With support from the California Arts Council, The People’s Conservatory will provide dynamic, empowering, high quality, professional, culturally-based professional daytime arts programming for marginalized youth in the proposed schools in Oakland, CA during the school day. This programming will serve students across levels in grades K-8, for 2 years.
TPC currently serves over 2000 students at 6 school sites directly and several additional schools throughout the East Bay. We offer fully-integrated school day arts programming, after school arts academies, homeschool programming, weekend arts classes, one-day workshops, teacher trainings, and school showcases. 92% of our students are of African American and/or Latinx descent, 85% free/reduced lunch, and mostly reside in Oakland’s lower economic areas including East Oakland, West Oakland and Fruitvale.
TPC’s curriculum is rooted in ethnic and cultural studies that honors our students’ backgrounds and inherent artistic voices. Our culturally and community responsive techniques are designed to develop professional arts knowledge and skills, as well as cultivate imagination, creativity, self-knowledge, and social awareness. It is Visual and Performing Arts Standards aligned, Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) aligned, and is informed by Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP) and Arts Integration research.

