We stepped away from the zoom room for a brief time-out…

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Social Movement went virtual … and the world is invited!

Is your body begging for physical activity? But the thought of yet another Zoom Room brings doom? 

This zoom room will be different! 

These sessions are designed with your "screen-life balance" in mind! Since we'll be focusing on the KINESTHETIC and not the VISUAL, no need to watch the screen, no "follow the leader"... Instead, prompts guide you to be in your own body, away from the electronics. You can even call in, without video, if you prefer. 

WHAT IS IT?

In a 45-min session, we will do some gentle warm up, followed by fun experiments that invite you to research what feels good in your own body, at your own pace. No equipment needed. Wear whatever's comfortable. You can move around your space, be on the floor, or even seated. 

You will leave the session feeling  more alive, grounded, connected, and invigorated to infuse creativity and deeper listening into your relationships, your work, your projects. Give it a try!

ALL ARE WELCOME -- make it a household or work team ritual!

For more context, check out a post describing the in-person version of the sessions. Though the virtual version may be a bit more like the podcast.

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Zippity dooo dippity dah!

Add "smile@katespacek.com" to your Contacts, and Social Movement will wiggle its way to your inbox.

Oh, and have you checked out the new subscription options for Social Movement?

When our bodies move, our minds can move.

And that’s when

we can transform our solo movements into social movements.

TWO WAYS TO REGISTER

Suggested donation $5-20

If money's tight, i got you! Use Option 1 and let me know in the Message.

OPTION 1 —

USE VENMO TO AVOID FEES

Send donation to @kate-spacek on Venmo,

or hellokate228[atgmaildotcom] on PayPal (“Send to a Friend” to avoid fees)…

And register via Form below. You will receive the Zoom link email at least 30 min prior to session.

OPTION 2 —

USE credit card

Click the button to complete registration in one step with credit card. You will receive the Zoom link email at least 30 min prior to session.

Donate with credit card

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On March 9, 2020, before the San Francisco Bay Area was even under any Covid-related restrictions, my friend, Ŀady Jade Beacham, had the foresight to create a Facebook support group. But not just any kind of support group. This particular virtual group was meant to foster one another’s progress on creative projects while in “lockdown.”

Oh yeah, count me in! My mind immediately went to a global scale, and i asked if it was okay to invite others. Next thing we knew…

our intimate group grew to more than 1,200 people

on six continents.

My offer to admin the monster i had created was accepted wholeheartedly. Almost daily, i categorized the posts (e.g., Creations, Collaborations, Process, Advice-seeking, Invitations…) and replied to them. The ritual became my own anchor on many turbulent days.

WHAT IS THE QUARANTINE RESIDENCY?

An artistic residency for whatever you want to make — from highly-skilled metalworkings to crappy crafts ‘n’ cocktails, from online variety shows to kids’ sock puppet theater, from napkin poetry to embroidery.

A way to use this time of confined isolation to EXPAND and CREATE, TOGETHER.

BUT I’M NOT AN ARTIST said many… YES, YOU ARE said we.

So we added a definition. ART: the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.

[Let’s add to that: "…or appreciated simply for the JOY of the creative process without concern for results."]

At 479 new Creations, The Quarantine Residency continues to grow, seeding conversations and collaborations across town and across oceans. Please join us!

Credit: Kris Kessey

Being quarantined reveals some refreshing and light-hearted twists to the mundane… lady bug car, welcoming toilet, coffee as watercolor paint!

Photo Credit: Chuktroplolis

Credit: Hersley Casero

Credit: Unknown

Using technology to glue our dance and music back together… aiming to recreate the same but different.

Credit: Erin Malley

Credit: Kim Huynh

Going way beyond upcycling… to transform a pizza box into a necklace and earrings, or cough drop wrappers into tiny shirts!

Credit: Laura Echegaray

Credit: Kimberly Alexander

Soooo many hand-knit, hand-sewn, hand-woven creations! Bedspreads, baskets, berries…

Credit: Cee Steele

Credit: Lorena Rodriguez

Handmade stamps and wood reliefs around the world, from The Philippines to Colombia…

Credit: Marz

Credit: Christine Martin

Credit: Alvaro Botero

Credit: Marz

This artist recorded a song EVERY day, for months. Except for the day after we learned of George Floyd’s murder, on which he remained silent for the 8 minutes and 46 seconds that the officer’s knee was suffocating George Floyd. (he also bedazzled his daily to-do lists!)

