Building A Black Arts Institution: A Case Study

East Oakland, California is a hub for Black cultural activity, and, since the Second Great Migration of the 1940s to the 1970s, has been predominantly populated by Black residents—people who identify as Black, African American, and/or descendants of members of the African diaspora. With this deeply rooted population, East Oakland plays a critical role in the development of Black cultures in California and across the United States. This case study explores the efforts of three Black women-led arts organizations—Artist as First Responder, Black Cultural Zone, and Eastside Arts Alliance—to coalesce their roles as catalysts in the East Oakland community. The case study illustrates the perspectives from their community stakeholders, as the organizations work towards the shared development of a Black Arts Institution. Each of the organizations brings their unique strengths to building a cultural space for Black artistic and creative activity to exist and thrive in perpetuity. The case study illustrates how the organizations are perceived in terms of their distinctive institutional ways of being, structuring, and organizing, and how they are working within a broader ecosystem of resources. The case study offers insights into the importance of the coalescent, collaborative practices of Black women-led arts organizations in communities of color.