Community Engagement

Community Engagement Community Engagement’s mission is to utilize the transformative power of art in fostering community.

We support artists and art programs that reimagine our shared spaces and stimulate social engagement, creative expression and collective empowerment. Your donations support local artists and innovative programs that bring our communities together. With your support, we will continue to bring the beauty and empowerment of art to diverse and often underserved neighborhoods Donate today at: https://www.communityengagement.org/donate

03/05/2026

⭐️OPEN CALL Spring 2026⭐️
Deadline March 15 2026
Another round of grants for artists and creatives focusing on community-engaged projects. Please, apply on our website:
Link in bio. BEST OF LUCK!

Studio visit with artist Dino Perez . Dino has been working on a powerful new body of work rooted in his parents’ lives ...
01/12/2026

Studio visit with artist Dino Perez . Dino has been working on a powerful new body of work rooted in his parents’ lives in Mexico and their journey into Anaheim and Santa Ana. Through painting, sculpture, collage, and writing, he maps the in-between - the place where personal mythologies are braided into the larger mythology of this geography, reshaping the cultural landscape and giving rise to new identities.

The Cultural Commentary Project is a participatory art initiative designed to transform public and community spaces into...
12/22/2025

The Cultural Commentary Project is a participatory art initiative designed to transform public and community spaces into forums for civic dialogue and creative response. Daniele Siembieda’s project includes monthly community sessions where participants of all ages and backgrounds can create visual responses to policies that shape their lives. Tables with accessible materials will support artmaking, while listening and reading stations will provide policy documents, related artworks, and critical perspectives. Public dialogues with guest experts and local leaders will also be offered, making policy issues more approachable while encouraging informed civic participation. The project culminates in an evolving public exhibition and serve as a translator of complex policies, a catalyst for dialogue, and a living record of shared concerns.

As a songwriter, activist, and curator of Songwriter Sanctuary (a monthly original music series in San Diego), Lindsay W...
12/22/2025

As a songwriter, activist, and curator of Songwriter Sanctuary (a monthly original music series in San Diego), Lindsay White witnessed how access barriers persist in creative ano community spaces, both online and in person.
After hosting a Disability Pride Month concert that included ASL interpretation, lyric zines, and custom accessibility signage, it affirmed how vital these resources are, not as a one-off, but as a standard service. Songwriter Sanctuary was founded to build inclusive community through music, but inclusion isn’t real without access. Lindsay’s project will fund two professional ASL interpreters at all 11
Songwriter Sanctuary shows in 2026, demonstrating to Deaf and disabled community members that they are not only welcomed but valued.

Tale of Planetary Grief, to create an audio voyage for processing astro-colonial fantasies of leaving a damaged Earth fo...
12/22/2025

Tale of Planetary Grief, to create an audio voyage for processing astro-colonial fantasies of leaving a damaged Earth for an uninhabited Mars. It weaves together textured soundscapes, spoken dialogue, satire, hyper-pop, whimsy, humor and heartache, non-fiction and speculative fiction, science and poetry, fantasy and history. Expanding on this work, Marsification Mobile Planetarium Immersive
Listening Space will be a 12-foot cardboard planetarium presented at different public locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. The mobile planetarium is designed to activate people’s connections to these vast themes in a space of whimsy and gravity. A facilitation guide and post-listening craft activities for people of all ages will also support community engagement and integration.

Spencer Wilkinson’s Richmond Robotting is a cultural preservation and community engagement project highlighting Richmond...
12/22/2025

Spencer Wilkinson’s Richmond Robotting is a cultural preservation and community engagement project highlighting Richmond’s unique contribution to street dance. In the 1970s, the Richmond Auditorium hosted popular talent shows where local youth pioneered
“Robotting,” a stylized mechanical dance that influenced the evolution of hip hop and continues to shape street dance culture across the world. Despite this influence, many young people in Richmond today have never heard of Robotting or their city’s central role in dance history. The project is building toward a major community event that will feature a screening of the Richmond Robotting short documentary, live performances by original dancers, and a panel discussion connecting generations of Richmono residents. The buildup also includes outreach to local schools, with youth invited to screenings and special workshops.