Credit: Michael Colombo

Credit: Michael Colombo

Speaking of music… oh how your music can heal…

Credit: Montague DelPrader

Credit: Sheila and Jesse

Credit: Sarah Shaw

Photo Credit: Doc Pop

Experiential design took on new spatially-distanced flavors, including a US bipartisan phone hotline and a collaborative neighborhood “scavenger hunt” of scarecrow art.

Photo Credit: Danielle Baskin

Credit: Renée Green

Finding myself wanting to post all 476 Creations (and counting). Instead, i’ll close this post with a beautifully handmade Ouija board, as a symbol of our collective desire to know what lies ahead in this prevailing uncertainty we find ourselves in. Take excellent care of yourself - and maybe invite your inner Artist to come out and play! Our individual and collective creative agency is a panacea for these trying times.

Credit: Rebecca Power

Dancing is my refuge, my church - and it has been for several years now. Never choreographed, always in-the-moment experimenting. Most of it happens in my living room - and when i’m dancing in public, likely you’ll find me with eyes closed; it’s a very internal art-making for me.

Today, though, is the first time i am sharing it in the virtual world. Shadow/silhouette has been an artistic theme for awhile now, and finally i’m in action to incorporate that theme into my own movement practice. It’s been a vision/desire for longer than i’m willing to admit… i’ve been super resistant to the required tech setup, to learning video editing software, to reconfiguring my living space, all that. Until now! …Pandemic quarantine silver linings…

Here are some improv moments of movement to a new favorite song, “Independent Dancer” by Kalabrese. Welcome to a glimpse of a typical Kate Date. :)

Don’t get me wrong; i LOVE co-producing The Deconstruction and other collaborative-making events. But the other truth is, the Artist in me has her chin propped on her palms, staring out the window at all the other kids getting to play outside. i want to be creating along with the participants i am supporting. The Artist vs. The Producer, my perpetual inner tug-o-war.

With The Deconstruction 2020, i decided to try Both! How could i respond to the event’s theme (Deconstruct: Distance) as an expansion of my Movement of Belonging multi-project platform, while including all the participants, meeting the 48-hour deadline, and fulfilling my producer duties?

Introducing Sonic MOB (Movement of Belonging), created during The Deconstruction 2020.

Mission: To create a chain reaction of sonic movements around the planet (!!!)

Desired outcome: A video that links together the sonic movements from every team, in a sequence that wraps the globe

It’s my first time making a video, and first time using Adobe Premiere! i learned so much, and of course there are tons of aspects i’d want to improve — but it was such a good time connecting with each team in this way, and having them connect with one another by replicating sonic movements.

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DO-IT-YOURSELF GUIDE!

The recipe is simple. i’ll include it below in case you’d like to make your own Sonic MOB! If so, please share it. Seeing other Sonic Movements of Belonging would bring me hyper squeals of zeal.

What is a “sonic movement?” For this project, it is one movement with a sound. 

• The movement has a clear beginning and ending, and can be replicated. 

• The sound can be anything made by the voice/body.

• No longer than 3 seconds!

What do we do?

(No action needed until you receive a video file.)

Pretend you are Team C.

Team C receives a copy of Team B’s video. The video would be Team B doing this: 

Clap > Team A sonic movement > Clap > Team B’s new sonic movement > Clap

Team C then would copy the last sonic movement (from Team B) and add their own. You exclude/ignore Team A’s sonic movement.

Your sequence looks like this:

(less than 10 sec!)

1. CLAP with your hands

2. Copy Team B’s sonic movement

3. CLAP

4. Make a new sonic movement (in response to Team B’s sonic movement)

5. CLAP

Send video asap to facilitator. (Note to facilitator: i found it easier to be the bridge between each team, but also we had an urgent deadline, honored email privacy guidelines, and were located across time zones on 4 continents. Alternatively, you could send the sequence of contributions with contact info, and each participant could email their video to the next on the list, making sure to copy facilitator so that you have all the mini-videos to produce the final piece.)

