From the Awesöme Orchestra Collective to the San Francisco Symphony, from Sins Invalid to AXIS Dance Company, from Art Murmur to SFMOMA, from Lyrics and Dirges to Litquake, and from Liquid Fire to A.C.T., the arts are the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area. The arts give the San Francisco Bay area its color, its rhythm, its shape, and its sound; and if art and artists are the heart of the Bay Area, then African Americans are most certainly its soul. 

The story revealed in the portraits on this site is one of a thriving, exuberant, loving, and resilient Black arts community. It is a community that is as deeply entrenched in its history and traditions as it is welcoming to transformation, innovation, and change.

Bay Area Heart and Soul uses drawings, video shorts, and the artists own words and work to create a snapshot of this moment.