Oasis For Girls' Studio Oasis is a week long arts program offered during SFUSD’s Spring Break for middle school girls. Studio Oasis workshops have included jewelry and clothing making, community mapping, field trips to the Exploratorium and Aquarium by the Bay, and cooking classes. Workshops are led by the Arts/Life Skills Program Coordinator as well as volunteers representing various artistic fields.

The Oasis For Girls Arts Apprenticeship is a summer program for up to 15 young women ages 14-20. Participants get to work closely with Oasis staff and a local artist or a local community based arts organization. The Arts Apprenticeship offers young women the opportunity to explore interest in visual or performing arts, create their own piece, and perform for their friends, family, and community members.

The 2009 Arts Apprenticeship brought R(evolutionary) Love to the community--"She is Free because Love Liberates" was a collaborative program between Oasis For Girls and Brava! For Women in the Arts. Eleven girls met weekly with artist Irene Faye Duller to learn Spoken Word and Hiphop Theater and participated in political education workshops on love and social change. The program culminated in two final action projects and an all Oasis program, collaborative event called “Sisterly Love.” The girls executed a wonderful 40-minute performance in which they articulated themselves as fierce, talented and intelligent young women. The action projects sought to create social change around misconceptions of teenage romantic love and the possible negative consequences of those relationships on the lives of young women of color.

The 2008 Summer Arts Apprenticeship was a second collaboration with Jo Kreiter and Flyaway Dance Productions in an aerial dance and political education program. The program centered around the theme of truth telling in the media and the effect of national policy on the human body. Fourteen young women choreographed dance sections and explored the expressive potential of their bodies while advocating for democracy and an end to the war in Iraq. Throughout the summer, girls examined how the war has come into their high schools, via military recruitment and ROTC classes, and learned about the connection between the federal government’s depletion of school resources and exorbitant military spending. They participated in a march against the war in Iraq across Golden Gate Bridge and created a Youtube video documenting the experience. The program culminated in two successful performances to audiences of over 50 people at the counterPULSE Theater. Participants received a monetary award for successful completion of the program.

The 2007 Summer Arts Apprenticeship program brought together diverse young women for eight weeks to receive hands-on introductory training in a range of visual art forms such as stenciling, painting, graffiti and mural making alongside interactive workshops exploring identity, sexism, culture and media representation of women of color. Throughout the summer, participants gained exposure to the work and profession of community artist, Ana Fernandez. The apprenticeship culminated in the creation of individual final projects that examine “sacred” elements of their own cultures and lives. These original works were debuted at an opening art reception at the Bayanihan Community Center for friends and family and featured in a month-long exhibition planned by participants and Oasis staff. The work was also exhibited at Compasspoint Nonproft Services Gallery in April 2008 and currently adorns the walls of our program space. Artists received a monetary award for their full participation, completion and success.

In 2006 Summer Arts Apprenticeship, thirteen girls participated in "The Seed Project.” The project was a collaboration with Jo Kreiter and Flyaway Productions. Girls examined the strength of the female body, guided by company members and informed by Flyaway's creative process and researched on genetically modified foods. Girls learned Flyaway's performance repertory, created their own dances, and performed. Students also designed and carried out an advocacy project informed by the Organic Consumers Association.