Arts for Oakland Kids

What it reported doing in 2024

TO ADVANCE ARTS JUSTICE BY ENSURING THAT ALL STUDENTS IN UNDER-RESOURCED OAKLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS RECEIVE A COMPREHENSIVE ARTS EDUCATION IN ORDER TO IMPROVE LEARNING AND PROMOTE ACHIEVEMENT.ARTogetherARTogethers After-school Music Program provides newcomer refugee and immigrant students at Oakland International High School with collaborative weekly music classes, creating gathering spaces for students to learn and explore different musical styles and traditions together.BoomShake MusicDuring the 2024-5 school year, BoomShake Music will offer full-year weekly street drumming workshops to every 2nd and 5th grade student at Manzanita SEED Elementary School. Guided by teaching artists Sarah Norr and Mira Manickam-Shirley, students will learn drum technique, ensemble playing, movement, composition and improvisation, and the creation of songs and chants. Students will perform both at school events and at Oakland-based community gatherings and social justice actions.Cantare con VivoCantares Nova Youth Choir unites 6-12 grade students from disparate Oakland neighborhoods for 36 weeks of weekly rehearsals and small-group vocal coaching; monthly leadership workshops and clinics with working musicians; and annual choir festivals, college tours, and community performances with Cantares elementary and adult choirs. Nova makes it possible for every Oakland 6-12th grader to have tuition-free, uninterrupted access to bi-weekly choral music education throughout their middle and high school years, a critical time for developing a positive self-identity and a lifelong love for the arts.The CrucibleThe Crucible's Creative Economy Pathways Program (CEPP) introduces high school students attending OUSD schools (this funding will support our work at Rudsdale High School) to The Crucibles variety of industrial art practices as well opportunities to turn the skills learned into tangible products that can then be used as items that can be sold at a number of vending opportunities they are invited to participate in.Harmony Project OaklandHarmony Project Oakland (started in 2020) is a free, intensive, multi-year program offering instrumental classes, performances, and musical mentoring. We harness the transformative power of music to embolden students to realize their full potential and empower them to greet challenges in their lives, both musical and otherwise. Through social-emotional and musical instruction, practice time, and peer mentoring, students actively participate in the program for a minimum of 4 hours per week.Living JazzThe Living Jazz Childrens Project is a free, in-school performing arts residency designed for pre-kindergarten through 2nd graders in the Oakland Unified School Districts Title 1 schools and expanded in 2022 to West Contra Costa School District and middle school students. Debuted in 2005, the jazz-rooted arts education program teaches music fundamentals, ensemble singing, rhythm, percussion and dance, utilizing art as a tool for social change and cultural empowerment. The year-long curriculum focuses on choral music through a social justice lens, on rhythm and polyrhythms from the African Diaspora within the context of cultural awareness, and on dance as a form of cultural history, self-expression and storytelling.Prescott Circus TheaterPrescott Circus Theatre (PCT) will continue of The Esperanza Circus and Theater Arts Residency at Esperanza Elementary School for the 2024-2025 school year. The residency will provide weekly circus and theater arts instruction for 130 students across seven classrooms: all fourth and fifth grade general ed students and all K-5 special day class students with moderate / moderate-severe disabilities. In partnership with classroom teachers, PCT teaching artist, Cesar Amaruc, will facilitate and support students technical and creative learning in circus and theater arts while promoting skills that support school and life success.ThingamajigsThingamajigs is a genre-crossing arts organization that prom

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 87.8%; rating input score 88
• Program expense ratio: 55.6%; rating input score 56
• Fundraising efficiency: $2.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Fail
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 6.1%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.41; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 19.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -2.1% per year; rating input score 0; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -47.7% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings