Stories + News

Tunes from the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention for You!

A festive Armenian recipe for you!

Organizing to keep traditional arts spaces rooted in place

Site Visits with ACTA's 2019 Apprenticeship Cohort

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…