|
About San Francisco Cultural Arts Traditions (SFCAT)
Our Mission
San Francisco Cultural Arts Traditions”, (SFCAT) strives to make multiculturalism a tangible reality by uniting people in the celebration of cultural arts traditions with music, dance, artistry and food, and through this endeavor,
benefit our communities.
Our History
San Francisco’s Carnaval blossomed from its inception in Precita Park in the Mission District 32 years ago. Its growth and development is attributable to the passion of its founding members who longed for the traditional Carnaval celebrations of their native homelands.
Those founding members were composed of people from many cultures, and walks of life ranging from musicians, dancers, artists and a host of local residents that saw the joy and happiness that came when they gathered in this multicultural celebration. San Francisco Cultural Arts Traditions is a cultural arts and education non profit composed of people from many cultures, who have been involved with Carnaval and Cinco de Mayo, as board members, volunteers, teachers, performers and event planners through the different organizations that have produced San Francisco’s Carnaval over the last 3 decades. San Francisco Cultural Arts Traditions was formally established in December of 2009. However, the composition of our members embodies the entire 32 year experience the San Francisco’s Carnaval has enjoyed in our community. Our mission is to unite people through the celebration of cultural arts traditions like the production of Carnaval and other special cultural events that add to and enrich our diverse communities. Our Future San Francisco Cultural Arts Traditions’ primary objective is to showcase the rich cultural traditions that are celebrated in our local communities, primarily the annual cultural arts festivals of San Francisco’s Carnaval and Cinco de Mayo, celebrations. These and other future celebrations bring significant cultural and social benefits to the different local communities while fostering the creation of jobs, and the promotion of the cultural arts. From the beginning, one of our core strategies has been to encourage awareness and education of cultural traditions for our children through our Cultural Arts Education Program. This educational program is to be presented through our participating local schools. The Cultural Arts Education Program will focus on introducing our rich curriculum to primary and secondary public schools, and consists of topics covering geography, history, music and dance; children in our programs will learn through a mix of activities and exercises that are fun, and enlightening, as they share and experience diverse cultural traditions. Each year hundreds of our students from all grade levels, along with their Carnaval instructors, participate in contingents and perform with performing groups in the parades and festivals. Their parents participate by being supportive of their children’s education and, in some cases, by joining the contingents and performing groups. Our celebrations will provide a venue for many community based organizations, (CBOs), to offer their services and advise all segments of the community in an environment that is engaging and proactive. Those services include health screening, environmental awareness and social and civil services. In addition, our venues will allow arts organizations and local artists that wish to perform and showcase their artwork in our festivals an opportunity to garner wide exposure for their work. San Francisco Cultural Arts Traditions is currently planning the key infrastructure elements that will support our core services and operations. The three components of the San Francisco Cultural Arts Traditions are the Carnaval Arts Fund, the Cultural Arts and Education Program, and the Endowment Fund; these are the initiatives that will sustain our philanthropic purpose. Our Goal San Francisco Cultural Arts Traditions’ mission is to make multiculturalism a tangible reality by uniting people in the celebration of cultural arts traditions with music, dance, artistry and food, and through this endeavor, benefit our communities. As defined, this mission has a cultural arts and educational philanthropic purpose; yet its core mandate will allow it to achieve a specific goal, to benefit the community at large. This will allow us to greatly broaden the opportunity to receive funding from both foundations and corporations. The enormous need for developing new and better venues that showcase the cultural arts traditions require that we expand our outreach to enhance all these funding sources. We believe that opportunity springs from bringing together community conscious citizens from all walks of life along with responsible corporations, and city agencies, to celebrate cultural diversity. These celebrations nourish, heal and sustain a healthy and vibrant community. Through the production of our cultural celebrations we hope to continue to benefit our community, the arts and the social fabric of San Francisco. Our Guiding Principles Our primary objective of benefiting the local communities will be achieved by continuing to support, preserve, and promote the cultural arts traditions through our Education Programs within the local and participating schools. The showcasing of cultural celebrations including the annual Carnaval and Cinco de Mayo celebrations in San Francisco highlight cultural diversity and harmony. These events also continue to support the artistic community by promoting and encouraging their participation in the events. We shall make this possible by committing to fulfill these guiding principles:
The San Francisco Cultural Arts Traditions will follow these guiding principles, and will continue to be fair and fiscally responsible to all constituents. It will be open and responsive to the community at large, and will promote and develop the event to its fullest potential, as it will endeavor to produce the most artistic and vibrant event possible. By sustaining the support of the artistic community, and by making their participation a rewarding and gratifying experience, our events will attract a wide host of talent from artists that live and celebrate the festivals in our community, to local residents and tourists who wish to enjoy the experience.  |
Upcoming Events
Saturday, May 28th, 2011 SFCAT Carnaval Festival, from
10:00am to 6:00pm.
Sunday, May 29th, 2011 San Francisco Carnaval Grand Parade
& Festival (kick-off at 9:30am); Parade
& Festival: 10:00am to 6:00pm
 SFCAT CARNAVAL SPONSORS San Francisco Cultural Arts (SFCAT) and the 2010 Carnaval Festival and Grand Parade is supported by the San Francisco Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund
 And Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
 SFCAT wishes to thank its generous sponsors. (Partial List)
Presenting Sponsor
 Participating Sponsors
  Mategranos
  Bank of The West
 Contributing Sponsors
La Costeña
          Supporters
  Friends
 Restaurant Sponsors
Rosamunde Sausage Grill
2832 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA 94110 Baby Blues BBQ
3149 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94110 (415) 896-4250
El Amigo Restaurant
7090 Santa Teresa Blvd. San Jose, CA 95139 (408) 365-9500 Mezcal: Oaxan Bistro
25 W. San Fernando San Jose, CA 95113 (408) 283-9595 Adelita's Taqueria
1896 Curtner Ave. San Jose, CA 95124 (408) 369-9905 Palacio Latino
2240 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94110 (415) 626-4879 La Victoria's Taqueria
131 W. Santa Clara San Jose, CA 95113 (408) 993-8230
|