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When our bodies move, our minds can move. And that’s when we transform solo movements to social movements, and redefine MOB culture to be a Movement of Belonging.

A GLOBAL CREATIVE COLLABORATION EVENT

ABOUT RETHINKING DISTANCE

Lucky me! With a small yet nimble New Creatures crew, we have the opportunity to produce this 3rd edition of one of my favorite events: The Deconstruction!

And in this time of shelter-in-place due to Covid-19, there is no better topic to deconstruct than DISTANCE.

WHAT IS IT?

The Deconstruction is a creative collaboration event held online - and in real life. Before the event, a topic is released for our participants (you!) to explore (deconstruct!). Then, during a 48-hour window you re-imagine the topic and create something completely new with resources you already have.

You’re bringing something into the world that did not exist before! It can be a work of art, a performance, an invention. It can be fun, it can be serious, it can be both!

If you missed the big reveal, don’t worry! You can watch the videos of our live broadcasts and the teams’ final projects at thedeconstruction.org. Teams spanned the globe, across age (3-93), language, background… yet were connected by the universal impacts of the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Each team approached the theme (Deconstruction: Distance) in a unique way with creations that are compelling, heartwarming, thought-provoking, and unifying. Check it out; you’ll be inspired.

The podcast has been in development in the background for awhile, and was intended to be professionally mixed, produced, and distributed… but now in the face of a global pandemic, when most human animals find themselves in some kind of isolated confinement, priorities have shifted.

With social distancing, i think we also are losing connection with our own bodies -- in part because Life Exists in Relationship and so when there is less to "relate" to, there is less reason to be/feel alive in ourselves; and in part because many are experiencing visceral fear around what may happen to their own bodies if they contract the virus.

For these reasons and more, i started a podcast called Movement of Belonging. 

Movement of Belonging is for EVERY body, no matter your age, gender, or physical ability. You can be jumping around your living room, or seated in your favorite chair. And most of the movement experiments are fantastic for the young folks; they are the ones who show us how to stay fresh and playful in our bodies, no matter what the circumstance. When our bodies move, our minds can move. And that’s when we can transform solo movements to social movements.

Today i recorded the 4th prototype episode (below). Each iteration improves, but still they are pretty bad, quality-wise. Teaching myself audio engineering and eventually will get some production support.

You also can find them on Spotify, Apple, and most of the other platforms. Search “kate Spacek” and/or “Movement of Belonging.”

“Social movement was a hit last Tuesday! Loved the prompts and guidance throughout the night. I thought it was a great way for everyone to get out of their heads and just move freely and sometimes awkwardly lol. It really is a great way for social movement, the name fits perfect! Excited for more!”

— SoMo Participant

2nd + 4th Tuesdays, 6:30-8:00PM @ Starline Social Club - Oakland, CA

LET US KNOW YOU’RE COMING!

In its 3rd iteration, Social Movement is about moving the body in ways that feel dynamo, fresh, creative -- to you. It’s about humans shakin it out together in a welcoming space for every body. And you don’t need to know special skills, stay out til midnight at the clubs, cough up 25 bucks, or look like you just came from Burning Man to reap these rewards:

• Creativity time

• More restful sleep

• Spending time with people "different" than you

• Spending time with friends

• More laughing ;)

• Laughing

• Feeling good in your body

• Exercise that doesn't feel like work

• Expressing more of the true You (and caring less what others think)

You will be guided (by seasoned facilitators Briana Bellamy and kate Spacek), and can respond to the prompts in ways that work for you. Looking for a workout? You can have it. Looking to take it slow? It's all yours. The last 30-45 min will be free movement with Ajman Thrower (DJ AjGod) at the controls!!! Keeping it light, with freedom and respect.

Wear comfy clothes and shoes to move. Layers are good. ALL are welcome, kids ages 3 to 103.
Begins promptly at 6:30pm. Arrive at least 10 min early. We may not be able to admit anyone after doors close. Sliding scale $8-20 donation. Cash & Venmo at the door. Facebook event page here. Share with somebody seeking some revitalizing wiggle jiggle.

