Stories + News

Through ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program, master artist Bernard Barros Ellorin has been working all year with his 2019 apprentice Kimberly (Kim) Kalanduyan in kulintang music from the Southern Philippines, which is played on a set of gongs that have different melodic…

Inside the WasabiKai Studio

Reflections from ACTA Apprentice Mary Alfaro

Art is a transformative advocacy tool. Our work at ACTA enables activists and organizers to use traditional arts processes and values to inform their social justice efforts. From collective songwriting to indigenous embroidery, the practice of community-centered art helps build sustainable opportunities for co-creation, social engagement, and…

On October 4, 2018, ACTA had the honor of recognizing one of Native California’s most prolific and beloved artists: Brian D. Tripp (Karuk). Brian is a visual artist, a poet, a ceremonial singer and dancer, a regalia maker, and a pillar in the indigenous community of Humboldt County. He…

Professor, activist, and community leader, Dr. Dawn Mabalon, passed away unexpectedly earlier this month, just shy of her 47th birthday. As a historian and co-founder of the…

  On June 24, ACTA grantees, Bay Area artists and colleagues, community members, staff and board gave Lily a farewell reception at BrasArte Cultural Center in Berkeley. Lily is leaving full time work after 14 years to be more available for family, but will be working on special…

In this Sounds of California Bayview concert on April 29, 2018, our musical artists ponder displacement, migration, and creating a new sense of home. They musicians hail from the Bay Area’s African-American, Vietnamese, Kurdish, and Chicano communities. Sounds of California takes place in the heart of the Bayview-Hunter’s…

For over a quarter of a century, the California Indian Basketweavers’ Association (CIBA) has worked diligently to increase the number of active California Indian basket weavers and to increase awareness of California basketry and Native California cultural traditions among both Native and non-Native audiences. CIBA was created out…

On June 20th, a Traditional Arts Roundtable with ACTA and the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA), LA Uprising: 25 Years Later (1992-2017) gathered members of the Koreatown and South L.A. communities to examine cross-cultural strategies utilizing traditional art forms to heal, connect, and build bridges across cultures and…

With this issue, we say farewell to programs manager, Russell Rodríguez, who will be joining the faculty at the University of California, Santa Cruz as an assistant professor in the Music Department. He will provide performance courses with an emphasis on Mexican and Chicano music and dance, as well…

A core principle guiding ACTA’s work is to provide opportunities for artists, activists, and cultural leaders to share their arts practices, their issues or concerns, and to celebrate their differences. These gatherings occur through our free and open to the public Traditional Arts Roundtable Series throughout the state,…