According to the Culture Keepers, the heart of the Bay Area lies in its rich and multiplicitous cultural ecosystem. From art to music, from food to dance, and from literature to community, people thrive when seeking understanding of and connection with one another.
The concept of the Culture Keepers is simple: They connect Bay Area artists and storytellers with the people and institutions who can best support them. The impact is rippling—journalists, storytellers and community advocates are able to spread the messages that mean the most to their communities.
The project operates by selecting representatives from anchor institutions, who then put forth artists showcasing practices from the communities from which they come.
Vanessa Camarena-Arredondo, chief curator for Culture Keepers, said, “We love the Bay Area because of the cultural organizations that serve as hubs for artists.”
She explained that many make the mistake of assuming culture happens and is preserved without investment.
“We help see these artists and these organizations through the eyes of people who love the Bay and get the history,” Camarena-Arredondo said. “And so there is this kind of impetus to get more muscle behind more funding, and encourage philanthropy and local donors to really give to this tapestry of culture.”
Jean Melesaine, lead storyteller for the Culture Keepers, said part of what makes the Bay Area so special is its ability to bring together people of vast backgrounds and personalities.
“You could pick five people from the Bay, and everybody’s like, ‘Why the hell are people from the Bay like this?’” Melesaine said. “You choose an ice skater, homegirl, you choose Marshawn Lynch … and you’re like, ‘Those people are definitely from the Bay Area.’”
Both Camarena-Arredondo and Melesaine stressed the importance of highlighting traditionally underserved and underrepresented communities. Black and Indigenous cultures, they said, helped shape many of the Bay Area traditions we know and love. They stressed the importance of understanding the diverse tapestry of Blackness and Indigeneity, and how these cultures may present differently in the Bay.
“The great migration of Black people from the South here really colored this tapestry of the Bay Area,” Camarena-Arredondo said. “So you’ll find people from El Salvador, Mexico, Samoa … for us also to tend to this idea of Indigeneity, expanding it to the Samoan and Tongan community—that community is very under-visualized.”
Melesaine added, “It’s real easy in America to be like, ‘Oh yeah everything everywhere is Indigenous,’ but for some reason people forget there’s really Indigenous people from Oakland, and [San Francisco], too.”
Another key mission of the Culture Keepers is to connect wealthy donors to projects that inspire them. One of the mission’s key sources of funding comes from Jacob Pritzker, who’s interested in supporting filmmakers and writers. He also strives to bring other wealthy donors into the movement to create a thriving ecosystem of patronage of the arts.
Camarena-Arredondo stressed that creating safe and inclusive spaces for artists across the Bay is another key factor in fostering artistic expression and cultural preservation. Spaces like the Urban Peace Movement, Black Cultural Zone, Eastside Arts Alliance and Center for Performing Arts in Richmond are all institutions the project supports and endorses.
Camarena-Arredondo and Melesaine suggested that those members of the public interested in getting involved should aim to buy art from local artists, attend local performances and support Bay Area arts funds.
They say the biggest threat to Bay Area culture at present is a mere lack of understanding. When people do not understand something, they tend to avoid it or try to shrink it. It’s important in these moments, Camarena-Arredondo said, to dig deeper and ask essential questions.
“Why is culture so central to our existence?” she asked. “Why is it the thing that adds to the backbone of our existence, and how is it the thing that heals us? How is it the thing that kind of brings us home, even when we’re figuring out what home is?”
To the Culture Keepers, art is a uniting factor that brings people together across regions, generations, political views and experiences. Intentionally funding safe spaces, artistic expression and community events is the best way to foster understanding and unite the Bay Area in a meaningful way.
For more info, visit theculturekeepers.org.