ACCESSIBILITY: Starline Social Club is still installing the lift to access the second floor, meaning Social Movement regrettably is not accessible until the lift install is complete.

Briana Bellamy

kate Spacek

Ajman Thrower (DJ AjGod)

Want to stay informed? Send a quick note to movementofbelonging [at] gmail [dot] com and we’ll get you added to the email list. We don’t send much - only event updates!

My friend is a musician and videographer. He asked if i’d be up for experimenting with some silhouette dancing to make a music video for his new song. Hell yeah, what fun!

(i’ll provide all the details once he’s done with the video; until then, get a load of what we’re playing with! These are just two of the many takes we did. Can’t wait to see what his editing magic cooks up.)

We ended up discovering that the red light bulb i found backstage (my living room) was doing some cool stuff, so there might even be TWO versions of the video on the way. Which do you prefer?

MOVEMENT OF BELONGING is a long-term arts-based social justice initiative that aims to cultivate deeper awareness around Othering and Belonging, instigate meaningful community dialogues, birth collective imagining, and foster Belonging in real ways.

Key project phases include

(1) SPARKS: inquiry + multi-sensory awareness, story sharing, and movement,

(2) ROOTS: collaborative arts-based investigations, and

(3) RIPPLES: participant-driven public showcase and engagement.

Movement of Belonging reveals all humans as creators (aka, Artists) with the potential to transform realities. As the project propagates, a Public Imagination Collective grows into a repository of activated projects to be adapted by other schools, community groups, municipalities, and organizations - locally and around the world.

SPICE STAR is a commission by No Immigrants No Spice intended to provide an interactive art experience at the organization’s inaugural fundraiser, BBQ Without Borders.

More than 120 attendees add their spicy light to the SPICE STAR!

i designed SPICE STAR with a few goals in mind:

• Foster belonging through participation.

• Be aesthetically beautiful, while amplifying uniqueness of contributions.

• Use simple, accessible art-making techniques that take less than 5 minutes.

• Be relatively large-scale and “grow” visually throughout the event.

A trademark of much of my work is this process of curating the parameters of a design, and then inviting any and all creative contributions within these parameters to build the overall artwork. (i call it “contributary art” because the multiple creative contributions make me think of tributary streams coming from different places, and flowing into the unity of the river.)

These collaborative projects of creative improvisation may be tangible and visual, like this one, or can be based in other mediums, like physical movement or video or even social initiatives. i’m always nervous for what will occur, and i’m always astonished and inspired by the creative force of humans, when given the chance to co-create.

Below are some process photos leading up to the event, before more than 120 attendees added their own spicy light to the SPICE STAR.

No Immigrants No Spice (NINS) is a Bay Area not-for-profit organization that works to shed light on the positive impact immigrants have on this country and our collective culture. For the past couple months, i’ve had the opportunity to support NINS Founder, Vibha Gupta, in producing the inaugural fundraiser, BBQ Without Borders (aka, the Oakland installment of the New Americans Festival, put on by New American Economy). Vibha truly is a powerhouse - she makes sh*t happen - and more importantly, she is a pleasure to work with.

BBQ Without Borders was a HUGE success, selling out to capacity with 480 attendees and 170 on the waitlist! Attendees enjoyed incredible food, music, storytelling, art, dance, and community — and raised $12,000 for NINS partners Pangea Legal and The National Immigrant Justice Center.

Wait, did somebody say ART? My newest co-created artwork, SPICE STAR, was the featured interactive art installation at BBQ Without Borders. More than 120 attendees added their creative light to the collaborative mosaic mural made of spices. Check it out!

“Given the current political climate, we feel that people really need a safe place to celebrate immigrants and diversity. The inaugural event will feature Indonesian, Northern Iranian and Mexican barbecue plus Indian desserts — and incredible performances by Diana Gameros, Rahill Jamalifard, Gamelan Sekar Jaya, the Cal Bhangra team, plus flamenco, street dance... as well as interactive art, a film premier, on-the-spot education, and a whole lot of community!”

