Last month, ACTA joined cultural leaders, artists, and advocates from across the state in Sacramento for the 2025 California Arts & Culture Summit and Arts Advocacy Day, organized by Californians for the Arts. These two back-to-back events reaffirmed the role of traditional artists as essential contributors to public life—especially in a time when community health, belonging, and resilience are more vital than ever.
The theme of this year’s Summit, Health, Healing, and Hope, deeply resonated with ACTA’s mission to nurture cultural traditions as tools for community well-being. ACTA was a sponsoring organization supporting the summit, and we had the honor of presenting the session “Centering Culture Bearers in Community Health & Wellbeing.” Our session lifted up the voices of traditional artists whose practices bridge generations and nourish spiritual, emotional, and collective healing.
🌀 Centering culture bearers Rosanna Esparza Ahrens and Wanda Ravernell
Facilitated by ACTA Deputy Director Leticia Soto Flores, the session “Centering Culture Bearers in Community Health & Wellbeing” featured Rosanna Esparza-Ahrens, a Los Angeles-based altarista, and Wanda Ravernell, founder of the Omnira Institute in Oakland. Together, they led a powerful and deeply reflective presentation exploring how traditional arts contribute to healing, restoration, and cultural continuity. Rosanna introduced her ACAA Methodology—Arriving, Connecting, Agreeing, and Affirming—as a framework for collective engagement, and shared five generations of cultural practice within her family. Wanda offered reflections on reclaiming African spiritual heritage and the importance of reconnecting with ancestral roots. The session opened with the creation of an altar, creating a sacred space for reflection. Audience members, including representatives from the California Arts Council and the LA County Department of Arts and Culture, engaged with compelling questions and expressed strong appreciation for the session’s focus on health, healing, and the vital role of culture bearers in community well-being.
We also unveiled our new program name Art Breaks In, which now unites ACTA’s long-running work in corrections, reentry, and CARES programs. Inspired by a participant who once said, “People shouldn’t be worried about anyone breaking out—they should be thinking about the arts breaking in,” this name captures the heart of our work in systems-impacted communities. The Summit audience was the first to hear it.
💬 Advocating for the folk and traditional arts with Intention
The following day, ACTA joined dozens of organizations and artists for Advocacy Day at the State Capitol, where participants met with legislators to advocate for a more just and equitable future for the arts in California.
ACTA Program Manager Aliah Najmabadi represented Bay Area districts in legislative meetings focused on:
• Restoring $5 million in funding to the California Arts Council
• Supporting artist housing and protections for creatives
• Opposing SB 456, a bill that would impose restrictive licensing on muralists and community artists
Aliah shared ACTA’s unique perspective in advocating for traditional artists, who are often left out of mainstream funding and policy conversations despite their profound cultural and civic contributions.
“Traditional artists are the social infrastructure of so many communities,” Aliah noted. “We must ensure they are resourced, protected, and heard in these spaces.”
Aliah also emphasized the urgent need for broader regional representation at future Advocacy Days—particularly from rural communities and regions like the Central Valley, which were noticeably underrepresented. While cities such as San Francisco, Sacramento, and Los Angeles had strong turnouts, many legislative meetings lacked voices from inland and agricultural districts where culture bearers are deeply embedded in community life. For advocacy to truly reflect the diversity of California’s arts ecosystem, we must ensure that artists and tradition bearers from all regions—not just urban centers—have access to these policy spaces, and the tools and support to participate effectively.
We left Sacramento reminded that advocacy is not only about influencing policy—it’s about honoring the people who have long held our communities together. Traditional artists have been doing the work of health and healing for generations—through altar-making, drum circles, storytelling, foodways, and other communal practices that restore connection and affirm cultural identity. These are not new strategies; they are time-honored methods of care, passed down across generations.
As Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, former Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts and former ACTA board member, reminded us in her keynote remarks, art must be woven into every aspect of our lives—from public policy to our environments—as a tool for connection and transformation. At ACTA, we believe that includes ensuring every artist—from the most remote rural town to the heart of the statehouse—is heard, seen, and valued.
We’re grateful to our collaborators at Californians for the Arts for organizing this statewide convening, and to all the artists and advocates who continue to show up and speak out. Let’s keep building momentum together.
Want to join future advocacy efforts or bring your voice to Sacramento? Visit californiansforthearts.org for updates on policy issues and tools for mobilizing in your community.
