When school budgets get cut, many times one of the first things to go are the arts.
Yet numerous studies have shown that children learn a variety of subjects better when exposed to the arts.

As artsusa.org says:

" ... for certain populations - including young children, students from economically disadvantaged circumstances and students needing remedial instruction - learning in the arts may be uniquely able to advance learning and success in other areas."

It's this need for arts education that By Any Dreams Necessary founder and executive director Garrett Naiman saw and is helping to fill.

The Oakland Public Art Program is seeking artists to create new public art work for various projects in parks, plazas, streetscapes and community centers throughout the city, in conjunction with city-funded improvements.

A noted Italian composer living in the US, found reassurance amidst the chaos of contemporary Oakland when he discovered Peralta Hacienda, so he composed a piece about it.

Luciano Chessa's Come un'infanzia for guitar, violins, cello and viola, with theatrical elements, will fill the air and sizzle the stage at Peralta Hacienda Historical Park in Fruitvale on June 11, 3:30-4:30 pm, in a free concert for the community sponsored by the Clorox Foundation.

"I could have not written a piece that would not look, hopeful, at Fruitvale now. Half a meditation on history and half a gentle utopia, Come un'infanzia is a piece on Oakland's infancy, on my infancy, on infancy, period,"

June kicks off another round of Oakland Under $100 - an event created by local crafter and artist Emily Coker.

What's the concept? All the arts and crafts in the show are are priced between $1 and $100. Everything is either made specially for the show, or priced down for the night.