The Alliance for Hispanic Advancement created a program in Yuba and Sutter Counties to teach youth the art of Mariachi music and Ballet Folklórico. The Youth Mariachi Orchestra was trained by multiple culture bearers and arts educators and performed at public events to introduce all members of the community to these art forms. Performances took place at local cultural festivals, service club meetings, libraries, and museums and for other special occasions. This program will help break down social justice and cultural barriers and enable the students, who live in the lowest quartiles of the CA HPI, to rise above and take pride in these native cultural art forms.

"Personally, I had the satisfaction of instilling cultural pride to students that were unaware of this beautiful traditional genre, mariachi. Our instructional team bonded through music by having one thing in common, exposing our youth to almost forgotten traditions. The most evident impact was seeing the students' growth from shy kids to confident musicians that performed with pride while many embracing their heritage."

County: Yuba and Sutter

Program Goals: Public Health, and Social Justice

Almanor Recreation and Park Department, in partnership with a local muralist, a team of high school art students, and the Maidu Summit Consortium designed and created two public murals adjacent to a new community garden. Through cross cultural discussions and inter-generational learning opportunities these community members designed murals that promote healthy lifestyles through outdoor activity, healthy eating, social interaction, and the lasting relevance of native culture and community history. These murals were installed by and for communities in the lowest quartile as indicated by the HPI.

County: Plumas

Program Goals: Public Health, and Social Justice

Indigenous artists of Coastal & Northern Pomo (Antoinette Ascencio), Southern Pomo (Michael Racho), and Tongva-Chumash (Monique Sonoquie) descent, engaged Tribal and rural communities, bringing community awareness about the importance of conservation and climate in relation to Traditional arts and environmental sustainability to support the well-being of current and future generations.

County: Mendocino

Program Goals: Environmental Issues and Social Justice

Associated Hayfork Artists engaged community to vision a more positive future for Hayfork, using the artistic process to dismantle issues around race, poverty, and rural access. By creating an inclusive environment for conscientious art making, we celebrate identity and use artistic expression to connect contemporary manifestations of oppression to historical contexts, develop a deeper understanding of our lived experiences and a stronger cultural identity for Hayfork as a whole community.

County: Trinity

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Astrid Mendieta created a coloring book and facilitated art workshops for vulnerable communities at Kings Beach, in the lowest quartile of the California Healthy Places Index. The coloring book is bilingual in English and Spanish and tells Señor Taquito's story through his healthy lifestyle practices. Community workshops taught acrylic painting with local produce, with wild plants and plant roots as a focus, symbolizing the importance of wellbeing, ancestry, family and community.

County: Placer

Program Goals: Public Health, and Social Justice

Autie Carlisle created two episodes of Shasta Stories, a 12 part docuseries highlighting the diversity, history, and fortitude of individuals and communities in Siskiyou County. The series creates awareness about racism, ageism, and the environment; examined with the intent to create active change in the community to increase equity and environmental healing into the future. We hosted free community events and offered episodes online.

"The confidence and funds we received from this team and grant for our documentaries and events, Shasta Stories, has boosted us to actualize this project in meaningful ways to help our rural community to share their stories."

County: Siskiyou

Program Goals:Environmental Issues and Social Justice

Blue Line Arts partnered with contemporary place-based artist and culture bearer Tiffany Adams for a visual arts and curatorial residency project uplifting Indigenous artists. Adams, who is Chemehuevi/Koyoomk’awi/Nisenan, curated and interpreted a group show with, by, and for Indigenous artists, develop her own solo exhibition with a performance piece as a participating resident, and plan an Indigenous Art Market event to engage the regional community around issues of social/restorative justice, civic engagement, and environmental protection through the lens of Indigenous peoples.

"This Creative Corps grant has had a profound impact on how Blue Line Arts serves and strengthens relationships with under represented artists and community members of all ages. Having the opportunity to collaborate and support Tiffany Adams in bringing her vision to life has been inspiring, fruitful and educational for our entire team. We look forward to continuing this important work in the future."

Counties: Placer

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Brady McKay and Taylor Aglipay formed a countywide all-inclusive "upcycled" percussion/vocal ensemble. This all ages ensemble provided opportunities for intergenerational learning while addressing health equity and environmental issues. Rehearsals were held throughout the region to promote accessibility to the most underserved portions of the community. The project included live performances and culminated with a professionally produced music video distributed across social media platforms, with the cooperation of several local organizations. Filmed in various locations throughout the county, the music video features the beautiful landscape and diverse people of Trinity County.

County: Trinity

Program Goals: Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Artist Brandon Greathouse lead a social justice awareness campaign for artists in affordable housing in the High Sierra. Through stirring podcasts and community engagement, Empowering Voices lends agency to those seeking relief from California’s workforce housing crisis, as they find creative ways to breathe life into a world of impossible odds—solving everyday problems and contributing to the social fabric of an area threatened by gentrification.

County: Nevada

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Public Health, and Social Justice

Butte County Local Food Network lead an awareness campaign for public health, on why eating locally grown food is an essential component of wellbeing for people, animals, community, our local economy and the planet. Via inspiring visual art and education we respectfully supported building a community that grows food together to empower us during a collapsing food system and builds an insurance policy for food sovereignty now and for the future.

"This grant has enabled us to get the word out in both personal and lasting ways. It enabled us to do more outreach to the community, start some neighborhood groups and engage painters to make images for our use on our website and out in the public via murals, signs and Free The Food Stands (FTFS). These stands provide a place to be a guerilla food distribution source, while connecting gardeners with excess with those who need more food. Ultimately we are extremely grateful for the community support this generous grant made possible now and for the future of our food supply."

County: Butte

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

The Story of Land, Water, and People builds on the foundation of California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project (CHIRP) ’s Visibility through Art initiative by coordinating collaborations among artists and Tribal culture bearers to increase public awareness and engage the public related to environment-related issues including water, land and social justice.

"This is the first time that CHIRP's Visibility Through Arts Program has received outside funding, which made it possible for CHIRP to compensate Tribal Members and collaborating artists for the first time. This was a very rewarding outcome for all involved. These funds helped to elevate and expand the work that CHIRP and the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe already engage in within the arts for social change movement. The immersive arts exhibit that was produced through this project has helped to educate the public around Indigenous social justice and environmental issues which directly contributes to a more equitable future for the Tribe within their ancestral homelands."

County: Nevada

Program Goals: Environmental Issues and Social Justice

Image Credit: Robert Bryant

The Center for the Study of the Force Majeure (CFM) facilitated collaborations with tribal members, artists and scientists in Nevada and Placer Counties, with a focus on plants important to Washoe culture bearers. A 50-year art/science experiment by CFM at the UC Berkeley Sagehen Creek Field Station was extended and a new Future Garden designed. The project supported three master/apprentice teams of Washoe artists and 7 Sagehen artist residencies.

"Stewarding Knowledges was designed to serve Tribal members on whose traditional homelands the project areas lie in Placer and Nevada Counties. It supports a partnership between Wà:šiw and public artists, benefiting those who use public lands at both sites: Sagehen Creek Field Station in Nevada County and the Gatekeepers Basketry Museum in Placer County. That grant has a allowed this partnership to flourish"

Counties: Nevada and Placer

Program Goals: Environmental Issues and Social Justice

https://www.centerforforcemajeure.org/

Centro del Pueblo Movimiento Indigena Migrante formed a sustainable arts and Latinx culture program, promoting diversity and community advancement in Humboldt. Artistas Santuario, a community of artists and cultural bearers, lead traditional and innovative workshops and events at Sanctuary Gardens to transform the social landscape.

