About ACTA

ACTA promotes and supports ways for cultural traditions to thrive now and into the future by providing advocacy, resources, and connections for folk and traditional artists.  Folk and traditional artists are tradition bearers: people who transmit what they believe, know, do and create with others who share a common heritage.  From Ohlone basketry and African-American quilt-making to cowboy poetry and Vietnamese opera, California is home to hundreds of diverse traditions.

ACTA connects artists, communities, and funders to each other, information, and resources through grants and contracts, convenings, research, and technical assistance.  ACTA also provides advocacy through local and national field-building.  Rooted in California’s cultural communities, ACTA is in direct communication with tradition bearers who are often un- or under-recognized by mainstream funders.  ACTA’s programs and services are created, evaluated, and evolved as a response to the specific needs of these artists and their communities.

Folk & traditional artists are tradition bearers: people who transmit what they believe, know, do, and create with others who share a common heritage, language, religion, occupation, or region.  These expressions are deeply rooted in and reflective of a community’s shared standards of beauty, values, or life experiences.  Folk and traditional arts are, ultimately, passed on from one generation to the next and express a collective wisdom, rather than a unique personal aesthetic.

ACTA is generously supported by:

• California Arts Council
• California Community Foundation
• Columbia Foundation
• East Bay Community Foundation
• Fresno Arts Council
• Walter & Elise Haas Fund
• The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
• The James Irvine Foundation
• The Metabolic Studio, a direct charitable activity of The Annenberg Foundation
• National Endowment for the Arts
• San Francisco Arts Commission
• The San Francisco Foundation
• Surdna Foundation
• Taproot Foundation

Paula "Pimm" Allen
Traditional Resources Program, United Indian Health Services
Arcata, California 

Emmett Castro, Secretary
Certified Public Accountant, Castro Accountancy Corporation
Fresno, CA

Joel Jacinto
Executive Director, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans
Los Angeles, CA

Maria Rosario Jackson, Ph.D.
Senior Research Associate, The Urban Institute
Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

Sojin Kim, Ph.D.
Curator, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Washington, D.C.

Amy Kitchener (ex officio)
Executive Director, Alliance for California Traditional Arts
Fresno, CA

Malcolm Margolin
Founder and Publisher, Heyday
Berkeley, CA 

Libby Maynard, V.P. of Finance and Administration
Co-founder and Executive Director, Ink People Center for the Arts
Eureka, CA

Chike Nwoffiah, V.P. of External Development
Executive Director, Oriki Theater
Mountain View, CA

Amy Rouillard
Former Senior Programs Manager,
California Council for the Humanities
San Diego, CA

Charlie Seemann, Past Board President
Executive Director, Western Folklife Center
Elko, NV

Daniel Sheehy, Ph.D., V.P. of Governance
Director, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Director & Curator, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Washington, D.C.

Deborah Wong, Ph.D., President
Professor of Music, University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA

Emeritus Board Members

Robert Arroyo
Retired Instructor of Political Science & Chicano/Latino Studies, Fresno City College
Retired Administrator, Fresno City College
Kingsburg, CA

Melanie Beene
Executive Director, Community Initiatives
San Francisco, CA

Natividad Cano
Director, Los Camperos de Nati Cano
Los Angeles, CA

Vicki Filgas
Director, Los Paisanos folklórico dance troupe
Retired Spanish language teacher, Selma High School
Selma, CA

Jo Farb Hernandez
Director, Natalie and James Thompson Art Gallery,
School of Art and Design, San Jose State University;
Principal, Curatorial and Museum Management Services;
Executive Director, SPACES
Watsonville, California

Frank LaPena
Professor Emeritus, American Indian Studies, CSU Sacramento
Traditional Maidu dance master
Visual artist
Sacramento, CA

Bess Lomax Hawes
Former Director, Folk & Traditional Arts Program, National Endowment for the Arts
West Hills, CA

Nancy Marquez
Former Director, Arte Américas
Fresno, CA

Hugo Morales
Executive Director, Radio Bilingüe
Fresno, CA

Peter Pennekamp
Executive Director, Humboldt Area Foundation
Bayside, CA

Kenya Curry, Administrative Assistant, has over seven years of experience in administrative work, office management and customer service.  She previously worked at the Willow International Center where she served as a student aide in student admissions and student activities.  Kenya is currently a full time student at the Willow International Center, a campus of the State Center Community College Dis

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