The Center for Cultural Power

The Oakland-based Center for Cultural Power, a program of CEL Education Fund, builds infrastructure and cultural assets to support artists and storytellers for social change. The Center incubates artistic projects, encourages artists and storytellers to engage in social movements, and amplifies their work and ideas. Formerly known as CultureStrike, the Center for Cultural Power launched in 2011 to foster a cultural ecosystem that supports a thriving democratic culture and society.

The CEL Education Fund’s Climate and Culture Program (aka Center for Cultural Power) works to increase the mainstream mass media and popular culture dialogue around climate solutions by supporting artists and culture-makers who are already operating in the realm of popular culture and mass media (defined as reaching more than 1 million people). The Center works with emerging artists and influencers to bring a deeper understanding of climate into their art by supporting their artistic growth and leadership. The Center will also expand climate understanding, inspiration, and community among established artists in the entertainment industry, and leverage the wisdom and experiences of frontlines and grassroots communities.

ArtChangeUS, a fiscally sponsored project of CEL Education Fund, is a five-year initiative that stimulates the arts sector to examine and respond to the dramatic demographic changes occurring in the United States. It does this by hosting high-profile conferences; producing performances, workshops, and educational events for the arts and other sectors; and publishing essays, interviews, and a quarterly journal. In its first year, ArtChangeUS has reached more than 2,000 people, including a conference in San Francisco. This first-time grant will support the project’s activities that advance conversations and practices about cultural and aesthetic changes, and ensure the arts play an ongoing and vital role as the demographics of the United States continue to change.