"Receiving this grant has been a transformative experience for our team and the Latinx and Indigenous immigrant voices we serve. It has enabled us to support and empower local artists and cultural bearers. With this funding, we've been able to create cultural and artistic activities in Humboldt County expanding diversity and representation. This grant has validated our efforts to make a True Sanctuary in Humboldt County, inspiring us to continue advocating for and uplifting our community."

County: Humboldt

Program Goals: Civic Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Our team of artists at Chico Creative Reuse produced and hosted a mobile creative reuse center featuring art made from upcycled materials, interactive activities and opportunities for art and makers resource exchange. Through our efforts we aim to engage the public and community leaders for increasing dialogue, advocacy and action relating climate mitigation through waste diversion and to provide a creative resource recovery model for our region.

"Receiving the Upstate CA Creative Corps grant has been transformative for our team and the Chico Creative Reuse Mobile project. The support provided validation and recognition of our efforts to engage communities about waste diversion and climate mitigation.

Over the past year artists provided contributions that have set a high standard and shown the immense value of such initiatives for the future. The team's unique approach to engagement and innovative techniques in creative reuse have truly engaged and enriched the community. We truly enjoyed seeing community members admire the art in the gallery, explore and find treasures in the resource recovery area and get creative in the makerspace. The feedback from participants have been overwhelmingly positive, highlighting the transformative nature of their work.

"This grant has empowered us to engage with the community, fostering meaningful connections and implementing effective strategies that have a tangible impact on the environment. It's more than just funding; it's about the momentum it brings, a catalyst for change and progress."

County: Butte

Program Goal: Environmental Issues

The LABELS project group created an interactive exhibition on the role of assumptions in maintaining our social divides, especially as they relate to the growing crisis of homelessness. Using written word, visual art and film, both participants and viewers were asked to name their assumptions on both sides of being homeless, in deciding how best to respond to this social, civic and humanitarian issue.

"This grant enabled our team to put our "Labels" project together with due thoughtfulness, time and with exceptional community support so that the homeless population we worked with were given a public voice. It enabled us to design and create both an exhibition and a documentary that we are continuing to show and look forward to building future collaborations based on its structure. We have learned a great deal about the issues around homelessness and the struggle to separate those from the people experiencing this. We soon realized that the two are separate entities that connect but are not the same. Our regard for the group and agencies working to resolve and offer support as people navigate out of their situations greatly increased as a result of our working on this project. We are energized by our participants' enthusiasm for their voice being heard, so much so that we continue to look for more avenues to show and utilize what we have created."

Counties: Butte, Shasta and Tehama

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, and Social Justice

Christopher LaMarr created film curriculum through the Native Elder Youth Curriculum Film Project. The Project created film curriculum by having local Native American Youth interview local Native American Elders about the history of Native Americans' impact and experience in Lassen County. This film formed a key part of the awareness campaign by the Susanville Indian Rancheria, and was shared broadly across generations, supported by Lassen Union High School District; as well as shown at film festivals.

"Working on the documentary has brought our youth and elders together to create a better understanding of the need for and importance of continuing Native American culture. Our youth became empowered and had their voice heard, while our elders rejoiced in having value of their cultural knowledge appreciated by our youth."

County: Lassen

Program Goal: Social Justice

Colectiva Seeds of Ancestral Renewal (SOAR) aims to increase wellness and health equity at the intersections between Siskiyou and Modoc Counties by offering a series of free and bilingual seasonal Wellness Gatherings in Dorris, Tulelake, and Alturas that are centered on traditional ways. Although open to all community members, our hope is to cultivate spaces that center the Spanish-speaking, Latin@/Hispanic, and Indigenous community experience and to provide opportunities for engagement in cultural arts practices and arts-based healing.

Counties: Siskiyou and Modoc

Program Goals: Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

California naturalist Laura Leidner installed a renewable, free, and interactive seed library at the Colusa County Free Library, to increase community awareness of the environmental benefits of native plants and address food insecurity. As part of this experiential art project, Leidner organized workshops in partnership with other culture bearers and created an interpretive exhibit to help beginning gardeners start their own food gardens and introduced native plants to public green spaces. With an accessible repository for vegetable, herb, and native seeds, Leidner intends to spark cross-generational discussion on gardening in a changing environment while deepening connections to agrarian roots.

"I believe the impact of the Upstate California Creative Corps will be seen in Colusa County for a long time. Thanks to this grant, I was able to make connections within my community as well as with the artists and expert gardeners in our area, who have made the Colusa County Seed Library project possible. It is very rewarding to get feedback from the community and learn about their gardens and plans for saving seeds. I can’t wait to build on this project and see how it evolves!"

County: Colusa

Program Goals: Environmental Issues and Public Health

Coral and Trent Cash created awareness around environmental issues by capturing the real-life stories of those most directly affected by wildfire and the changing climate of California. These stories were shared with others in the community through the development of a graphic novel and board game. To promote accessibility to the areas of highest need the graphic novel and game was distributed through several outlets including schools, libraries, social media, and a community event. This will strengthen civic knowledge and encourage civic engagement through the principles of forestry and fire ecology, and how policies affect them.

"This project has impacted our team by becoming more aware of how our environment is intertwined with our current standard of living in California. By interviewing those experienced in the field of forestry and peoples experiences during the the dixie fire. We created a game to educate the public about how fire impacts our environment, and a graphic novel of peoples experiences during the dixie fire."

Counties: Plumas

Program Goals: Civic Engagement and Environmental Issues

Corine Pearce continued reawakening endangered Pomo weaving arts traditions by offering classes to brand-new, beginning, intermediate, and advanced weavers throughout a 7000-square-mile Tri-County area encompassing ancestral Pomo territories. Her instruction includes training in material procurement and processing, following an intergenerational “trainer of trainers” model to enable a sustainable legacy of ongoing cultural revitalization.

Counties: Lake and Mendocino

Program Goal: Social Justice

Corinne West composed and produced an original 5-song project, culminating in five free community-based concerts. Each song addressed issues specific to the county and related to the needs of the community ranging from wildfire displacement and climate mitigation, watershed health and resource management, to social justice and mental health. West’s focus to bring awareness to these issues and catalyzing personal empowerment through a song circle that promotes intergenerational and cross-cultural learning.

County: Plumas

Program Goals: Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Local artist Rolf Kriken, the Tribal Advisory Committee to the Museums of Lake County and the County of Lake, created a life size bronze statue of a Lake Pomo Family in Museum Park in Lakeport, our most public space. The Pomos’ rich cultural heritage and family bonds are represented by a pre-contact Pomo mother and child with a contemporary male Pomo dancer, and evoke resiliency, and intergenerational connections of past, present and future.

County: Lake

Program Goals: Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Culture Bearers of Tehama County held a Native American Cultural Celebration on September 23rd, 2023 in Red Bluff, CA. We had Native American drummers, dancers, storytellers, vendors and a traditional games demo. We partnered with local tribal organizations and other community organizations to provide resources and health services (like COVID vaccines). We honored the local Paskenta Nomlaki Tribe, original inhabitants of this land.

"The impact grant made our large scale Native American Cultural Celebration possible. We were able to generously compensate our Native American artists for their drumming, dancing, story telling and traditional games demonstration. We were witness to all kinds of intergenerational learning and sharing of culture."

