Cultural Coalitions’ mission is to connect communities and generations to ancestral knowledge and practices through artistic cultural preservation and programs that celebrate Chicano, Latiné, and Indigenous heritage. For over 28 years, Cultural Coalition has provided free culturally relevant festivals and educational programs to communities throughout Arizona. More details at culturalcoalition.com
We connect with over 35,000 multigenerational individuals annually, prioritizing cultural representation in the arts that also serves those diverse populations. We produce four annual cultural arts festivals in Phoenix, Mesa, and Tempe, providing access to free arts engagement opportunities within underserved and low-income communities to remove economic and geographic barriers. Our free online arts resources of interviews, artists chats, and online exhibits provides greater accessibility to the arts, preserving cultural objects, and traditional practices. The newly opened Mask Alive Art Collection Gallery in the Arizona Center in downtown Phoenix presents over 200 pieces of art that have been used in these community festivals for over four decades, and welcomes everyone to come and enjoy for free.
Our programs and events feature professional and youth artists, storytellers, folklórico dancers, mariachi musicians, traditional healers/curanderas, and more, as professional practitioners of ancestral traditions to instill cultural pride in our communities. Cultural Coalition also provides a free daily after school arts program, located inside a low-income housing complex in Mesa. The program provides free meals, homework help, and arts, science, and gardening activities, annually serving over 100 youth in grades K-6.