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Community Engagement & Knowledge-Building

Our community engagement process is people-centered and connects us to artists and cultural workers most impacted by rapid gentrification and displacement.

Working primarily with communities that have faced systemic oppression and underinvestment, we enter neighborhoods mindfully and build relationships with people who represent the diversity of each community.

We are informed and inspired by the people who live on our block, the local businesses where we shop, and the cultural practices that make our communities home.

2018-2019 Cultural Space Ambassadors convene for a meeting, February 2019.

CAST leads a design session with the Dreaming Spaces San Francisco Steering Committee, April 2022.

LEADING WITH INTENTION

Using elements of human-centered design, restorative practices, and trauma-informed methods, we build long-lasting partnerships that help bridge the gap between arts and culture and real estate.

SAN FRANCISCO / OAKLAND

Dreaming Spaces

Dreaming Spaces is a community engagement practice used to enter into community, build relationships and partnerships, and identify the needs and dreams that are artist-led, place-based, and that strengthen the capacity and agency of our partners in securing spaces for creative place making, keeping, and belonging.
More About Dreaming Spaces

United Playaz. Photo by Robbie Sweeny

CAST Community Engagement team at the “Reimagining Minna Street”, September 2022. Photo by Robbie Sweeny

Community-Informed On Multiple Levels

We connect and convene artists and cultural workers to the resources aligned with their goals and for knowledge-sharing and building.

 

We are on the ground listening, activating, convening, and consulting with artists to identify the needs of the community and engage arts leaders to shape our programs and real estate strategies.

SAN FRANCISCO / OAKLAND

Keeping Space

Keeping Space is the seed that inspired, shaped, and initiated CAST’s community engagement strategies. Initially a technical and financial assistance collective strategy of Oakland partners, it has evolved into a holistic method of community building that follows the lead of the artists and cultural workers most vulnerable to market changes in our cities.

Interested in our community engagement programs?

We want to learn from you! Share your ideas and sign up for a future listening session or 1:1 conversation with our Community Engagement team.

Contact Shreya (Oakland) Contact PAZ (SF)