Focus In: DrawBridge’s Community Artist Program

Last year, according to reports from the California Department of Education, sixty-two percent of Californiaʼs almost six million students were classified as socioeconomically disadvantaged. Of these students, almost 200,000 had no fixed, regular, or adequate residence. Due to loss of housing or economic hardship, such students made their homes in motels, hotels, campgrounds, vehicles, parks, or emergency or transitional shelters.

A Community Artist Program
Recognizing the power of the arts to promote healing and recovery from trauma, DrawBridge has been providing free weekly expressive arts programs for children in shelters, supportive housing facilities, and community centers across seven San Francisco Bay Area counties for over thirty-five years. Always free, DrawBridge programs are offered directly where families live, removing financial and transportation barriers for participants.

DrawBridge was founded in 1989 by art therapist Gloria Simoneaux, who developed a highly effective method of using the creative arts to help children work through complex emotions associated with issues of homelessness and housing insecurity. Since that time, DrawBridge has served more than 40,000 children across the Bay Area.

Building on this history of service, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the California Arts Council, DrawBridge has launched a community artist program that connects children in shelters and transitional housing with local established and emerging artists.

Five Bay Area artists are selected each year by a committee of regional arts leaders to develop art experiences and site-specific works with children ages five to eighteen across the region. Each artist produces communityfocused art activities that offer authentic dialogue and mentorship opportunities for DrawBridge youth. Now in its second year, DrawBridge is delighted to feature five additional artists who will work with children at DrawBridgeʼs partner sites across the Bay Area:

Amalee Beattie
Amalee Beattie (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist from Los Angeles. Their work spans experimental poetry/prose/nonfiction, painting, multimedia installation, and curatorial. Beattie holds a BA in Comparative Religions, a minor in Ethnic Studies, and a JD degree. Beattieʼs practice is grounded in their spirituality and actively considers the connections, tensions, and inquiries that arise across the disciplines and fields in which they work.

Katie Nealon
Katie Nealon is a poet, artist, and commercial letterpress printer. She has been printing and making books since 2009, and was a studio printer, board member, and the president of the North Bay Letterpress Arts nonprofit organization from 2015 to 2020. She currently works as a printer and educator based in Sebastopol.

Richa Priyanka
Richa Priyanka is a Fremont resident and freelance artist specializing in Indian folk art. With an MBA in Human Resources from IBS, Mumbai, India, she has shifted her career to focus on expressive art. Her artistic practice is focused on self-discovery and creative expression, fostering a nurturing and inclusive environment that celebrates acceptance, communication, and the value of community.

Zachary Sweet
Zachary Sweet, a storyteller from Oakland, shares his passion as an animation instructor at the nonprof it Youth Beat, focusing on empowering BIPOC youth in the creative arts. With a degree from the Art Institute of San Francisco and fourteen years of professional experience, Sweet adds vibrancy to the public space through mural painting and active participation in Bay Area art shows.

Patanisha Williams
Patanisha Williams is a fourth-generation Oaklander and co-founder of Pata Ali Love Club, a creative enterprise that fosters a culture of love. With more than twenty years of experience in community development, she has collaborated with schools, community-based organizations, and mental health institutions. A cultural curator, Williams has worked in both traditional and nontraditional art spaces, including the Joyce Gordon Gallery, African American Museum and Library, and the Camron-Stanford House and Museum.

Learn more about this yearʼs community artist program and where these artists will be working with youth at drawbridge.org.