— Vibha Gupta, Executive Director and Founder

Today design for the Journal of Belonging was completed, and files were sent to Project Kalahati to be published! This is a major milestone in a larger concept, Movement of Belonging (MOB). And currently I am in conversation with multiple potential participant groups: secondary and higher education, not-for-profit leaders, corporate teams, and neighborhood coalitions. Momentum is rolling!

Movement of Belonging combines the superpowers of curiosity, diversity, and creativity to cultivate awareness, instigate meaningful dialogues, reveal deeper understandings, birth collective imagining, and foster Belonging in real ways. Key phases of Movement of Belonging include (1) journal entries and group sharing, (2) collaborative art projects, and (3) public engagement. 

Front cover

Back cover

Phase I: Journal entries and group sharing

Participants use the Journal of Belonging to record their day-to-day experiences of Othering and Belonging. The journal is designed to encourage multi-sensory reflection and creativity, prompting not only verbal documentation, but also emotional, visual, and kinesthetic inputs. In a concise, user-friendly format, the user is invited to consider what the eyes see, what the heart feels, and how the body reacts. 

Participants are from pre-existing groups that already meet (e.g., KIPP King Collegiate High School’s sophomore history class). Each group forms weekly reflection circles to share their experiences of Othering and Belonging from their journal entries. I co-facilitate the group with a male of color, who also has deep experience in social justice-related facilitation of both youth and adults. Facilitation guides each group towards systems thinking and explores key questions, such as “What are ways to encourage deeper self-reflection, empathy, and cultural humility?”, “When and how does Othering at the human level morph into Othering at the systemic level?”, and “What might be pathways to institutionalize universal Belonging?”

Phase II: Collaborative art projects

The stories and fresh perspectives serve as inspiration for continued exploration via collaborations of visual art, storytelling, music, and performance. Both my co-facilitator and I possess significant experience guiding artists and “non-artists” to generate works exploring particular social themes. (Over the course of four years, I oversaw the development, implementation, and exhibition of more than 65 public projects in 13 countries. Coaching the development of collaborative art projects is a passion, and one of my artistic talents!)  

Planning…

Prototyping

Constructing

Phase III: Public engagement

This is where the meta-learning comes in! Participants will be coached to design their projects in a way that invites the public to contribute to the expansion of the project. This can look one hundred different ways, but the idea is to allow the spark to ripple into new impacts. In doing so, participants are able to apply what they taught themselves - how to foster Belonging - by being challenged to co-design a public experience that fosters Belonging.

To complement the collaborative projects, I will create an aesthetically-beautiful, artistic multimedia representation of the work. Large-scale elements of journal entries, including participant sketches, word excerpts, image and video of body movements and postures, and audio recordings will draw the public audience into the tangible realities of authentic experiences of Othering and Belonging. This installation serves as the foundational backdrop to the collaborative work that may include visual art, storytelling, music, and performance.

Additionally, an online platform invites the public to download the Journal and upload content to be incorporated into the exhibition and an online repository.

So, would you like to join the Movement of Belonging? Everybody’s doin’ it… But for real, being heard and seeing yourself in another break down these artificial barriers we have created.

Belonging grows when diversity co-creates. Let’s imagine something different, together. 

On June 9, i ventured into the Santa Cruz Mountains to join 29 other ARTivists (artist activists). We were musicians, visual artists, dramatists, dancers, graphic recorders, spoken word poets, and so many other “categories” of creatives who aim to use their art (at least sometimes) as a tool for social change. For the next five days, we were going to JAM.

Never heard of a JAM? Neither had i - until Gino Pastori-Ng (dear friend and co-founder of Youth Impact Hub) suggested i check it out. And so i did. Not only did i discover Gino would be a co-facilitator, but also Annie-Rose London would be another of the five facilitators. (Later, i learned their preferred term, facilitant, which now makes sense to me; they were engaged as participants almost more than we were.) Annie-Rose (aka, A-Ro) was one of the teachers at my InterPlay workshop earlier this year, and embodies the kind of playful unapologetic expression i aspire to.

Trees are my jam. The JAM was in the Redwoods.

