With support from the California Arts Council, Allies in Arts will continue to support artists who are women, BIPOC and/or LGBTQQIA2S; most of those we serve are low-income transgender artists and artists of color who are serious about their art careers but are struggling to find a place in the art world. Through our programming, we do the following: 1) bring marginalized artists to the forefront by finding or developing exhibition/screening opportunities, commissions for new works, and/or licensing opportunities for existing works; and 2) provide emerging artists with the infrastructure that can help them succeed in their careers through technical assistance, mentorship, and professional training for adults and youth. Our programs are always led by members of the community they serve.
Each year we curate Pride exhibitions featuring publicly accessible artwork by female, Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, asexual, two-spirit, and otherwise identify as a member of queer community. We especially focus on BIPOC queer artists speaking to BIPOC queer communities, trans artists speaking to trans communities, always empowering as a leader a member of the community the program seeks to support. Additionally, we curate annual screenings of short films directed by BIPOC trans, female and genderqueer directors for decision makers in the film industry as a way to create a pipeline for employment. We curated virtual exhibitions throughout the pandemic such as our #QueerBlackFutures program which employs queer Black female curators and producers to curate collections of artwork by queer Black artists. And each holiday season, a team of trans artists activates a letter writing campaign to send holiday gifts to trans youth to show them that they are not alone, and to give them a creative outlet for the pain they are experiencing as a result of transphobic discrimination and attacks. In 2023 we launched Transchool, a narrative writing course for trans teens; 15 teens went through the first cohort and second course will be offered in 2024.

