Welcome to La Peña! Promoting social justice & intercultural understanding through the arts since 1975.
Aguacero – Bomba y Plena Workshop‘s performance & interview shooting at Preservation Park, May 2021.
Video presented by La Peña Cultura Center; Produced by Jeremy Allen and Bianca Torres. Special thanks to: Gavin Jones, Duvateen Sound; Raul Varela, camera; Marina Romani, photography; Bethanie Hines, photography; Preservation Park, Oakland; William & Flora Hewlett Foundation. Watch the result of this work here!
The powerhouse vocalist, Destani Wolf forged her own path as an artist, with a genre-defying sound, impeccable vocal prowess, and authentic lyrics. From performing at the age of 15 at the iconic Great American Music Hall, to recording on over 40 albums, to traveling the world as the lead vocalist with Cirque du Soleil’s “BAZZAR,”Destani’s journey is one of verve and vision.
Raised in the artistic haven of Berkeley on her parents’ classic soul and Latin vinyl and the Bay’s rich musical community, Destani began cultivating her signature sound. She later spent time in Mexico, immersed in heart-rending ranchera classics, like those performed by her great uncle, known for his vocals of ranchera songs. Returning to the Bay Area’s underground hip-hop and blues scene, she further honed her singular voice and distinctive Cali-soul sound while recording and composing with world class artists.
Here you will find a selection of photos and videos of some of the events that have been part of La Peña’s Programming over the years. Thank you to all of you who continue to support us and enjoy the best of our local Latin American & Caribbean culture!
Regina Y. Evans is an award winning social justice playwright/actor, poet, entrepreneur, costume designer, installation artist, and filmmaker. Her creative work largely focuses upon the healing of Black girls and women, the historical commodification of the Black female womb, and the fight against child sex trafficking.
She is the Founder of Regina’s Door, 2014-2021, an Oakland, Ca, based vintage store/creative arts healing space for young survivors of sex trafficking, as well as a Co-Founder (with Amara Tabor Smith) of Conjure And Mend, Oakland, Ca, 2018-2021, a sewing salon created for young survivors of sex trafficking to learn the art of costume designing. She is also a member of House Full Of Black Women, a multi site performance ritual project that addresses the displacement, well being and sex trafficking of Black girls and women, Co-Founded by Amara Tabor Smith and Ellen Sebastian Chang.
Ms. Evans is a second generation native of Oakland. California, and has recently relocated to New York City to pursue her social justice playwriting career.
Visual artist, curator, and cultural worker based in the Bay Area. Cece has produced and exhibited work in Cuba, Fiji Islands, Guam, Guatemala, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Nepal, Nicaragua, Norway, Philippines, United Kingdom and throughout the United States.
She has been awarded the Rockwood Institute Fellowship for leaders engaged in the Arts as critical agents of change. She also received the New York Foundation of the Art Immigrant Artist Fellowship, a teaching residency at Café R.E.D & La Botica Espacio Cultural at Xela, Guatemala, and artist residency with Aurora Arts Residency Program and Space in the Philippines, KulArts at SOMA San Francisco and Asian Art Museum. She was recently awarded YBCA 100 in 2020.
The City of Oakland, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, UC Berkeley, and Oakland Museum of CA have commissioned her work, which documents —through the use of acrylic, ink, aerosol and installations— evolving traditions by way of combining folkloric forms, bold portraits and natural elements with urban art techniques.
Cece is currently working as the Galleries Manager for the San Francisco Arts Commission, and traveling teaching and painting with the Trust Your Struggle Artist Collective.
Learn more at cececarpio.com