This 7th annual Art for Social Change JAM focused on mutual support, interconnection, collaboration, visioning, and lifting up the essential contributions of artists in social transformation. What did that all really mean? For me, it was a beautiful and much-needed mix of self-examination, creative expression, and connecting with other creatives — all in a safe space of experienced guidance, Redwood forest nature, and that kind of vibrant, healthy, home-cooked food you wish could magically appear on your table at home every day! (Gratitude shout out to Jocelyn Jackson of People’s Kitchen Collective!) Most importantly, it was about the other humans i shared time and space with; we became family (aka, JAMily). Now i have a support team, 29 deep, rooting for me and there for whatever i need - and vice versa. Nothing beats that.

Words don’t do the JAM justice. It was laughing, and crying, and cabin bunking, and creative exchanges, and group improvisation, and dish duty, and music, and dancing, and the kinds of group activities that help you see your blind spots, and the kinds of humans that help you sort through what you just saw in yourself, and all that —- i walked away 110% inspired to fully embrace the Artist in me, the one who wants to do the work and instigate the play and co-create with other humans all freakin day, because that’s what feels most alive, and because that’s what i bring to the world. Connecting with and learning from other humans through the process of making together, moving together, playing together.

You can learn more about the Art for Social Change JAM — and about the organization YES! that puts on all the different kinds of JAM events around the world in an effort to connect, inspire, and collaborate with change-makers to build thriving, just, and regenerative ways of life for all. i say YES! to that.

Benjamín Gonzalez on the mic! Each Fellow has 5-7 min to present their plan for their social enterprise, with each presentation culminating in a Community Ask. (i believe this idea of making requests to your community is a key take-away of the program - for ALL of us! When’s the last time you recognized a need you have, and then made a request of your family, friends, or extended community? We are conditioned to perceive this as weakness, when in fact, it builds strength for all involved.

MCs Jasmine Honey Gold and ab commanding the stage in front of a packed house. These two program alumni now co-facilitate the Fellowship meetings with Gino Pastori-Ng. It’s been awesome to watch them emerge into their visions and goals these past years.

Ben and i attempting to form the In Lak’ech symbol with our hands…

aManda Greene, Co-Founder of Youth Impact Hub and creator of the Fellowship program transitioned on February 12, 2019. The loss was devastating for her co-founders Gino Pastori-Ng (pictured) and Galen Silvestri, for the young people who have received so much love and guidance from aManda, and for the United Roots and Bay Area social justice communities at-large. The picture of aManda on my door at home reminds me each time i leave the house that i aspire to embody her graceful balance of strength and kindness. Love you, girl.

aManda Greene, 1981-2019

It’s finally here! Pitch Day 2019!!!

The ten Youth Impact Hub Fellows present their pitches for their social enterprises to the public, and the “judges” decide if each Fellow is ready for their seed funding now - or later, after some revisions to the plan.

Ben and i have been working since early January on his social enterprise, In Lak’ech Productions, a project that leverages his existing screen printing business to support the immigrant community in Oakland. So cool, right? The concept is to make a series of workshops in which immigrant participants are guided to tell their stories and then develop collective designs that embody these stories. These designs then get printed on apparel that will be sold to Oaklanders and the world at-large. Immigrant stories get amplified, and proceeds go to local immigrant support services. The goal is to have the first workshop and correlated designs and screen prints complete by December, when the Fellows will showcase their goods and services at a public Marketplace event.

In Lak’ech is a traditional Mayan greeting, meaning “I am you and you are me.” Ben wants to embody that sentiment in his social enterprise, and really in everything he does.

Emani Holyfield, a mentor in this year’s program, adds feedback to one of the Fellows’ projects. Wait, that’s her mentee’s project! :)

The Alliance for Community Development is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, founded in 1999, dedicated to promoting investment in low-income Bay Area communities. They do this by increasing access to capital for underrepresented entrepreneurs including but not limited to women, people of color, immigrants, and veterans. ​

And they invited me to join the team for awhile and support this mission! The Alliance has got to be one of my favorite all-time clients. The small yet nimble team is made up of four superstar women of color (CEO Nayeli Maxson, along with Melanie Nuni, Naima McQueen, and Cinthya Flores).