County: Tehama

Program Goals: Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Daniel LoPilato created a hybrid literary work comprised of a book-length naturalist's guide to Northern California's Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, and a series of interactive digital modules promoting public health and engagement with Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument's unique ecosystem, in both English and Spanish.

"Upstate California Creative Corps funding not only allowed me to prioritize my creative work, but also helped me connect with other artists in my area and expand my working network to include policy experts in conservation and environmental restoration."

Counties: Colusa, Lake, Glenn and Mendocino

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Deep Valley Arts Collective provided people recovering from substance abuse with a series of guided art therapy workshops. Working with established substance abuse programs and organizations, a series of collage workshops culminated in a gallery exhibition, a book, and a multimedia art presentation forming community bonds, building resilience, and creating awareness for public health resources.

"Receiving funding from the Creative Corps has been a huge support and a catalyst for growth in our organization. We were relatively new and had great ideas and energy, but little funds to work with. We were able to take our offerings to our community to a whole new level. What we did not expect is how much this program would touch our hearts. We had 10 months of collage workshops with people in substance abuse recovery programs. Hearing them tell us weekly how much it meant to them, that it was the highlight of their week, was so touching. People shared their stories with us and worked through very difficult times using artistic tools and basic supplies. It has become such an essential part of their recovery that we continue to offer weekly workshops indefinitely. This also opened the door for other organizations who have reached out to us to create other collaborations to serve our community through art. This experience has broadened our idea of what it means to be a community art gallery."

Counties: Mendocino

Program Goals: Public Health and Social Justice

ColorMaiz promoted healing from intergenerational trauma and created spaces in the community for the converging of artists and creatives. Individuals explored the definition of safe space as they expressed themselves through art. Programming took place in itinerant laboratories for artists and in workshops providing information around mental and physical health for the BIPOC, 2S/LGBTQ+, and neurodiverse communities. ColorMaíz empowered local underrepresented artists by providing spaces for inclusion and introspection, providing free access to spaces and public events and opportunities for creative expression and mental health education to under-resourced communities in Eureka and Fortuna.

"Color Maíz is (re)thinking the definition of a safe space with the help of art as an outlet of expression, simultaneously, bridging conversation of intergenerational trauma and mental and physical health for Black, Indigenous, people of color, 2-Spirit and LGBTQ+, and neurodiverse communities. Color Maíz is creating free and accessible spaces and workshops for community members to take part in collective creative expression and education with bilingual workshops about holistic wellness – connecting individuals with collective wellbeing. One of our main goals is to create spaces where we can trust in our healing process, asking for help, seeking resources and sharing our experiences to improve our daily lives."

County: Humboldt

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

The Eco-Explorers utilized multiple art forms to create movable mural environments that showcase their understanding of green spaces. Creativity and personal expression blossomed in sculpture, painting, and recycled art projects. Intergenerational interaction brought together culture bearers, diversity icons and artists resulting in an appreciation and advocacy to protect community green spaces in areas within the lowest quartiles of the California HPI.

"My program, Art and Urban Ecology, the healthy results of green spaces, has provided young children the opportunity to create art around environmental themes and foster an appreciation for parks, gardens and green areas within our cities and towns. Art students became Eco-Explorers as they used multi media Arts to express their views on the environment and the importance of saving animals and their homes. Seeing their improved sensitivity to our environment has been a treasured outcome of this program." - Pamela Nowak

County: Sutter

Program Goals: Environmental Issues

Emiliano Gomez created Work Week, a series of reportage for public awareness, health, and mutual understanding in a community that is among the lowest scoring on the CA Healthy Places Index. Searching for unspoken or unheard truths that impact the urban areas of Yuba and Sutter Counties, he spent a week's days and nights with unseen community members: a grocery clerk; a neighbor who has lived on the same corner for 70 years; an owner of hectares of orchards; a forklift driver; an ER doctor; home-owning high school sweethearts; the recently un-homeless and newly un-housed; whoever needs to speak but hasn't gotten to or been given the opportunity.

"Artists find freedom exhilarating. The UCC provided financial freedom, giving me a year to be my best, to create new art. Daggum, I became the avant garde! Zounds, the community flourished!"

Counties: Yuba

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Culture Bearer Jai Hanes designed an anti-racism youth program for Black, indigenous and Asian youth and their allies. Working with a local mentor, Haines achieved this through education of history, culture, family engagement and intergenerational learning; partnerships with other cultural awareness groups; and development of community-based curriculum.

County: Nevada

Program Goal: Social Justice

Jared Witkofsky created a comic book telling the true story of his experiences living with neuropathy and navigating life and the medical system with a disability. The comic spreads critical information about the lived experiences of the disabled community and where to access vital services.

"Receiving the Upstate Creative Corps Grant has completely changed my life. I was able to stop working multiple jobs and focus on art to a degree I never have before. I'm also getting more show offers than ever before. Receiving the grant has also changed the attention my work receives, and I am now receiving more show, collaboration and commission offers than ever before."

Counties: Nevada

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Public Health, and Social Justice

Jenn Procacci and Michelle Peñaloza created Round Valley Reader, a community focused publication showcasing the trajectory of Round Valley, and exploring imaginings for the future of our rural community in the face of climate change, wildfire pressure, economic and social justice challenges, and the hardships that are associated with being in the lowest quartiles of the California HPI. With joint experience in engaging communities through journalism, storytelling, creative writing and documentation, two artists explored the past, report the present, and work with the community to imagine our collective future using these methods.

County: Mendocino

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, and Social Justice

Jesi Naomi and WWASH Project (Wintu We are Still Here) ignited the livelihoods of Native artists’ ongoing cultural work; strengthening native community bonds and tribal relations to non-natives and mobilizing social justice, mental, emotional and physical health rehabilitation via traditional arts and language. Through the lens of indigenous culture bearers of the Butte-Shasta-Trinity tribal region, we draw community to Wintu Culture Center in Trinity and Redding Rancheria in Shasta, and via workshops strive for language sovereignty.

"Claim, the power to Re-CLAIM what once was ours. Claim back our language, Claim back our land, Claim back our culture, Claim back our inherited gifts, Claim back our pride, Claim back our traditional ways of life. WWASH (Wintu We Are Still Here)"

Counties: Butte, Shasta, Trinity

Program Goals: Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Jess Riegel and Kira Greene produced a series of video reports, highlighting unique challenges and attributes from communities residing in the lowest quartiles of the California Healthy Places Index, in Del Norte, Trinity, Modoc, Lassen, Plumas, and Yuba Counties. Funds supported important investigations resulting in a series of one-minute videos, housed on their own website, and accessible via Instagram and other free online platforms.

"It has been monumental getting the funding to explore vulnerable communities, make site-specific art, and positively affect the perception of those places. Thank you Upstate, thank you California!"

Counties: Del Norte, Lassen, Modoc, Trinity, Plumas, Yuba

Program Goals: Public Health and Social Justice

The Creative Collective launched a one-year workforce development and public health campaign in Glenn and Tehama Counties. The project, titled “The Work of Art,” paired artists with under-resourced youth to co-create and install five public murals and launch one project website. The murals and website promoted activities proven to create mental and emotional health. The youth internships will sustain through 2026 using the Job Training Center of Tehama County's funding.

