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Media Contacts
Voleine Amilcar: 510.912.0631; vamilcar@ybca.org
Julia Guiheen | 646.266.9272 | jguiheen@brunswickgroup.com
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts announces the YBCA 100, an annual list celebrating artists, activists, and community leaders who are leading the way
SAN FRANCISCO (February 2, 2021)—Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA)presents the sixth annual YBCA 100list celebrating everyday heroes—artists, activists, and community leaders—whose work is in service of building sustainable, equitable, and regenerative communities. For the first time since the list’s inception in 2014, the public was invited to participate in the nomination process. The result is a dynamic selection of people and organizations who have stepped up in extraordinary ways to lead the way. The YBCA 100 honorees hail from the Bay Area and beyond, ranging from local heroes such as actress and artistic director of Lorraine Hansberry TheaterMargo Hall; musician Kev Choice; organizer and artist Cat Brooks; co-founder of Sogorea Te’ Land Trust Corrina Gould; artist and co-founder of See Black Women Tahirah Rasheed, to nationally recognized individuals like Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones; Algorithmic Justice League founder Joy
Buolamwini; and power-building movements Black Voters Matterand Youth Versus Apocalypse.
Previous honorees include artistTania Bruguera(2016), Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza(2016), filmmaker Boots Riley (2017), national youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman (2018), and intergenerational hip-hop artists Alphabet Rockers (2019). View the full list of the 2020 honorees here.
“In creating the YBCA 100 list, it was important for us to the meet the current moment by elevating the provocateurs and innovators who boldly made a difference in the health and well-being of their communities, worked tirelessly in pursuit of racial equity, and used art and activism to heal and bring us together in spirit when we needed it most,” remarks YBCA CEO Deborah Cullinan. “The list is incredible: 93% of the honorees are BIPOC, 73% are artists, 60%
are women, and 68% hail from the Bay Area. Through the work of these individuals and movement builders, we have found inspiration and a reason to keep moving toward and accelerating social change. We invite you to learn more about this year’s honorees and join us as we celebrate, elevate, and shine a light on the people doing work in service of a more equitable and just society.”
Whether through the arts, policy change, or community organizing, the Bay Area is well represented among the list of honorees. Sixty eight percent of the list is made of Bay Area leaders including performance company Kinetic Light;American chef, food writer, podcaster, and restaurant critic Soleil Ho;musician Ryan Nicole;interdisciplinary artist Leticia
Hernandez;artistKaren Seneferu; SOMA Pilipinas; founder of Hood Design StudioWalter Hood,and many more.
The YBCA 100 list also includes nationally recognized luminaries who are bravely and boldly moving our culture forward: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Pulitzer prize-winning reporter covering racial injustice forThe New York Timesmagazine and creator of the landmark 1619 Project; Joy Buolamwini, founder of Algorithmic Justice League to create a world with more ethical and inclusive technology;Ijeoma Oluo, writer/speaker/author of The New York Timesbestseller So You Want to Talk about Race?; Rhiannon Giddens, musician and artistic director of Silkroad, and Loira Limbal, documentary filmmaker.
During a period of more visible and widespread grassroots political action, the sixth annual YBCA 100 list honors movement builders includingBlack Voters Matter, a power building organization; Feed the Second Line, providing food and employment to the culture-bearers of New Orleans; ALAS (Ayudando Latinos A Soñar), a Latinx cultural arts and social services program in Half Moon Bay dedicated to supporting the youth and families of our beautiful coastal community in Northern California; andYouth Versus Apocalypse, a Bay Area-based diverse group of young climate justice activists.
The YBCA 100 honorees will be celebrated on Saturday, April 3, 2021 at the YBCA 100 Summit, a virtual theatrical convening featuring performances, stories, and rituals for a joyous and interactive communal experience.
CREDITS
YBCA 100 is supported by Blue Shield of California,the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Bernard
Osher Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services, and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
ABOUT YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS
YBCA is a creative home, laboratory, and public platform for San Francisco’s arts and social justice community. We empower artists, with a focus on BIPOC artists, who are creating a more equitable and just future. From leading-edge art experiences to groundbreaking civic initiatives and community partnerships, YBCA fosters societal movement and well being. Core programs include: assembling artists, creative community members, and culture bearers to address urgent societal issues through innovative art; prototypes, exhibitions, and performances in an open, public square environment; ongoing public engagement; new models of artist-first investments; open calls; neighborhood art projects; arts advocacy; and art education programs. Our Artist Power Center provides critical services to artists, including resources for those most impacted by COVID and opportunities to build the capacity of the creative community as essential to a future that moves beyond systemic inequities and injustice.
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