Fall 2026 All-Team Retreat Recap
At the end of Summer, our team gathered at the ARTS Center for an All-Team Retreat to prepare for the upcoming season. We started off the morning with an introduction from our new Executive Director, Marisol Alvarado. If you haven't met her yet, be sure to check out our blog post introducing her to the community, "Announcing Our New Executive Director." She walked us through her vision for the upcoming work, including her leadership style and approach to leading ARTS. She also explained her priorities, expectations, and goals for the organization, expressing excitement about building on the team’s existing expertise and looking forward to meaningful growth.
“I am excited to work with this incredible team to continue to create safe, inclusive places and programming, build and nurture a welcoming space where people love to belong and share power with youth and community, ensuring youth can influence their own learning.”
Leadership Characteristics
Marisol led the first team activity of the morning by having us envision the various characteristics of a teacher or a leader who made us feel supported, seen, and capable. After a few minutes, we shared with other teammates about why those teachers and leaders mattered and how they showed up for us, rediscovering that within this community of care that we foster at ARTS, we all share a similar foundation of meaningful leadership qualities that have shaped our core values and beliefs, making us take notice when these leaders have recognized and nurtured the creativity they've observed in us, or the support they've graciously offered during times of change and transition.
Icebreaker: Get to Know Each Other
The leadership activity was the perfect segue into the "Get to Know Each Other" Icebreaker led by ARTS 4 Justice Program Coordinator Amanda Castro and Facilities Coordinator Aileen Sanchez. We moved outdoors to the communal space outside of the ARTS Gallery near Kimball Park, forming two concentric circles and facing our teammates in preparation for the questions we would be answering, such as, “What was your first job, and what did you learn from it?” and “What were your childhood dreams? Do they reflect where you are now?” Team members from different departments and programs across the organization were given the opportunity to learn a bit more about one another, bridging differences with a shared set of community goals and visions for a creative future, both for ourselves and the young people we would be mentoring in the upcoming season.
Envisioning the Fall 2026 Theme:
Dreams and Aspirations
Following the morning conversations about creative leadership qualities, career paths, and childhood dreams, ARTS Director of Programs & Partnerships Olimpia Vasquez Ojeda revealed the theme for the upcoming Fall Session: Dreams and Aspirations, a theme not only connected to the Healing-Centered Engagement CARMA principles as one of its pillars, but also a theme proposed by the young people in our Community ARTS Program. She then led a visual writing activity using Dixit cards, where surreal, dreamlike imagery served as inspiration for the poems we wrote, centered around the phrases “I Am,” "Where I Come From,” and “I Dream.” The exercise helped frame our thinking and brainstorming for the rest of the day as we discussed ways youth-centered dreaming could be brought to fruition when given the opportunity.
We were inspired by Professor Shawn Ginwright’s 5 Parts of Healing-Centered Engagement, particularly by helping young people “set goals, develop [their] voice and encourage agency.” We revisited past student work in which this type of dreaming and goal-oriented envisioning was already emerging in projects made available through ARTS’ various programs. For example, during the Youth Gallery Takeover at the Front Arte y Cultura, the Community ARTS-led student curators in their exhibition, “Will You Still Hold My Hand?” included works by ARTS 4 Justice teens at Global Academy, demonstrating how their installation represented daydreaming about good memories from the past, inviting viewers to reflect on how those memories can be used to help us achieve our dreams for the future.
Messages such as “Sueña grande”/“Dream big” can be found in murals led by ARTS teaching artist Sheena D. Rowling, and imagery showing that the size and scale of your ideas aren’t just a dream but an achievable goal can be seen in murals led by ARTS teaching artist Kelsey Kenny throughout Bayfront Charter High School. With the theme already embedded in so much of the youth’s creative work, the upcoming Fall Session will focus on how teaching artists can continue to guide their students’ creative agency and, furthermore, ensure that youth voices are centered in their projects.
Breathwork to Balance
After lunch, People & Culture Coordinator Monica Bañuelos guided the team through a grounding breathwork activity, sharing insights from Heart Centered Connections (HCC), a practitioner certification course they are currently enrolled in through the University of San Diego. The exercise invited us to check in with our nervous systems using the Nervous System Resilience Meter, which ranges from withdrawn to fight-or-flight to socially engaged. Through movement, breathwork, and mindfulness, we explored how these practices can help bring us closer to a calm, present, and engaged state.
The conversation also connected directly to the young people our teaching artists will be working with this season. We reflected on how students may enter class in very different emotional states, and how simple grounding exercises like these could help create a more supportive environment before an art lesson begins. By helping students feel more centered and ready to engage, teaching artists can better support focus, learning, creativity, and connection in the classroom.
Afternoon Art Activity
Towards the end of the day, teaching Artist Lerida Armendariz led a hands-on art-making project in which we created our own Dream Pillow, using felt pieces to symbolize our dreams and aspirations. We cut shapes from the felt, creating an illustrated story of the dreams we're working to manifest. We wrote down our dreams for the upcoming season and placed them inside, along with pillow stuffing, before sewing it shut with embroidery thread. It was a great way to end the retreat and, as Lerida put it, a wonderful “physical reminder of the magic we are working towards.”
Dreaming the Future into Being: What’s Next
As we celebrate 25 years of ARTS, we’re taking time to honor the people and moments that brought us here, including the students, families, artists, and educators who have shaped our story. This Fall 2026 All-Team Retreat gave us a chance to reflect on where we’ve been, recognize where we are now, and imagine what comes next. Rooted in our shared mission and community of care, we’re excited to keep strengthening our connections and deepening our impact together. We invite you to join us for our upcoming Día de Muertos & Undas Festival on Friday, October 30th, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Come experience what remembering feels like and take part in dreaming the future into being with our creative community.