The Central Coast Creative Corps Program is a new grant opportunity funded by the California Arts Council. The program’s goal is to invest in artists to partner with nonprofits, government agencies, and tribal governments to creatively address challenges in civic engagement, public health, climate resilience and social justice across the Central Coast. In June 2023, 23 community-based organizations were selected to receive this grant to partner with an artist on a 12-month creative engagement to further community impact. Youth Orchestra Salinas (YOSAL) was one of the well-deserved grantees. They selected Amy Burkman as their Artist Partner.

The focus of this project is to create outreach and engagement initiatives to advance Social Justice. To do this, Amy is creating murals of YOSAL students around Salinas. The murals include QR codes that will lead the public to a documentary she’s filming. The documentary will elevate the stories of YOSAL students and highlight the important role community-based arts organizations play to help address crime, mental health and provide protective factors for our youth.