ARTogether

ARTogether’s mission is to provide art programs that foster compassionate communities where refugees and immigrants can flourish.

At a time when the most vulnerable populations of the world are experiencing a great deal of hostility, as war, sanctions, humanitarian crises, famine, discrimination, torture and other unlivable circumstances cause the displacement of individuals and families, who gets to tell our stories? Moving to a different part of the world, often involuntarily, to start a new life in a place where one doesn

’t speak the language—culturally or linguistically—is a challenging plight. Creative expression through art can provide a respite and an opportunity to connect beyond the confines of language and the alienation of being so far from home. ARTogether brings together spaces, artists, and resources to help refugees to the San Francisco Bay Area from all over the world connect to their new communities, process their past experiences, and work through current feelings of isolation, shame, and estrangement.

08/31/2026

GATHER IN with ARTogether Artist-in-Residency, Sabri!

Sabri will be hosting a beginner-friendly needle felting workshop where participants will create their own small felt mushroom using colorful wool and felting needles. Participants will learn the basics of needle felting by transforming soft wool into their own unique mushroom while exploring color and texture.

Please RSVP so we can have enough materials - link in bio! or comment below!

Join our community arts and crafts night every second Wednesday of the month! This is a free drop-in art gathering. Come for the creativity, stay for the community!

Wednesday, Sept 9th
Between 5 – 8pm ARTogether Center
1200 Harrison Street, Oakland, CA

08/26/2026

We love our volunteers! Those interested in supporting ARTogether with skill share with your gifts, talents or time. Now is your chance to learn more about us, how to support Immigrants and Refugees in the Bay Area and how you can be involved!

Our next Volunteer Information and Orientation Night is will be Tuesday September 15th, from 6:30pm – 7:30pm!

Hope to see you there!

08/24/2026

We’re bringing our GATHER IN community art-making night to San Francisco!

Join us for a community weaving project in collaboration with the current exhibition, Interwoven Histories.

Interwoven Histories brings together two projects by artist Alexandru Salceanu, Witness Collaborative and AlieNation, to explore the human experience of migration through personal testimony and historical context.
Through video, sound, and public programming, the exhibition invites audiences to become active witnesses to stories of resilience, displacement, family, and hope. A central component of the exhibition is an evolving community weaving, inviting visitors to contribute written and drawn reflections that become part of a growing collective artwork. As the exhibition travels, the weaving will continue to expand, carrying the voices and stories of each community.

Join us on Wednesday, August 26, from 5:30–8:30 PM at TnT Art Lab, 67 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102, to weave, create, connect, and contribute your own story.

Everyone is welcome.

08/20/2026

08/06/2026

GATHER IN with ARTogether Artist-in-Residency, Kia! .art

Kia will be hosting a Radical Toy Lab. Together, we will radically imagine how toys and play could look like in the world we want to live in. Reflecting on how we play in our childhood and adulthood, we will create new toys the world has never seen before!

To aid the quest, ARTogether will provide drawing supplies, air dry clay, and some used materials like old magazines and cardboard.

Join our community arts and crafts night every second Wednesday of the month! This is a free drop-in art gathering. Come for the creativity, stay for the community!

Wednesday, Aug 12th
Between 5 – 8pm ARTogether Center
1200 Harrison Street, Oakland, CA

08/04/2026

This year's Summer Art Camp for kids reminded us, once again, why this program matters. In a single week, nineteen children from seven countries and multiple language backgrounds came together in one room, made things with their hands, played alongside one another, and left on Friday having formed friendships that did not exist the Monday before.

Imagine the daily rhythm: morning circle, art, craft, recess, sensory play, outdoor time, gave campers a structure they could settle into and trust. For children whose lives have been marked by change and displacement, predictability is its own form of care.Within that structure, there was plenty of room for joy, silliness, and surprise: a pipe cleaner snail that took on a life of its own, a collaborative mural that stretched across the table, a kinetic sand creation someone refused to smooth back down because it was too good to let go.

08/02/2026

Please join us in celebrating Zeenna Stapper and Sarah McClean as ARTogether's Co-Executive Directors, a shared leadership model rooted in collective care and shared accountability.

Zeenna's path spans neuroscience research at Stanford and DKFZ to grassroots nonprofit leadership serving immigrant, refugee, and youth communities across the Bay Area.

Sarah's path spans twenty years in visual communications to building ARTogether's public voice, deepening community and donor relationships, and expanding our presence across Oakland and the Bay Area.

Together, they complete a vision nine years in the making: a shared leadership model rooted in collective care and shared accountability.

ARTogether was born from the belief that art builds belonging. That belief is stronger than ever, and so are we. 💛

Read more on our blog! Link in bio!

07/30/2026

ARTogether's leadership transition is complete! Please join us in welcoming Zeenna Stapper as our new Co-Executive Director, alongside Sarah McClean.

Born in the Philippines, raised in Germany, and now rooted in California, Zeenna deeply understands the beauty and complexity of navigating multiple identities. Her path to this work is anything but ordinary. She began her career in neuroscience research at Stanford University School of Medicine and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), before shifting her focus to community-centered leadership.

Since then Zeenna has spent years in nonprofit leadership, building programs and governance structures that support immigrant, refugee, and youth communities across the Bay Area. Her work has centered on making the nonprofit sector more diverse, equitable, and inclusive, while advancing community health and youth empowerment at the ground level.

Zeenna brings both analytical clarity and deep empathy to her leadership. She believes in the power of art-based, science-informed frameworks to build spaces that offer genuine belonging and collective healing – a natural fit for ARTogether's mission.

Please join us in congratulating Zeenna and Sarah as they begin this next chapter together!

Address

1200 Harrison Street
Oakland, CA
94612

Telephone

+15105452787

Website

https://artogether.start.page/

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