Part hangout, part drawing workshop, the Disability Drawing Club (DDC) is a free, safe space for people with disabilitie...
12/22/2025

Part hangout, part drawing workshop, the Disability Drawing Club (DDC) is a free, safe space for people with disabilities, chronic illness, and mental illness to speak unapologetically about their bodies. Sessions are held monthly at ADA accessible spaces across Los Angeles, providing an in-person space for people with disabilities who are longing to feel less isolated and alienated in a world designed for able-bodied people. Founded by interdisciplinary artist and journalist Renée Reizman, DDC uses drawing prompts and a show-and-tell format to spark dialogues about the disabled experience and help people from vastly different backgrounds discover common ground. The workshops are broadcast on Zoom for those who are unable to attend in person.

This narrative-based dance-theater performance collaboration is led, created and performed by Indigenous Maya Mam immigr...
12/22/2025

This narrative-based dance-theater performance collaboration is led, created and performed by Indigenous Maya Mam immigrant women living in Oakland. Developed by NAKA Dance Theater (José Ome and Debby Kajiyama) and Maya Mam community members, the project investigates how anti-Indigeneity and colonialism impact Indigenous communities from Guatemala.
Weaving - a daily practice for many Maya Mam women - emerged as a way to talk about their lives and express pride in their identity.
Performances incorporate traditional textiles and contemporary creations using backstrap weaving tools, integrating visual and contextual elements into a tapestry of traditional and contemporary movement and storytelling. The project will culminate in eight premiere performances and a gallery installation featuring artworks generated throughout the process.

Burnt Water is a one-night sound performance taking place in the open-air courtyard of the 4th and Main/Medallion Apartm...
12/22/2025

Burnt Water is a one-night sound performance taking place in the open-air courtyard of the 4th and Main/Medallion Apartments complex in downtown Los Angeles. Organized by Court Space (curator Ezequiel Olvera) and hosted by Central Server Works (director Joshua Oduga), the free event brings together musicians Nathanial Young, Corey Gordon, and Joshua Oduga to create an intimate sonic environment.
The courtyard, normally underutilized at night, will be reconfigured through seating, lighting, and sound to invite 50-75 attendees into a temporary public forum of listening. Beyond the performance, Burnt Water is a proposition: that art can illuminate the gaps left by economic systems, transform how space is perceived, and open imaginative possibilities for how communities might gather in urban Los Angeles.

Claire’s Crunch Cake is a creative documentary short film featuring Claire Mack, a beloved 88-year-old local baker, poet...
12/22/2025

Claire’s Crunch Cake is a creative documentary short film featuring Claire Mack, a beloved 88-year-old local baker, poet, a former public television broadcaster, social justice. While churning out crunch cakes, Claire reflects on her life growing up in a highly segregated San Mateo in the 50s-60s. Her unique perspective is of a local African American resident who fought against many odds to gain many firsts - build a career in broadcast media, become the first black mayor and start the first black woman-run business in San Mateo. Her story is one of perseverance in the face of inequity, of social justice activism and community building when faced with racism, a narrative of sheer grit and tenacity to rise despite being a high school dropout, a story with an affirming message, particularly for the youth of color.

Demure Asian Rage is a raw, unfiltered exploration of rage — specifically, how rage manifests in the context of being As...
12/20/2025

Demure Asian Rage is a raw, unfiltered exploration of rage — specifically, how rage manifests in the context of being Asian, mixed-race, non-binary, genderfluid, and AFAB in a world that often marginalizes such identities. Created and performed by Yeeman “ManMan” Mui and Leanna Li Keith, the project blends taiko, flute, electronics, movement, spoken word, and dance into a visceral performance that balances explosive power with breath and silence. Audience members submit short written prompts that are woven into a spoken word piece through live looping, layered with movement to embody the inner turmoil of suppressed expression. The Southern California premiere will include a new community workshop that ensures audience experiences flow directly into the performance, reinforcing its core: rage transformed into collective release, resilience, and connection.

For Crafted in Culture, Cedric Mitchell will collaborate with the Watts Labor Community Action Committee - a non-profit,...
12/20/2025

For Crafted in Culture, Cedric Mitchell will collaborate with the Watts Labor Community Action Committee - a non-profit, human social services organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for South Central Los Angeles residents - and young adults from the Watts community to create a large-scale glass mosaic that is materially and symbolically rooted in the community. This new artwork will be built from individually crafted glass tiles, each one designed and made by a community participant, which will form a unified mosaic that reflects both individual expression and collective identity. The finished piece will be a striking, permanent artwork that reflects the collective imagination of Watts, created by and for the community it represents.

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