Oakland Super Heroes Mural Project (OSH) is a crucial community development effort by Attitudinal Healing Connection (AHC) in Oakland that will engage 105 youth to be change agents in their community. This project aims to resolve issues that plague our city, create over 30 jobs, enhance our neighborhoods and reduce blight. AHC is proud to share the progress of the first large scale mural beautification and revitalization public art project in West Oakland/Emeryville.
The mission and purpose of Attitudinal Healing Connection, Inc. (AHC) is to empower individuals to be self aware and inspired through arts, creativity, and education, making positive choices to break the cycle of violence for themselves and their communities. AHC envisions a world where everyone is whole, safe, loved, educated and valued. For more than 24 years AHC has, with great success, provided access to the arts for schools that lack the resources and provided healing and creative programs to at-risk communities in Oakland through creative expression. AHC’s award winning program ArtEsteem has served as a vital force to creatively galvanize the resources to provide arts integrated curriculum with a focus on social justice and self-development to over 57 at-risk schools and communities since 1995 reaching over 50,000 children, youth and families.
Our Goal
Our goal with the Oakland Super Heroes Mural (OSH) project is to cultivate, educate and engage youth in community issues and solutions through the power of public art.
“It’s great to be a part of this, I mean… I can’t believe my art is going into a mural!!!” Betsy, from Westlake Middle School’s Eagle Village Afterschool Program
The Project Director: Amana Harris
Amana Harris is a leader in the field of community arts and a well respected advocate for the arts in k-12 education. Her newly released book, Self as Super Hero: Handbook on the Creation of the Life-Size Self-Portrait is a testament to her years of experience in arts education and her belief in the power of art to empower and inspire children, youth and communities.
Amana serves as the Associate Director of the Attitudinal Healing Connection, Inc. (AHC), a West Oakland based organization whose mission is to eliminate violence by offering creative and educational programs that uplift the spirit to build peaceful and loving communities for all humanity. She has dedicated 18 years of her professional life to help build and sustain the organization while creating ArtEsteem. As an award winning program of AHC, ArtEsteem has served as a vital force to creatively galvanize the resources to provide arts integrated curriculum with a focus on social justice and self-development to over 57 at-risk schools and communities since 1995 reaching over 50,000 children, youth and families.
Amana has a BFA in Drawing from California College of Arts and Crafts and a Masters in Teaching from the University of San Francisco. She is a professor at the California College of the Arts and engages her students in understanding the impact of historical and current injustices on our educational systems and how the arts can play a critical role in educating, liberating and inspiring children and youth.