Working closely with Nayeli, i had the opportunity to help develop the concept for a system that will allow local businesses to show their VALUES. The VALUES System identifies and strengthens local businesses by verifying their efforts in each of six areas: Viability, Access, Local, Unity, Equity, and Sustainability. Imagine if you could spot a business walking the talk in these six areas simply by looking for a symbol on the window or package, like those Yelp stickers or a “certified organic” label. Well, now you can!

To help explain what this all means, this is from the Alliance for Community Development’s website:

Our VALUES System articulates our VALUES in a transparent and accessible way for our Bay Area Entrepreneurship Alliance members

• Our VALUES System serves as a system for identifying and strengthening community-based, community-serving businesses

• Our VALUES System helps us to consistently vet resources we refer local underrepresented entrepreneurs to in navigation sessions

• Our VALUES System provides a VALUES adoption roadmap to our members and to our broader community, rewarding the creation of plans and progress.

• Our VALUES System was built by a team representative of the communities we seek to serve: women, people of color, mothers, youth, children of immigrants, parents of people with disabilities.

This 9-month program aims to support designers (of all kinds!) to learn best practices for community engagement and equitable design and put those lessons into direct action with the support of a local experienced guide.

The cohort was divided into community project teams, and i had the opportunity to get to know Oakland’s Chinatown in partnership with two great organizations: Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC) and Chinatown Improvement Initiative (CII). The staff from those two orgs, plus my awesome teammates, collaborated for many months — honestly, our team had imagined results seemingly more substantial than the tangible reality after so many months. What we learned above all is that this kind of work must move at the speed of trust, and that sometimes process reveals much more value than outcome.

For OACC, the team created a mobile “culture cart” that celebrates the diaspora of Asian culture through art-making, and supports the organization’s presence outside of their office and cultural space.

With CII, we developed strategic language and organizational structure visioning that would help the grassroots organization in its fundraising efforts.

Leading up to the community project development phase, we had a fantastic crew of facilitators from a wide array of disciplines and backgrounds. The Pathways to Equity curricula was a truly holistic offering that brought useful lessons i didn’t know i needed.

So grateful that i jumped into this Pathways to Equity experience (somewhat blind) and received so many insightful surprises and lasting relationships. Thank you to my cohort, and especially my teammates: Ramy Kim, Louise Mackie, Kion Sawney, and Jason Su. And the biggest gratitude goes to the program’s Co-Directors: Shalini Agrawal and Garrett Jacobs. True superstars with hearts of gold.

The Youth IMPACT Hub Fellowship at United Roots is a year-long social enterprise incubation training program for low-income youth ages 18-24 to create enterprise projects that increase personal income and directly address problems in the communities. Ten Fellows are selected in a competitive application process, and paired with ten mentors from a variety of backgrounds.

Every Tuesday evening, we gather to share a meal, connect with ourselves and one another through mindfulness activities, and apply business curricula to progress the Fellows’ projects. These beautiful souls quickly have become like family to me.

And my mentee… Benjamín Gonzalez, my newest teacher! Ohmigosh, this guy truly is a superhero - running his family’s property maintenance company, being a devoted partner and father, and running an ever-growing successful screen-printing business.

I can’t wait to see how his project evolves. Ben and i will be working hard until Pitch Day in May. This is when the Fellows present their business plans to the public, and find out if they receive their $1,000 seed funding on the spot (otherwise it is contingent upon plan improvements). Stay tuned!

Finally it’s here!!! A collective movement opportunity that does not require special skills, lots of money, or being groped after dark. A collective movement opportunity where EVERY body feels welcome!

Wednesdays, February 6 - May 15. Come to one, come to all. Warning - it’s addictive, and you just might feel like YOU BELONG!

Social Movement is moving the body in ways that feel dynamo -- to you. You will be guided, and can respond to the prompts as you wish. Looking for a workout? You can have it. Looking to take it slow? It's all yours.

Keeping it light, with freedom and respect.
Be in your zone with other humans who just wanna move... and you can be in bed by 10pm.

Barefoot or socks (unless you need shoes). Layers are good.
ALL are welcome (kids, too). Venue is 100% accessible.

