Ink People

Dreammaker projects and support - the dreammaker program is the largest program of the Ink People, where the Ink People serves as fiscal sponsor for arts and culture projects that benefit the north coast region and beyond. These projects often center leadership from historically under-resourced peoples, address unique community needs, establish placemaking/placekeeping practices, and/or are sources of innovation. Dreammaker projects continued to grow in number and in capacity over the 23/24 fiscal year. Ink People offered a series of professional development workshops in marketing, grant writing, and program planning and created opportunities for dreammaker leaders to connect to one another through mixers. We established a dreammaker representative on the Ink People board of directors. A dreammaker annual report was implemented and the onboarding process was refined and improved. Ink People staff met with dreammaker leaders on a daily basis, offering critical one on one support.

Youth - the Ink People continued to support ongoing opportunities to benefit youth through the media arts resource zone (marz) program and the jumpstarts program. Marz youth mentors offered free year-round programming for teens and transition age youth, ages 12-26. This programming offered youth a safe and supportive environment while facilitating career path learning opportunities in the digital and recording arts with career and technical certified youth mentors. The jumpstarts program offered similar year-round programming as the marz programming in juvenile hall, serving at-risk youth who are engaged in the criminal justice system. Additionally, the Ink People offered additional workshops and support for queer youth. During the 23/24 fiscal year, the Ink People also partnered with alice birney elementary school to offer a series of workshops, funded through the creative youth development program, that supported creative enrichment opportunities for youth in a low income/low resource area.

Community & place - in 2023/2024, the Ink People supported community and place by cultivating partnerships in the eureka cultural arts district and the humboldt creative alliance while also expanding its efforts to build relationships between artists, culture keepers, arts/culture organizations, and local governments. The Ink People served as the convener for the eureka cultural arts district (ecad) during this period, stewarding the inclusion of the wiyot tribe as one of four ecad partners. The Ink People also facilitated the drafting of governance documents for the ecad. Additionally, the Ink People continued to be a core member of the humboldt creative alliance, working to secure funding from humboldt county's transient occupancy tax to be regranted to arts and culture endeavors in the county. The Ink People managed a granting process and distributed funds to projects that centered community wellbeing through an arts and culture lens. The Ink People continues to be the local arts partner for the city of eureka, offering support for the eureka arts and culture commission and consulting with city staff on projects that enhance public spaces.