County: Glenn and Tehama

Program Goals: Civic Engagement and Public Health

Image Credit: George Johnston / Daily News

Kalah Wooten, Kacey Collins, Angel McMarrow, Casey McWilliams, and Jennika Flinck, created an educational art mural to raise awareness of the non-native species on local ecosystems. The 400 sq ft mural, using various mediums highlights the differences between native and non-native flora. With collaboration, this project aims to educate the community and inspire a sense of collective responsibility towards the environment.

"Through the Upstate California Creative Corps grant we have made an impact on your community while also making great change to our own lives as artists."

County: Trinity

Program Goals: Environmental Issues and Social Justice

Kara Starkweather, Lauren Godla, and Jessica Swanson collaborated as dance and video artists to document the monumental removal of the Klamath River dams and investigate the potential precedent this could set for other Northern California Rivers. Using vertical dance as a tool to explore the environmental and cultural significance of restoring these rivers, we activated communities to engage in this ongoing conversation.

"This grant gave a group of artists an incredible opportunity to come together, make a beautiful piece of art, celebrate nature, bring community together, and honor all those who fought to take down the dams on the Klamath River. We can only hope to have opportunities like this in our future!"

Counties: Del Norte, Humboldt, and Mendocino

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Director Kate Jopson created a series of short online films to demystify how data about the Klamath Watershed is collected and how that data impacts the water use and livelihoods of residents in Scott Valley and the Mid-Klamath region of Siskiyou County.

"I have a whole new life goal because of creating "Knowledge Springs." I realized I want to be the "Bill Nye of Water," helping make the work of water scientists and data collectors fun and comprehensible! As one of those scientists, my mother struggled her whole career to "tell the story" of the data she collected and analyzed. It gives me great joy to fill a need in my community and my family. I wouldn't have had the space to discover this without the Upstate Creative Community Corps grant."

County: Siskiyou

Program Goal: Environmental Issues

The Klamath-Siskiyou Art Center created awareness for the effects of environmental change and climate crisis, along with new avenues for civic engagement, in the most remote reaches of Siskiyou County in Karuk Aboriginal Territory. With collective experience in facilitating intergenerational and multicultural learning through poetry, performance, music, visual art and event production, artists and culture bearers engaged the voices of those living in areas of our region who score in the lowest quartiles of the California HPI and who are at risk for environmental and economic hardship.

"The Upstate California Creative Corps grant allowed the Klamath-Siskiyou Art Center to create a vital and festive summer music and art series that shared 20 events with our community. Helping us to fulfill our mission of being a cultural hub on the Klamath River.”

“Thanks to this funding we were able to pay local and regional artists living wages to share their work with our community and enrich the lives of an economically disadvantaged area.”

“This incredible grant gave our team the resources and time to expand our efforts in building a stronger community outreach program, and the ability to take on the massive multi week Steelhead Art and Music Series that would have otherwise been impossible.”

County: Siskiyou

Program Goals: Environmental Issues and Social Justice

Artists Liz Swindell and Tina Thorman collaborated with community members of all ages and teach them how to design, prep and paint a mural in downtown Quincy, the County seat. The mural —in the shape of Plumas County and painted on Main Street adjacent to the County courthouse — is in one of the most highly visited and visible areas in the county, making it accessible to the constituents of the county, including those from our most underserved areas. As the rebuilding of the community moves forward the mural includes imagery illustrating the strength in diversity of the area. The collaborative aspect of the creation of this mural solidified county-wide pride and unity, bringing awareness to those concerns which most affect us including healthy lifestyle, resource management, and resiliency.

"Working together on a collaborative mural in the heart of our community has been a joyful experience. Our "Plumas County Love" mural has become a new focal point of Main Street in Quincy, CA and we are delighted to have been supported in creating this project aimed at solidifying county-wide pride and unity and serving as a visual representation of our shared need to conserve and protect the land."

Counties: Plumas

Program Goal: Environmental Issues

Artist LK James offered a series of printmaking workshops to adults and children in community centers in rural Colusa County to help those least represented unlock their creative voice and use it for self-advocacy and their community. Visual communication skills are inherent in the basic principles of printmaking and these skills can harness the power to raise awareness for issues, challenges and solutions.

"This grant allowed me to focus time and resources on sharing my love of printmaking in an accessible and community-minded format, designed to promote creative conversations and creative thinking around environmental advocacy."

County: Colusa

Program Goals: Environmental Issues and Social Justice

Lost Sierra Food Project employed visual artists in residencies to create artworks and host free community-based workshops — focused on a variety of traditional arts and modern mediums through inter-generational learning — designed to bring awareness to the environmental issues of food security and the importance of resource conservation as it relates to ecological farming in Plumas County. To promote accessibility and community engagement throughout the region the works created were shared in a traveling exhibition, inviting the audience to engage in deeper dialogue around the ties between food access, community, and a healing relationship to the land.

"Receiving this grant allowed our organization to fairly support local artists in producing work inspired by regenerative agriculture and food access. With the art produced we ran a small tour in our county displaying the art and using it to gather insight from niche communities in our rural setting about strategic planning for the future of our counties food system."

County: Plumas

Program Goals: Environmental Issues and Social Justice

Artist Love Andreyev created a mural depicting the interconnected web of food justice work in the Truckee-Tahoe area as part of an awareness campaign for public health. In close collaboration with Slow Food Lake Tahoe and Sierra Community House – two local nonprofits that serve an area in the lowest quartile of the California HPI – Love’s work drives communal engagement and awareness for Ecology of Care.

County: Nevada and Placer

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Image Credit: Zoe Meyer / Sierra Sun

Madelyne Joan Templeton developed an intergenerational learning campaign during week-long community based mural camps in Tehama and Yuba Counties. This initiative not only foster creativity among local youth, but also educate them about public health and environmental concerns related to water and energy. By engaging with these important topics, youth gained a better understanding of how to improve the well-being of their community.

County: Tehama and Yuba

Program Goals: Environmental Issues and Public Health

Marc Flacks adapted the screenplay for Salt of the Earth (1954) into a play that was staged in the Spring of 2024. Salt of the Earth was produced by blacklisted artists during the McCarthy era. The story, about Mexican American miners and their ethnic, class, and gender struggles, was be reshaped for a new generation of American viewers and staged for the first time. The production included community members as co-creators.

"A line from Salt of the Earth that our director, Lydia Crist, quoted when asked by Vicki Gonzalez on Insight on Capital Public Radio, and which was held dear by everyone in the cast and crew. It is spoken by the lead character, Esperanza: 'I want to rise, and push everything up with me as I go!'"

County: Yuba

Program Goal: Social Justice

Marcia Morgan created an animation video and book to focus on nature and the imperiled pollinators, and gather educators and students to participate in an educational Pollinator Fair. The video incorporated original illustrations and animation, with a storybook on nature. Together, they created awareness for the vital work of pollinators and their relationship to our own food future well-being, and shed light on steps we can take to help them.

"The Pollinator Palooza and Book/Animation Video grant project had a very good impact on the participants, including the kids, their parents, and the event helper team.

The kids in Del Norte County were enthusiastic about joining in the dance, art and science projects; many of these kids are from low-income families who may not otherwise have been able to participate, particularly in the dance project. The parents enjoyed the project and event, and expressed gratitude for this, as well as for having learned about pollinators along with the kids.

As for myself, it was a tremendous opportunity to utilize my art in illustration and in animation/video making, and helping to make a difference in the world with my art. It has also given me great hope for the future, having invested in knowledge gained by the community."

