Welcome to DREAM
A message from the California Arts Council
Arts and cultural expression move us every day. Whether song or dance, an image or a story, a tradition or ritual — the arts meaningfully connect us as people by creating and preserving culture, and in turn, impacting our identities, beliefs, views, and values.
The California Arts Council exists to strengthen the field of arts and culture and to champion the universal truth that arts are essential, not optional, in addressing the challenges facing our communities today and in the future.
This past year has resulted in an unprecedented time for all of us. For those experiencing many forms of individual and collective grief. It is an unbearably hard time for those whose livelihoods come from the arts. But we are artists, visionary people, and it is our creative spirit that helps us remain optimistic and imagine new futures.
We are here to strive for joy, connection, witnessing, and healing through creative expression. Culture is the strongest signifier of California’s identity and, undoubtedly, it is a pathway to creating, together, a better and more just California for all.
DREAM is an annual magazine published by the California Arts Council that features voices and stories from across the state of California and our borders. In this inaugural issue, we explore what it means to dream, as we introduce you to artists and culture bearers from communities large and small. Within these pages, we share a glimpse into the depth of impact of creativity and cultural expression in a state as large and diverse as California.
We’ve created DREAM magazine to acknowledge and honor the work of our local arts communities. To nurture a new forum where we can celebrate, share, and — of course — dream. Together, we can preserve and protect our unique identity as Californians and ensure the place of arts, culture, and creativity at the center of public life.
We hope the time you spend engaging with the extraordinary stories and communities inside this magazine inspires you to think about your own dreams. What does California creativity mean to you? How can you engage in culture and creativity locally in your community? What resides within your dreams?
This magazine would not be possible without our generous partner, Engaging the Senses Foundation, the hard work and creativity of the California Arts Council team, and the amazing community members who contributed their stories to our premier issue. We are grateful always to our elected officials and the State of California for recognizing that the government can and must support arts and creativity to help cultivate a better California for all.
We believe the arts are a tool for liberation that lives within us all. And that together, through the arts, we can create a better future.
Join us — and allow yourself to dream.
DREAM is California’s newest arts and culture magazine, published by the California Arts Council, the state’s arts agency.
The annual publication features voices and stories from across the state, sharing a glimpse into the depth of impact of creativity and cultural expression in a region as large and diverse as California. The premier issue explores what it means to dream, introducing artists and culture bearers from communities throughout the state.
Visit www.arts.ca.gov/dream for more information.
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