Mission & History

Our Mission

To ensure that the arts are a fundamental part of the lives of all children.

Our History

MOCHA began in 1989, when two Oakland residents, Jill Vialet (a stockbroker) and Mary Marx (a molecular biologist), decided to create a place where children from all backgrounds could come together to make and celebrate art.

Initially, we managed public art projects and children's exhibitions throughout Oakland. In early 1990 we opened our first small gallery in Old Oakland, then relocated several times as we grew, and in 2001, we moved to the current studio spaces in Swan’s Marketplace on 9th Street.

Since the early 1990s, our programs have included artist residencies in public schools, exhibitions of children’s art, and studio art workshops, field trips and camps.

Highlights of our programming during our 20-year history include:

• ASCEND K-8 School: With Oakland Youth Chorus and Alameda County Office of Education, MOCHA co-founded this small, public, arts-centered  school in Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood. ASCEND integrates the arts into all aspects of learning. MOCHA continues to lead artist residencies at ASCEND, and a MOCHA teaching artist works full time with students and staff to develop arts-based curricula and projects.
• Discover Art/Discover Learning: This three-year residency, teacher training, parent involvement and curriculum development module helped schools across Oakland integrate art into the school culture in ways that created strong connections between art and core curriculum areas. All of MOCHA's professional development programs draw on this highly regarded model.
• Project Yield: Through this California Arts Council-funded program, we led mural-making, documentary photography, painting, poetry, dance and other arts workshops at Cole School in West Oakland. In 2003, MOCHA was recognized with a Coming Up Taller Award from the President's Council on Art and Humanities for this program. Project Yield served as a model for our arts-based youth development programming, which now takes place as part of afterschool collaboratives at sites throughout Oakland.
• Learning without Boundaries: MOCHA partnered with Luna Kids Dance, the Marcus Foster Institute and Oakland Ready to Learn to train Kindergarten teachers to integrate art with literacy lessons. This program served as the model for our Little Artists Outreach Program, which places MOCHA teaching artists in low-income preschools and child development centers throughout Alameda County.
• Children's Hospital Artist in Residence: This program was inaugurated by MOCHA in partnership with Children's Hospital Oakland. Today, the artist in residence is employed directly by the hospital and works full time to bring art activities to young patients and their families.