Counties: Del Norte

Program Goals: Environmental Issues and Public Health

Local artist Marjorie Voorhees, of the Paiute Nation, created the Headwaters Stained-Glass project. In the wake of the climate crisis, Sierra County watershed communities have been among the most affected communities within the lowest quartiles of the California HPI. This project created an intergenerational public awareness installation that will boost civic pride while reflecting the environmental importance of watersheds that originate in our rural county and that are essential to the health of the entire State of California.

County: Sierra

Program Goal: Environmental Issues

Artist Mark Vargo created seven "Preservation Stations: Windows Into Our Wildlife" interactive collage sculptures as part of an awareness campaign focused on preservation of local endangered, vulnerable, and protected species to be housed within the seven Colusa County Free Public Libraries within the lowest quartiles of California HPI. A series of public workshops on collage making served to collect local original art to be included in the sculptures along with descriptions, local poetry and other written expression displayed in Spanish and English as part of engaging the community, heightening awareness of environmental issues and facilitating intergenerational learning.

County: Colusa

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, and Social Justice

Singer-songwriter and community activist Michelle Amador embarked on transformative Solidarity Sessions, a series of 12 events that built cultural solidarity through music, fostered critical discourse, and drove social change. Michelle delivered six mesmerizing performances of newly created music that examine critical social issues, inviting post-show discussions with 30 fellow BIPOC community members, and providing opportunities for 18 artists to share perspectives through "open mic" artistic/performance responses. Additionally, Michelle collaborated with 36 artists, facilitating six sessions where artists developed impactful plans for partnering with their chosen social causes in Nevada County. Programs prioritized artists from the regions in the lowest percentage quartile of the CA HPI index.

County: Nevada

Program Goal: Social Justice

Middletown Art Center installed RECIPROCITY and revitalized the EcoArts Lake County Sculpture Walk in a public park and nature preserve razed by wildfire. RECIPROCITY is a framework for multiple artists and culture bearers to make meaningful work. Together, they engaged diverse people in co-creation and intergenerational learning, raising awareness for social justice and environmental issues in our under-resourced, rural Lake County.

"It is providing artists with funding to create work and engage with the public. It is providing the public with opportunity to engage in making public art and with a revitalized beloved public sculpture walk in a public park."

County: Lake

Program Goals: Environmental Issues and Social Justice

Monica Farbiarz, mentored by California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project (CHIRP), co-created MAI – The Salmon Journey project, promoting environmental awareness and community engagement through intergenerational participatory arts programming. The Salmon Journey educated and brought awareness about the environment, the Yuba River ecosystem across two counties, and the interdependence between nature and humans.

"MAI -The Salmon Journey, has been a path of discovery, exploration, and creativity. It has connected our team in new ways, allowing us to share our creativity with the world while raising awareness about the vital interdependence between humans and nature, the health of our rivers, and our future."

Counties: Nevada and Yuba

Program Goals: Environmental Issues

The M.A.T.S.U. Project, led by Tazuo Yamaguchi in partnership with OneLife Foundation, showed the beneficial results of the arts in healing and recovery from social, economic and emotional traumas caused by environmental, public health and social injustices. Supporting individuals and communities experiencing the benefits of art as therapy, it fostered intergenerational learning, compassionate and supportive communities, and creative self-expression.

"The grant allowed me as an artist to go to the places in community and provide them with outlets for self expression the process of self knowledge leading all participants my team to be prepared for improvement of public health."

County: Butte

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Outer Space Arcata implemented “Cistem Failure”, a youth-led drag performance, that fostered creativity and resilience while increasing visibility and community support for vulnerable youth artists in Humboldt County. Through mentorships, monthly workshops and a quarterly recorded and live streamed events, youth had opportunities to develop performance skills while engaging with a diverse community to address critical social justice concerns affecting young people in the LGBTQIA2S+ community.

"Funding from Upstate Creative Corps has made it feasible for our team to put in the necessary time and energy to create a safe and supportive space for youth drag performers. The commitment of the team and participants to this project fostered intergenerational learning and friendships. Personally I have been inspired by the creativity of our youth participants and honored to create a space where they can explore their craft among community with guidance."

County: Humboldt

Program Goals: Public Health, and Social Justice

Artist Paola Bragado introduced migrant women working in Tahoe to activities rarely available to them, through an awareness campaign which exposed them to cultural fusion, wellness and rest, spaces that are generally inaccessible to them. Social practice arts, self-advocacy, and arts supported integration, while safeguarding identities, and generating safe physical and emotional spaces that work against racism and exclusion.

"I had the opportunity to continue a work already begun, in which I incorporate migrant women who work in Lake Tahoe, in Kings Beach area, to various activities offered to tourists associated with cultural fusion, well-being or rest. Places not frequented by migrant workers.

I have used the practice of outdoor sports, such as skiing, as a way to integrate into the territory and any manual work such as ceramics and embroidery as a way to safeguard their identity. In the same way, I believe it is necessary to protect these groups of women from the very beginning. I propose common learning, trying to ensure that classes catalyze the exchange of mutual knowledge, thus generating – from everyday life – a space against exclusion. With this project I have continued various activities mentioned above, where I proposed the creation of a common gesture that does not imply a similar identity but rather a shared experience from dissimilarity. My interest is not so much the portrait of a group but rather trying to think, under the same work procedure and in the same series, ways of becoming a collective.

It is also of great importance that thanks to this scholarship I have been able to continue both the ski classes, already started the previous year, as well as various ceramics, textile and embroidery classes. All of these activities have had continuity, and their participants have not felt that it has simply been the duration of a scholarship, but rather the continuation of several years of work. A necessary support in these cases."

County: Placer

Program Goal: Social Justice

Playhouse Arts, the Northcoast Environmental Center and Arcata House Partnership worked with the houseless community on “Our Space”. Employing various art mediums, this project addressed social and environmental justice concerns by bringing awareness to the overlapping flaws in our system that leave people behind and damage our environment. “Our Space” provided support and creative opportunity for those most impacted by the social conditions highlighted in the Healthy Places Index, allowing houseless, housing insecure and housed artists to have artful conversations while diverting trash from the wastestream into the artstream.

County: Humboldt

Program Goals: Environmental Issues and Social Justice

The Poetry Crashers created Postcards from Earth!, an awareness campaign centered on the effects of climate crisis, and practical ideas for planetary healing close to home. With collective experience in facilitating intergenerational learning through poetry, performance and publishing, The Poetry Crashers engaged the many voices of those most touched by environmental injustices—in areas within the lowest quartiles of the California HPI.

County: Nevada

Program Goal: Environmental Issues

Eight culture bearers, with their collective experience, lead The Black Resiliency Project and designed an app for over 80 black-owned businesses in Northern CA. This social justice project amplified Black artists, writers, photographers, our culture, and our voices, offering guidance on fostering inclusivity and recognizing businesses that promote inclusivity through a "seal of approval" system. The platform enhances cultural competence by providing education and feedback to improve the experience for people of color. Our app prioritizes Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) disproportionately affected by injustices. The app also features a digital magazine available online and printed issues to further expose Black art, businesses, and culture at local establishments.

