The Project

What we do:

Art Stars is an arts-based summer program supporting and supported by refugee young people in Oakland. Young Teaching Artists (YTAs) from Oakland International High School receive mentorship and a stipend to create and facilitate art programming to their younger peers. They are supported by a team of artists and educators.

How we do it:

With your support, we can train, mentor, and pay eight newcomer YTAs to collaborate with us on two weeks of Arts programming with younger newcomers in Oakland this Summer.

Why we do it:

We want to joyfully and artfully welcome young newcomers into our community. Our goal is to support them in developing their creativity, language skills, relationships, and confidence. Art can be a bridge between old and new worlds and across cultures.

Who We Are

Jackie Katz is a radical educator and Social Practice Artist who is currently a full-time drama and service learning teacher at Children’s Day School in SF. In collaboration with her students, she has facilitated 25 student-written and -produced pla… — ***Jackie Katz*** is a radical educator and Social Practice Artist who is currently a full-time drama and service learning teacher at Children’s Day School in SF. In collaboration with her students, she has facilitated 25 student-written and -produced plays tackling topics such as gun violence, coming out, climate change, and child labor.
Jackie has a deep love and respect for the innate brilliance of young people. In 2014, along with seven other educators/activists, she co-founded play:ground NYC, an adventure playground built by and for young people that encourages “risk-taking, experimentation and freedom through self directed play.” Jackie has volunteered with newcomer kids since 2006, offering arts-based programming, including with Refugee Transitions since 2016. She received her MA in Social Practices and Public Forms from CCA in 2017.
As the lead organizer of Art Stars, Jackie brings her passionate drive and experience in classroom facilitation and project execution. Deeply inspired by last year, Jackie cannot wait to infuse this year's program with simple performance-based projects. Her hope is that the camp participants will one day be YTAs and the YTAs will eventually lead the camp themselves.

Sony Nirvana Maharjan Upton, is an Oakland-based artist originally from Nepal. She left Nepal at age 19, a refugee of the Nepalese Civil War. Later, she happened to be visiting Nepal when the April 25, 2015 earthquake struck that killed nearly 9000 … — ***Sony Nirvana Maharjan Upton***, is an Oakland-based artist originally from Nepal. She left Nepal at age 19, a refugee of the Nepalese Civil War. Later, she happened to be visiting Nepal when the April 25, 2015 earthquake struck that killed nearly 9000 people. Sony, her family, and their neighbors were stuck living in a field for more than a week without help. She volunteered in disaster relief efforts, and also photographed and painted street scenes of everyday people coping with the destruction. Trained as a classical realist painter, Sony currently studies photography and design at California College of the Arts.
Sony joined Art Stars after taking a Community Arts class at CCA, where she learned different ways artists can contribute their talents to community efforts. As an artist and refugee, she feels called to create art that adds voice to people struggling with challenging circumstances. Last summer at Art Stars, Sony spoke to the YTAs of her experience coming to the US, her passion for art, and her decision to go back to school to get her undergrad degree in art at the age of 32. Sony was the official Art Stars 2019 photographer.
See Sony’s art at www.sonynmupton.com

Christopher Wachter is an educator, artist, and perpetual optimist. As a middle school humanities teacher for the past eleven years in San Francisco, he designs and implements responsive curriculum focused on social justice, teaching for equity, and… — ***Christopher Wachter*** is an educator, artist, and perpetual optimist. As a middle school humanities teacher for the past eleven years in San Francisco, he designs and implements responsive curriculum focused on social justice, teaching for equity, and service learning. He earned his Master's in the Art of Teaching from the University of San Francisco with a special emphasis in curriculum design. He spends his time out of the classroom reading, running, volunteering, and spreading joy.
Chris has been on the sidelines, cheerleading for Art Stars for the past two years, and jumped in to help train young teachers last summer. He knows young people well and his patient, calm approach helps build communities where all feel safe to learn and motivated to grow. His classroom work with students focuses on immigration and the newcomer experience; with his students, he creates student-led exhibitions that center visitors in empathy and push them into action. Inspired by Oakland Stock, his most recent endeavor is an annual micro-granting soup dinner that funds needs-based, student-designed service projects, Soup for Change.

HyeYoon Song HyeYoon Song is as an artist, educator and activist working between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Her work employs printmaking, painting and sculpture with interdisciplinary means to investigate landscape, culture, and identity shaped … — ***HyeYoon Song*** **HyeYoon Song** is as an artist, educator and activist working between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Her work employs printmaking, painting and sculpture with interdisciplinary means to investigate landscape, culture, and identity shaped by occupying spaces of in-betweenness. As an educator, her students learn the incredible, political history of printmaking as a tool for protests, while together they perform interventions in the public sphere with collaboratively-made printed works. HyeYoon obtained an MFA in Fine Arts from the California College of the Arts and a BFA in Painting and Print-media from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Hye joined Art Stars because she is deeply interested in improving the immigrant experience as people transition to life in the Bay Area from their home countries. As someone born outside the US, Hye struggled with having to accept her new identity as an immigrant when she moved here as a young person. Hye hopes art becomes of of the tools the newcomers can use to share the story of their journeys here. She believes there needs to be increased access to the arts, and that Art Stars creates more access by providing young newcomers with a safe place to experiment.
See Hye’s art at www.hyeyoonsong.com

River Black is an artist, curator, educator, and community organizer. Her multidisciplinary practice includes performance, sound art, collage, and installation, often involving the viewer as participant. River recently graduated with an MFA in Socia… — ***River Black*** is an artist, curator, educator, and community organizer. Her multidisciplinary practice includes performance, sound art, collage, and installation, often involving the viewer as participant. River recently graduated with an MFA in Social Practice from California College of the Arts. She is a former SOMArts Creative Dissent Fellow, a frequent volunteer at Oakland Stock, and is currently co-managing Beauty Supply Arts, a community-curated arts space in downtown Oakland.
River brings to Art Stars 10 years experience teaching summer camp and two years experience as a camp director. She has been facilitating art activities for young people and families with Refugee Transitions since 2017. River has also worked as a preparator to install exhibitions for CCA and thinks knowing how to install work is a valuable skill for artists. She speaks Spanish and is spending three weeks this fall at a language school in Guatemala to study contemporary Guatemalan and Central American history to better understand the experiences of people from there. Her favorite part of Art Stars 2019 was bonding with the teen YTAs and seeing their transition from being terrified at the thought of teaching to leading projects with confidence.