Oshalla Diana Marcus

Marin City Arts and Culture is about making the invisible, visible. Not only for Black-African artists, entrepreneurs, and educators living and or working in Marin County, the S.F. Bay Area & beyond, but also for the thousands of creators who are prisoners serving time at San Quentin Penitentiary, located in Marin. MC Arts and Culture is a synonymous abbreviation. 

Inherent in our mission is to support healing of multi-generational trauma by providing safe spaces for Black artists to create, exhibit, teach and connect with other communities. Our vision imagines a world where Black artists heal by creating; and use their talents to uplift families, prosper communities and engage society. We look boldly into faces etched both by trauma and beauty. We also look into the mirror and see our own.

Many people know or imagine Marin to be a predominantly "White" mono cultural, place of natural beauty, which is true, but that narrative goes deeper. 

For many, many generations Marin City was inhabited by the Coast Miwok's. This was their native land. We pay homage to their ancestors and to the ongoing work of their off-spring. My grand-parents migrated to this land from the United State South in 1942 to work in the Marin Ship Yards War War II efforts. After the war, the population was 99% African-American, up until the mid 1990's; within a county that was settled to be predominately European. 

This story repeats itself throughout the United States. It is a story still being written, as the United States undergoes another major shift, from coast to coast. The history of Marin and Marin City is a microcosm of sub-urban American history.

"I stand on the shoulders of those who created majesty in the face of tragedy. My body, & emotions are shaped by joy and pain; the study of dance and yoga; my mind is sharpened by inspiration gained from the literary arts, investigative journalists, historians and anthropologists. Whether curating an exhibit, formulating a hair product, or producing a project, I know my blessings originate from God--The Divine Union--The Creative Force. 

And I am grateful."

 
Oshalla Diana Marcus

oshalla.com