County: Butte

Program Goal: Social Justice

Randolph Sanchez created a new handcrafted sign for the Nor Rel Muk Wintu Tribe. The Trinity River Natives’ Cultural Center is a new gathering place for the Nor Rel Muk on their ancestral lands along the Trinity River located in Big Bar, California. With the help of tribal liaison Amanda Gibbs, Randolph designed, created and installed a signpost for the vital cultural center that houses not only tribal offices, but also is the center for cultural learning and ceremonial gatherings. Methods include wood carving techniques for animals and birds, hand painted lettering on a prepared metal background, construction skills, and log wood posts for installation. This multimedia project is a signpost for future generations. Enhancing the visibility of the underserved Native American population of Trinity County. Healing intergenerational trauma, revitalizing spirituality and the ancestral knowledge of how to protect the environment.

"This grant has helped to expand my woodworking and painting skills. I enjoyed every aspect of building this sign. Inspiring me to use my artistic abilities to be creative. It is an honor and a privilege to be able to provide A Signpost for Future Generations. In loving memory of Amanda Mae Gibbs."

County: Trinity

Program Goal: Social Justice

Culture Bearer and Artist Richie Ragudo, built an awareness campaign, “Building Bridges for a Diverse Community,” on how community engagement creates opportunities for social justice through a countywide cultural gathering event celebrating diversity with performances and displays by local dancers, musicians, visual artists, culture bearers and traditional folk arts from various cultural backgrounds of people in Colusa County. The event included representation and displays from community resource organizations with opportunities for civic engagement and environmental healing. A series of workshops preceded and during the event led by various culture bearers and artists facilitated intergenerational learning.

County: Colusa

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Rita Hosking spotlighted public health issues, emergency preparedness, climate mitigation and civic and community engagement in the entire Upstate region with a mini-album of short, informative songs called Climate Country Radio. Using airplay from public, community and low-power radio stations and free downloads, Climate Country Radio especially targets the lowest quartile areas of the Healthy Places Index.

"The opportunity to create a publicly funded, musical public service project for our communities is something I never dreamed would happen. Climate Country Radio, a collection of short, informational songs on climate change adaptation and mitigation, has been an exhilarating project for myself and the other musicians involved, as well as an inspiring, educational experience for so many who have already enjoyed listening."

Counties: Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, and Yuba

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Ross Travis and collaborators inspired community action to counter the effects of climate change on youth in Mendocino, Lake and Glenn Counties through a traveling, multi-disciplinary bouffon theater piece (also filmed and edited into a documentary) that uses a powerful mix of irreverent comedy, tragedy, shamanistic ritual and interactive ecstatic play to inform, provoke and provide tools for agency and community action on this issue.

"This grant has had an enormous impact on my collaborators and I as an artists and the communities we serve. It allowed us to create an ambitious peripatetic theatrical spectacle that traveled to nine different locations in Mendocino, Lake, Colusa and Glenn Counties on an EV art bike resembling a Bark Beetle. At each location the Bark Beetle opened up its wings, revealing a stage and puppet theatre inside where I performed an hour long satirical show for the entire family, which delved deeply into all the ins and outs of the climate crisis and its effects on the regions I was visiting. From the research process where I interviewed and learned so much from members of the community, to the fabrication process of building the EV Bark Beetle where my fabrication team and I grew incalculably as artists and craftspeople to the creation of the material with my director and mentor Ronlin Foreman, to the traveling 150 miles on the Beetle and connecting with communities and sharing a passionate message about the predicament we find ourselves in with a world rapidly changing."

Counties: Glenn, Lake and Mendocino

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, and Social Justice

Save California Salmon worked with Karuk, Yurok and Hoopa Valley Tribal artists, culture bearers, and a Tribal supported documentary crew to create arts based educational materials and cultural opportunities for Klamath, Trinity and Sacramento River Tribal communities and schools. The materials supported intergenerational and cross-cultural learning opportunities along with workforce development in the underserved areas of our community. Projects include traditional folk arts curriculum, topical posters, a Klamath Dam removal documentary and photo essay and comic books related to climate, fire and water. Through these various mediums we drew attention to the importance of climate mitigation and resource management, while inspiring civic engagement around these topics.

"The Upstate California Creative Corps grant allowed Save California Salmon to bring Indigenous artists and culture bearers into the North Coast's predominantly Native American classrooms and communities, where they supported youth in expressing themselves through art. It also supported documentation of dam removal, and the creation of related Indigenous art that uplifts the significance of local Native American communities' role in restoring and reclaiming their ancestral lands and waters."

Counties: Del Norte, Humboldt, Shasta, Siskiyou, and Trinity

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Shawn-Paul Gilbert developed a series of large scale oil paintings depicting California Wildfires; highlighting human involvement and human cost, while creating public awareness for the health risks of fire and smoke to the land and peoples of California and creating awareness for critical environmental issues such as water conservation and the consequences of drought and forest management.

County: Modoc

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Director Shon Harris created the film, The Road to Resilience, to generate awareness, support, and understanding of the plight of homeless people in our community. With a storyline inspired by detailed interviews and direct participation of those experiencing homelessness within the lowest quartiles of the California HPI, the film will drive public sentiment, foster intergenerational learning, inspire resilience, and spur politicians to action.

"Words cannot express the tremendous amount of personal and professional enrichment we have received as a result of Ruth is grant. We have been able to meet homeless people where THEY are, tell to them, get to know them, hear their stories, and then pass them on to other member of the community who may not have otherwise been able to hear directly from them. All too often judgements are passed, and assumptions made that have a negative impact, not only on the problem of homelessness, but on the HUMAN BEINGS who are caught in the cycle and desperately trying to emerge with their health, dignity, and hope for the future. If it was n to for this grant, I would not have been able to accomplish this and will remain forever grateful for the opportunity."

Counties: Sutter

Program Goals: Public Health and Social Justice

The Sierra County Land Trust worked with nine artists and writers long inspired by the Sierra Buttes and Lakes Basin to publish a book of photography, art and writings, together with a culminating exhibition along the themes of: 1.) How will preserving our high elevation forests and watersheds buffer climate change impacts in California?, and; 2.) How can we do our part locally by protecting the iconic Sierra Buttes and Lakes Basin of Sierra County?

"The team has been inspired by how much our local area residents treasure the Sierra Buttes/Lakes Basin. The book and the art show have been so well received. Everyone had fun at the reception and people are excited to get a copy of the book. If they were not at the reception they are asking: 'Where can we get one?'"

County: Sierra

Program Goal: Environmental Issues

Sierra Roots produced a documentary on people living in homeless camps and alternative (illegal) housing. While the video was being shot, writer and journalist Tom Durkin lead a creative team to conduct a public awareness campaign using songwriting workshops, song contests, live music, radio interviews, articles and op-eds, and social media in Nevada, Placer, Sierra, Butte, Yuba and Sutter counties, calling for social justice for people without a safe place to live.

"After four years of futile effort, the grant has allowed us to use personal persuasion, writing, music, photography, videography, T-shirts, and bumper stickers to influence public policy and opinion on homelessness and alternative housing." - Tom Durkin

Counties: Butter, Nevada, Placer, Sierra, Sutter, and Yuba

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Public Health, and Social Justice

Radley Davis (Pit River), Jonathon Freeman (Choctaw/Chichimeca), and Sky Scholfield (Wintu/Pit River), conducted the Indigenous Summer of Interviews (ISI). ISI aims to empower under-resourced Native American youth, capture invaluable wisdom from elders and leaders, provide skills and paid employment opportunities, and instill a sense of ownership over their community's history and culture, thereby addressing health equity.

