Art Changes

Art Changes offers a video demonstration by featured artists AND a student project based on each artist’s work. These local artists weave their stories of inspiration and perspective that reflect the rich diversity of the Bay Area into their art. The program is designed to help AUSD teachers provide visual arts instruction in their classrooms by using the videos as guides for multi-cultural discussions and art centered lesson plans. These artists have generously permitted AEF to showcase their work on an ongoing basis, enabling the catalogue to grow each year as new artists and art projects are developed. Alameda school children can continue to learn and be inspired by these diverse artists.

With AEF's renewed focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, Art Changes is a means of providing representation and access to the different lived experiences the Bay Area has to offer to the diverse body of students in the Alameda Unified School District.

New for 2024-25: The theme for this school year, Our Earth: Embracing All Communities, is based on the collage paintings of Salma Arastu as well as the poetry of Maw Shein Win. Salma Arastu’s paintings celebrate nature and the interdependence of all living creatures. Belonging and self-knowledge are important aspects of Maw Shein Win’s poetry. Ancestry and the natural world are both mysterious and clarifying in her work.

2023-24 Wrap Up: We had several new additions with Art Changes this past school year. We introduced creative writing by adding poet Shanti Lair Croom to our roster of artists. In addition, classroom art projects became more sophisticated, with some students working with watercolor for the first time with amazing results. The theme, This is My Story, was interwoven into three new artist videos for Alex D. da Silva , Bill Jeng and Shanti Lair Croom. Videos by Alex D. da Silva and Bill Jeng showed how the artists' work tell stories that lead to understanding and give us strength. Shanti Lair Croom's electrifying reading of her poem Living Poetically inspired students to tell their stories through poetry. We held our first Poetry Slam at Books Inc. on April 20, 2024.

Are you a teacher who has used Art Changes? If so, we'd love to hear about the impact of Art Changes in your classroom and keep you up to date on other educational opportunities. Please email us at info@alamedaeducation.org.

Meet the Artists