About Us - Urban Arts Collaborative

Our Mission

The mission of Urban Arts Collaborative is to create safe space for artistic expression as a catalyst for healing, leadership development, and social justice

Vision Statement

UAC is a deeply impactful, influential, socially conscious organization that supports leadership development through the arts, weaving issues of significance and impact in the community into a holistic tapestry of hope. Our vision is to continue to be a small - but deeply impactful, influential, and ultimately sustainable organization.

Salinas, California is an agricultural seaside community, but is also subject to the challenges of larger urban areas, including violence, poverty, food insecurity, and inequities that leave young people (many children of farm workers and recent immigrants), left out and disenfranchised with inequities Turning the stigma against urban “graffiti” art on its head, Urban Arts Collaborative integrates visual arts education, food justice and wellness, leadership development, and advocacy for public art to create multiple pathways for youth from Salinas to become skilled artists and effective leaders and considered the arts a powerful tool for life.

Urban Arts Collaborative participants are all low-income. 95% of our artists are Latino/a. Our workshops serve children and youth ages 5 to 18 in Salinas and Monterey County.Through our partnership with Rancho Cielo, we serve formerly incarcerated youth ages 16 to 21. We also work with other youth who are in the system (e.g., on probation or in foster care) and with migrant students from throughout Monterey County, homeless youth, and LGBTQ youth. Our programs engage parents, Hartnell College students ages 16 to 24, and adults with mild-to-severe disabilities.

Although fundamentally an arts organization, UAC takes a multidisciplinary approach to teaching and creating art as a vehicle for advocating for critical community issues. UAC engages youth in schools, at other partners’ sites, and in open public spaces where art is created. They also work with incarcerated youth, to interrupt the schools to prison pipeline. The organization is known for its collaborative relationships with other partners, its ability to engage children and youth of all ages, and to engage public officials in arts and youth-related policies.

Our Impact

While we are fundamentally an arts organization, our culturally-rooted, multidisciplinary approach impacts participants in numerous positive and mutually-reinforcing ways.

Children and families have a safe space to learn and create together.
Young people have an inclusive environment in which to talk about the issues they care about and use art to face their challenges.
Young artists gain confidence in expressing themselves and develop their art portfolio and resumes to gain employment and higher education.
Families are empowered with information, inspiration, and skills for how to eat more healthfully.
Artists create in community at our live public events that engage diverse participants and perspectives, encourage self-representation, and build community pride.
Our collaborative partnerships extend our reach to more youth and families with shared resources, and our outreach to public officials influences arts and youth-related policies.
Program participants report feeling more hope and a greater sense of belonging in their community; for many, their experiences with us have been a catalyst for change in their personal.

Danny Montenegro began her mentoring journey with Urban Arts Collaborative in 2016 as a teenager; now Danny supports UAC in different ways such as Salinas CICLOVIA, assists UAC artists with art curation for UAC art exhibitions and art classess and media outreach.