Browse feature stories highlighting the work of California’s traditional artists and communities and check out the latest news from ACTA.
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Alma Cielo, Ofelia Esparza, and Rosanna Esparza-Ahrens clap at the Akwaaba Food Forest in June 2025. Photo: Calethia DeConto/ACTA. On Sunday, June 8, ACTA gathered with artists, neighbors, and culture bearers at Akwaaba Food Forest in Pasadena for Healing Through Our…
July 4, 2025
Honoring the Art of Native California Basket Weaving
We’re proud to highlight three pairs in our 2024 Apprenticeship Program, which concluded last month. Each dedicated to preserving and passing on the art of basket weaving in Native California communities. These mentors are not only master weavers but also cultural leaders, guiding their apprentices through an…
July 4, 2025
Ancient foods, living knowledge: The Wintu Council builds sustainability and resilience
In the heart of Big Bar, in rural Trinity County in Northern California, the Nor Rel Muk Wintu Nation continues to deepen its connection to ancestral lands and traditions through the Wintu Educational and Cultural Council. Established by the tribe in 1961, the Council became a nonprofit in…
May 21, 2025
Announcing the 2025 Taproot Fellows
The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) is thrilled to announce the second year of the Taproot Fellowship, a project of ACTA’s Taproot Artists & Community Trust created to uplift culture bearers whose work is more vital than ever in confronting the social…
A recap of the 2025 CA Arts & Culture Summit and Advocacy Day
On a quiet day in Loleta, a small town in Northern California’s Humboldt County, ACTA Program Manager Aliah Najmabadi and I visited the home of Katie Bowie to witness the incredible artistry that connects her family to their Yurok, Hupa, Wiyot and Bear River heritage. Katie, a…
Janhavi Pillai (L) and Roshni Pillai (R) sit at their home in San Jose, CA. Photo: A. Najmabadi/ACTA. In early March, I visited the home studio of Roshni and Janhavi Pillai, a mother-daughter pair from San Jose participating in ACTA’s 2024 Apprenticeship Program. Together, they are engaged in a focused…
After years of deep listening, careful collaboration, and creative storytelling, we are thrilled to launch the Sounds of California: Bayview microsite—a new digital collection that brings together community recordings, essays, and archival performances to honor the rich cultural life of Bayview-Hunters Point.
Justice-impacted participants writing a powerful song during musician Matt Amper’s Collective Songwriting Workshop at Five Keys Charter School in Lancaster, February 2025. In February, following our longstanding work with justice-impacted individuals, ACTA launched our newest series of free cultural arts workshops specifically designed for reentry populations in the Antelope Valley.
January 28, 2025
Announcing the 2024-2025 Living Cultures Grantees
The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA), the Administering Organization for the California Arts Council’s Folk and Traditional Arts Grant Program, is awarding 68 grants totaling $622,500. With the generous support of the California Arts Council, a state agency,…
January 23, 2025
Celebrating the impact of Quetzal Flores at ACTA
After years of transformative work with the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA), Quetzal Flores, a dynamic Chicano artivist and cultural worker, is embarking on new adventures. While we are sad to see him go, we are excited to see what the future holds for him.
As the year draws to a close, Taproot Fellow and Japanese koto musician Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto reflects on the cultural richness of her Japanese American upbringing and how it shapes her family’s holiday celebrations today. Shirley shared with ACTA her unique blend of traditions, highlighting the deep significance…
