ArtEsteem: Art for Healing in West Oakland

The Center for ArtEsteem (ArtEsteem) is a West Oakland based arts education nonprofit was founded in 1989 with the mission to empower individuals to be self-aware and inspired through art, creativity, and education, making positive choices to break the cycle of violence for themselves and their communities.

The ArtEsteem program began in 1995 out of a need to create a safe community space that would allow youth and families to partake in arts programming while exploring social justice and developing critical thinking skills. The program serves students whose social and economic conditions can block academic achievement and put them at risk for life-threatening behaviors.

Today, ArtEsteem programming is found to improve and enrich students' academic engagement, cultural and artistic knowledge, creativity, self-esteem and critical thinking abilities, and enhance students' behavioral choices to help develop the whole child. ArtEsteem engages 2,500 students each year in Oakland’s most underfunded schools with during and after-school programs that intertwine arts education, literacy, personal mental wellness, and leadership development. ArtEsteem supports educators working to bridge educational achievement gaps by supporting their needs and providing tools to regain emotional resilience and mental wellness.

Each year’s classes culminate in the ArtEsteem annual exhibition and performance. Students participate in a professional process of submitting artwork and artist statements, and selling their pieces to the public. They receive half the proceeds from the art they sell, along with information about financial responsibility and higher education. The other half of the proceeds goes back toward ArtEsteem’s programs.