With support from the California Arts Council, Attitudinal Healing Connection, Inc. doing business as The Center for ArtEsteem will provide a self-reflective 12-week course in portraiture for 15 low-income older adults, ages 55+, most of whom are Black, Indigenous, and other people of color. The program, “Portraiture as Affirmation and Revelation,” will be implemented in partnership with St. Mary’s Center and held on-site at St. Mary’s Community Center in West Oakland, where program participants access basic needs services, housing assistance, community connection and activities.
ARTESTEEM
High-quality during and after school arts integrated visual and cultural arts education programming for 2,500 children and youth annually in under-resourced Oakland public schools.
Projects include:
*Oakland Legacy Project
Culturally relevant arts integration program implemented through ArtEsteem’s during and after school sites that emphasizes environmentally focused STEAM and leadership curriculum for Oakland youth.
*ArtMobile
The ArtEsteem ArtMobile is a one-of-a-kind custom built mobile trailer constructed for the sole purpose of enhancing school-site and community events with unique art activities for all ages.
*Oakland Super Heroes Mural Project
The OSHMP cultivates, educates, and engages West Oakland youth in addressing community issues through the power of public art with a process of design and installation, resulting in four (soon to be five) large-scale murals in Oakland’s I-580 freeway underpasses, and a collection of community-informed murals around Oakland’s schools and neighborhoods.
*Professional Development
ArtEsteem PD workshops train teachers on arts integrated methodology to develop culturally, environmentally, and thematically relevant lessons and engage students in creative, hands-on art practice.
HEALING CIRCLES
ArtEsteem healing circles (Racial Healing and trauma-informed Community Healing) provide safe, facilitated spaces for community members to engage in personal healing.
COMMUNITY BUILDING
ArtEsteem engages the local community through the annual ArtEsteem Exhibition, ArtMobile collaborations with Bay Area schools and organizations, and more.

