Farewell To Kim Arteche, Balay Kreative's Co-creator And 1st Program Manager
While walking thru the various rooms of the SF Mint for Season 1 of UNDSCVRD, I heard a “Pssttt, pssttt!!!” I turn around and see Kim Arteche wearing a duster and in character as a Lola. Little did I know that a few years later this “Lola” would join the Kultivate Labs team.
At first Kim, helped us on the side, helping beef up the art program of the night markets to include mural work at 567 Stevenson, the UNDSCVRD Court, and 985 Folsom. When the opportunity came to apply for a major grant to create a “FIlipino Cultural Center” she stepped up again and help co-create what would become Balay Kreative.
She ran the community engagement program, managed the branding process, and assembled an illustrious group of culture bearers that would later help us form the first ever Filipinx artists grant program and professional development program. Kim laid down not only a strong foundation for a new program area for Kultivate Labs, but also a legacy for other Filipinx artists / administrators to follow: hustle hard, think out of the box, work in community, and dream big.
In her 2 years at Kultivate Labs she also raised over $500,000 in grant funding never made available to the Filipino community. In addition she created the Balay Kreative Studios Pop-up during the pandemic to ensure we had new spaces for artists to return and create new work in SOMA Pilipinas after the pandemic. We’ll miss Kim dearly and her presence will still be felt in our organization in her new role as an advisor to Balay Kreative.