County: Shasta

Program Goal: Social Justice

Agave Baroque conducted a year-long virtual and in-person residency at Surprise Valley Culture and Arts during which they engaged with local musicians across multiple generations, who studied and performed music composed by women and composers of color over the past 500 years, which culminated in a free, public concert in Cedarville as part of a campaign of awareness for social justice issues, which will also included social discourse and series of radio programs on each of composer, broadcast on community radio, KDUP-FM.

"This grant enabled a year-long connection between Agave ensemble, a group of Grammy-nominated musicians, and a group of young and old musicians in the Surprise Valley, in a project that explored and presented music by woman composers and composers of color. Our small, rural community (where we have not even had a music program in our public school for at least five years) benefitted enormously from exposure to this music and little-known histories, which were communicated through four concerts, radio broadcasts, and the intensive, year-long workshop that brought the musicians themselves together. It is safe to say that people's lives were transformed by this project."

County: Modoc

Program Goal: Social Justice

Daniel Nickerson & Tayloranne Finch addressed environmental and public health in rural communities by producing a rustic multimedia puppet performance. The show invited rural youth to creatively engage with the issues facing their families and communities: a fragile environment, an unsure economic future, and limited access to social support systems. Rural resilience was be the unifying theme, encouraging youth to take an active role in recovery efforts, and in the restoring of balance to the environment. Based in the imaginary community of Cowtown, the performance featured folkloric storytelling, marionette puppets, and interjections of live music. Nine artists total collaborated to build the show and execute a spring 2024 performance itinerary that includes schools, libraries, farmers markets, theaters and other rural cultural hubs.

"Being a part of the Upstate Creative Corps has given The Cowtown Serenaders the opportunity to collaboratively create a travel-ready puppet show on a scale we would have previously thought impossible. The grant funding has empowered us to employ numerous artists and creative consultants in the production of the show, engage with environmental topics that are extremely relevant to our rural community, develop a collapsible stage that transforms any environment into an outdoor puppet theater, and execute an ambitious itinerary of free performances in remote rural communities. Through these efforts, we've reached over 500 people of all ages as audience members, as well as created personal and professional connections with other artists and organizers in four counties. We look forward to continuing to create rural puppet theater for our upstate community."

Counties: Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, and Trinity

Program Goals: Environmental Issues and Social Justice

Terri Glass created Plea for Wildlife, a series of poems to bring public awareness of the endangered wildlife in Del Norte County. Through readings, discussion and public display of her art, she invited the community to engage in conservation of these endangered species for regeneration of a more biodiverse and healthier environment. This engaged those most touched by this environmental threat, those of our county’s low-ranking quartile of the California HPI.

"The "Plea for Wildlife" project was the most marvelous culmination of my two loves, ecology and poetry and to be able to share it with the public in different settings heightened my exposure as an artist while educating people on the plight of endangered species."

County: Del Norte

Program Goals: Environmental Issues

Tom Galvin create da song cycle of twelve songs reflecting historical events and the mistreatment of the powerless by the powerful occurring in the Yuba Sutter area from the time of the Gold Rush to the present day. Heroes and Victims represent the general theme connecting all the songs. One song, The Beckwourth Trail celebrates the blazing of the Beckwourth Trail by James Beckwourth, the mixed-race son of a slave owner and a slave. Although of ambiguous moral behavior, Beckwourth helped link gold in the Sierras to prosperity in the outposts in the valley that would eventually become Yuba-Sutter. Heroes like Steven J. Fields, first judge and mayor of Marysville, later appointed to the Supreme Court, are the subjects of Going to Build a City Right Here. At this same time in history, white settlers in Oroville slaughtered most of the Yahi Tribe. Ishi, the sole survivor and hero of the song of the same name, emerged from the woods and walked into Oroville to eventually be hailed by the white academics who honored his quiet dignity and strength. California Gold tells of one of the few survivors of the Donner Party who, like Ishi, was left without family but later lived a life of kindness and quiet dignity and who gave Marysville its name. Victims of the Donner party are honored in the song Here Come the Wagons. Later in our history, the story of victims of Japanese internment camps are honored in the song Arboga Memorial. Later still, heroic efforts by factious groups to find common ground in allocating water fairly are celebrated in the song Yuba River Accord. Oppressive behavior by white settlers towards Native Americans and, later toward Japanese Americans are counterbalanced by those among us who have risen above themselves for the common good of our community.

"Twice before in my life, I've had investors provide funding for me to record my songs. I am now 77 years old and, though I'm still very active, the idea that a third opportunity would come my way at this time in my life has been life-affirming and spiritually uplifting. I believe that whatever talents I have as a songwriter are at a peak. I believe these twelve songs deserve to be heard and I thank UCCC for allowing that to happen."

Counties: Sutter and Yuba

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, and Social Justice

Troy Corliss and Sara Smith produced a community developed art project that focuses on an interpretive study of the human / open space interface surrounding Kings Beach, partnering with The Boys and Girls Club, S.W.E.P., Sierra Community House and Gateway Mountain Center. The project included an intergenerational learning component through drawing and journaling from direct observation as well as graphic design skills needed to compose larger compositions intended for the fabrication of sculpture.

"Within the school year-long drawing workshops, participants have produced art that re-interprets their sense of place within our natural world and expresses an internal spatial landscape in response to their own sense of discovery within the environment. These final 3-dimensional displays of the participants watercolor drawings are titled ""Talisman of the Watershed"" and offer good tidings to the viewers who encounter them.

""My favorite part of what I do in my art is sketching – it is therapeutic. It takes either full focus or little focus."" Abby

""This class has given me a lot of exposure to many different and unique art supplies, mediums and experiences while also being taught by people who do art for a living. When people see my work, I want them to know and respect the hard work put into it."" Justine

""Thanks for igniting a passion in Kabir and reigniting it for me."" Heeral, Kabir's mom.

Counties: Nevada, Placer and Sierra

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Viva Downtown Redding hosted an Artist Residency of 33 creatives connecting Redding Cultural District residents to core issues of social justice and public health in partnership with Healthy Shasta and the Downtown Resident Coalition. Together they showed how active, accessible participation in the arts has visible and transformative health outcomes for community members residing in an area in the lowest quartile of the California Healthy Places Index.

County: Shasta

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Public Health, and Social Justice

Paddle Tribal Waters Storytelling Collaborative and Water Climate Trust is honoring the historic un-damming of the Klamath River by lifting up voices of Native communities, particularly the multi-tribal youth who are preparing to be the first to paddle the free-flowing river and, as the multi-year restoration of the River Basin begins, develop collaboration among arts, environment, and tribal entities to sustain multi-agency coordination long after the dams come down.

"The Upstate California Creative Corps grant allowed northern California Native youth participating in the multi-year Paddle Tribal Waters program to share their experiences in reclaiming their ancestral waters on film, social media, and canvass, as well as in-person with their communities and key regional decision-makers. The mentoring and communications training they received from the artists and culture bearers this grant supported boosted not only their hard skills but also their confidence in themselves and their communities.

The significance of this program's impact was powerfully expressed by each of the 13 teens enrolled in the World Class Academy semester program during community events leading up to their May 11 graduation. Almost all of them described it as one of the most positive experiences they have ever had."