Begins promptly at 7pm. Suggested donation $10 - but Social Movement is fun, easy, and FREE if you want it to be. :)

https://www.culturebank.org/storybank/2018/11/28/kate-spacek

CultureBank is mobilizing community cultural assets in order to achieve shared health and prosperity. Their StoryBank feature explores the role that artists play in fulfilling upon this mission. They introduce artist entrepreneurs to the world, share stories about their enterprises and their community impact, and illustrate the impact we can have when we understand artists as essential ingredients in any productive investment.

And they interviewed me for their first edition! Here it is…

CultureBank Questions:

Where – in what community – do you primarily do your work?

My recent work has been both local and international, in specific urban areas across 15 different countries over the past 7 years. I am now anchored back in Oakland, intent on supporting and collaborating with underserved communities, specifically young adults ages 16-30ish.

What gets you going each day and inspires your current work?

The evidenced belief that a sense of belonging, agency, and co-ownership is fostered by inclusive engagement in collaborative community project development - using innate and universal tools of art, movement, and play. The spark of collective invincibility I feel and see in others when two or more humans are co-creating and have that moment when they both envision the same exciting possibility, over and over again! It's human beauty in its purest form.

When you work in your community, what are the most valuable assets of the community that you experience aside from real estate and money?

• Lived experience

• local knowledge (from vendors to rituals to history to core issues)

• relationships

• hyperlocal influence

• resourcefulness / innovative thought and application

• personal commitment to the community’s well-being

• passion to be seen, heard, expressed

How does your artistic practice inform and/or is integrated into your enterprise?

My artistic practice and enterprise are one in the same on a good day. I design programs and experiences that foster belonging and equity. Often, these programs and events are arts-based, and frequently require my own and others’ art to fulfill upon the project. Although it can be a challenge to convey the immediate value in monetary terms, I “sell” these experiences in service of the client’s own mission. This hybrid mission-based curation in itself is part of my artistic practice, and i believe is a progressive approach to social equity overall. Fostering belonging rarely excludes other objectives.

What is the impact of your work on your community? Today? Over a long period of time?

Historically, the most valuable impact of my work has been the relationships formed among stakeholders with seemingly varied or even opposing objectives. The city council member now has lunch regularly with the student activist. The CEO calls upon the longtime community elder for advice.

I have had participants write me years later to say the community-driven art-making and project building were pivotal experiences for them to learn that they indeed possess the capacity to ask questions, identify challenges, and take leadership around issues in their own communities. Others say the feeling of collaborating in circles of mixed race, culture, and class has opened them to the possibility that their stereotypes can be false.

My work connects people and ideas, instigates fresh and relevant dialogue, and encourages sustainable collective actions. Ten years from now, it will be better understood and embraced that humans are creations, built to create - and that when we create together, we birth true co-ownership and are on our way to solving our most wicked problems.

The Nitty Gritty

When was your organization or project founded?

2011

What is your staffing situation like?

I am solo. I have hired service providers for things like web design or artistic consultation in a specific project, but otherwise i am an independent contractor who leads or co-develops projects.

What is your annual budget?

In this moment, zero. All project costs are coming out-of-pocket from savings or compensation earned in non-arts employment. My revenue fluctuates wildly because it is project-to-project based. Rarely does funding come purely from my art practice; more often, I take on consulting or event production gigs to support the art, or shape the corporate and municipal projects to include art. Every day, I imagine what becomes possible if I were to have the resources to dedicate myself full-time to the community-based and community-driven arts and culture projects.

My dear friend, William Renauld, is an angel on earth. For real. He’s a social worker at Hospice, and might be the most genuinely positive, supportive human i’ve known. For his birthday, he decided to put on a benefit concert: “POP STAR FOR A NIGHT” on Dec 8, and invited some of his non-musician friends to tap into their inner rock star and perform at the concert. When William posed the challenge, i felt my stomach drop and knew i had to say yes.

30% ticket proceeds go to PLACE; all other proceeds to BAWAR: Bay Area Women Against Rape is a 40 yr old org doing incredible work in the Bay, providing counseling and advocacy for survivors of sexual violence, as well as community education around these issues. Recent national events and behaviors have expanded the presence of sexual violence in our national conversation. But its always been here. Ending and healing sexual violence is essential, BAWAR helps.