With support from the California Arts Council, EastSide Arts Alliance (ESAA) will continue to offer cultural programming to youth and adults in the San Antonio district of East Oakland. Funds will be used to support staff and teacher salaries, artists fees and facility costs.
The EastSide Cultural Center is a multi-use theater, sound & visual arts studios, bookstore, gallery, and community archives with 16 units of affordable housing above. ESAA made history by being one of the only grassroots organizations of color, which owns and operates an independent community cultural center, free and clear of debt.
The EastSide Cultural Center presents free youth art classes, cultural programming, public art projects, ongoing gallery exhibitions, community town halls, and the annual Malcolm X Jazz Arts Festival, currently in its 24th year. We work with numerous organizations and community groups to present hundreds of events every year. Additional programming includes a weekly open mic for poets; a theater residency program; and monthly documentary and feature film screenings contextualized by scholars and artists.