Counties: Del Norte, Humboldt, Modoc, Siskiyou, and Trinity

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, and Social Justice

The Watershed Research and Training Center and Ellen McGehee helped artists shift their relationship with fire by examining indigenous context, fire ecology, mentored site tours, and participation in prescribed burns. The cohort worked together as an artistic group to develop a concert program that shares their experience in fire-affected communities of the North State. Participant and audience curriculum combined with music, video art, and poetry to create an immersive concert experience that inspires healing.

County: Butte, Humboldt, Shasta, Trinity

Program Goals: Environmental Issues and Social Justice

Willits Center for the Arts curated and marshaled a Mendocino County Artists Corps of 19 Local Artists and Culture Bearers who provided after school dance and art workshops, monthly art history lectures for youth and elders, arts summer camps, monthly dance and visual art workshops and programming targeted to uplift and engage youth, families and seniors as part of a campaign to raise awareness for increasing mental health outcomes, civic engagement and social justice opportunities in a community which struggles in these areas, as highlighted by our performance in the lowest quartiles of the California Healthy Places Index.

"We paid 19 local creatives to roll out a year of free programming targeted to elders, children and families. Our community and creatives wish the funding would continue. The workshops, events and offerings included: Ecstatic Dance, Brazilian Dance and Drum Workshop Featuring Dandha D'Hora, Jewelry Making Apprenticeship for Teens, Family Dance, Illumination Winter Solstice Family Dance, Earth Art Assemblage Workshop, Acrylic Pour on Canvases Outside, Photojournalism to Raise Awareness, Art/Nature Journaling, Social Justice Collage, Block Printing and Printed Zines for Liberation including a student show/zine Fest, Make Yourself a Place at the Table Ceramics Workshop, Christmas Ornament Making Community Potluck, Teen Wheel Throwing, Live Mexican Mural Style Painting on Canvas, Capturing Nature in Photography, and Monthly Art History Lecture. We have a free (by Lottery) Children’s Art Camp this month. We served 1200 local patrons in our community of 5000 and drew collaborators from our City Council, local media, county politicians and government as well as a few visitors drawn by the excitement. We truly represented our diverse population and got creative, well and engaged together. Our creatives always want to do more and offer more than they were compensated for. Some of the programming we developed will continue in the future. We also got to collaborate with a few other Upstate CCC recipients. What a lifeline for our challenged community!"

County: Mendocino

Program Goals: Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

The Da Gou Rou Louwi’ Cultural Center, the Wiyot Tribe, and the North Coast Repertory Theatre, together with other tribal councils, arts organizations, and government agencies, produced an original performance, educating the larger community about the traditional Indigenous use of fire as a tool to manage land, prevent devastating wildfires, protect people and wildlife, and promote healthy ecosystems.

"After a 'post-mortem/looking to the future' session with the creative team, we were all struck and energized by how important and powerful it felt to not only be sharing a story of local Traditional Ecological Knowledge with our community - something incredibly relevant to our home and time - but also to sharing the specific and unique culture and perspective of the Wiyot tribe, a tribe that has suffered a particularly terrible history and has had to rebuild themselves back from the brink. To be engaged, through this project, in the greater work of cultural regeneration - it's incredibly inspiring, and we're all very excited to take further steps in the evolution of the project."

Counties: Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Siskiyou, Trinity

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Wolf Creek Community Alliance employed composer Alexis Alrich to write an anthem for Wolf Creek, centering local musicians and residents as part of the creative process. Alrich walked the creek and interviewed scientists, historians, Nisenan Tribal members, artists and poets. Wolf Creek Alliance hosted educational workshops and a final concert featuring the anthem, building awareness, inspiration and agency, and giving voice to Wolf Creek.

"Our goal was to celebrate and raise awareness of Wolf Creek. This project enabled me as the composer to get to know the creek: its unique beauty, its history, its health and function in the watershed, both where it runs in wild places and also through the town. We ran workshops with children and adults to teach the Wolf Creek Anthem that I composed and the audience sang along with the anthem at the concerts. There was quite an emotional response to the message and the music. Our two concerts were well-attended and successful, with tears and standing ovations each time. The Wolf Creek Community Alliance would like to incorporate this music into its yearly calendar for Earth Day. The live concert recording will be broadcast on KVMR radio. This project enabled the environmental community and the music community to work together, widening both of our circles and creating a thrilling and meaningful project."

County: Nevada

Program Goals: Environmental Issues

Say Something! uses writing, spoken word, and storytelling as liberatory tools to engage LGBTQIA+ youth on Nisenan Land in Western Nevada County in a creative process of self-discovery and community building. Centering young queer voices created courageous sanctuaries where historically silenced individuals can explore self-expression, own and share their stories, find solidarity in belonging, and build bridges across differences.

"Receiving the grant funding for Say Something!, our pilot poetry and spoken word program designed for LGBTQ+ youth in Nevada County provided a measurable beneficial impact! It supported us in cultivating a vibrant and consistent creative sanctuary where underserved voices shine, crafting powerful narratives of self-expression, and building community resilience through the artistry of imagination.

The Say Something! program has touched the lives of its youth participants in meaningful ways, with one poignant realization at its heart:

""I found a safe space that I didn't realize I needed."" This tender sentiment from our feedback session encapsulates the program's essence – creating a supportive and nurturing environment where LGBTQ+ youth are affirmed and encouraged to express themselves authentically.

Participants emerged into deeper confidence and self-awareness through the program. One shared, ""I became more comfortable in my body expressing myself through performance and not just words."" Another reflected, ""I wasn't expecting to learn more about my queerness.""

These powerful testimonials illuminate the multifaceted impact of Say Something! on the lives of LGBTQ+ youth.

As creative leads, we too were personally transformed by the experience.

Sharing in artistic community with each wonderful youth participant nourished our radical hope and engaged us in deeper reflection.

What if we had more intergenerational creative spaces to cultivate radical imagination? What if exploring poetry together shapes new worlds of collective liberation?"

Counties: Nevada

Program Goal: Social Justice

The Yuba Sutter Rotary Night Club, in collaboration with the Blue Zones community wellness project and the Partnership for Health Equity and Inclusion conducted a 48 Hour Mural Marathon, Health and Art Festival to bring awareness to all four Creative Corps program goals in one of the lowest scoring regions on the HPI scale. Five 20’x22’ exterior wall murals were created in 48 hours by five different artists on the side of the historic Sutter Theater in Yuba City. Murals were pre-selected from submissions from CA artists using compliance with the goals and artistic excellence as the guide to participation. The weekend-long event included exhibits by local county and city health agencies, the Blue Zones Project and others with local artists displaying relevant work and an area for students to create a guided mural project on the same program themes.

“The impact of our Rotary Club’s Mural Marathon, Art & Health Festival will be felt far beyond the three-day event itself. The funding for this project enabled us to hire artists and musicians, and share the important themes established by the UCCC in a lasting manner through the murals that exist in the heart of our community for all to experience.” - Susan Miller, Yuba Sutter Rotary Night Club member

Counties: Sutter

Program Goals: Civic Engagement, Environmental Issues, Public Health, and Social Justice

Chico artists Zeke Lunder and Jeb Sisk forged 1880's wrought iron salvaged from the wreckage of Honeyrun Covered Bridge destroyed by the Camp Fire, into a large pair of wild chinook salmon installed at the Covered Bridge Park on Butte Creek. The creek hosts one of the only runs of wild salmon left in California. The sculpture celebrates the resilience of the salmon and recovery of the community following the devastating Camp Fire.

County: Butte

Program Goals: Environmental Issues and Social Justice