can share knowledge, deepen skills, and nurture connections

