Our Mission
We operate a collaborative and innovative environment for artistic and technological expression. We empower traditionally underrepresented creatives, organizations and communities to access and exploit sources and methods which are outside of their traditional means, providing them with funding, technology services, consulting, and location services.
Services
Access to Unfettered Studio and Creative Facilities
Technology Services
Funding
Consulting
Location Services
Production Facilities
We have a number of studio and residency locations in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Berkeley Hills, the Russian River Valley and pastoral Mendocino County California. They can be used for a variety of relaxing, expressive and interesting projects including audio recording, mixing, video recording, fiber arts, carpentry, robotics, electronics/circuit bending, construction art. They come equipped with a variety of materials, and funding is available for expendables and project materials.
Featured Projects
Currently showcasing many innovative projects. Learn More . . .
Partners
We seek partnerships with other organizations seeking to help artists and cultural organizations.
tech soup
Equipping changemakers with transformative technology solutions and skills they need to improve lives globally and locally.
Arts Council of Mendocino County
Promotes the arts and cultivates creativity to benefit and enrich the lives of residents and visitors. The diverse programs of ACMC form the heart of how we pursue our mission to cultivate creativity in Mendocino County
PLAXA
PLAXA (Platform for Ecstatic Aesthetics) is dedicated to cultivating joy, wisdom, and healing through ecstatic embodied experience.
Beneficiary Partners
120710 Gallery
This 70+ person gallery space in the Gilman District in Berkeley California serves local artists and curators in the Bay Area. Lakes of Wada staff provides monthly assistance with gallery events management and support, technology support, and grant development assistance to ensure the success of this gallery and the artists and curators involved.
Drawbridge / The Art of San Francisco
This 100+ person gallery space is located in the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco. Lakes of Wada staff provides weekly assistance with gallery operations management, events management, technology support, and grant development assistance to ensure the success of this gallery in serving the greater Bay Area.
River Arts
River Arts focuses on playful public participation– generating opportunities for fun hands-on creative activities by everyone in the Russian River community. River Arts also sees the arts and creativity as a growing economic engine for Guerneville. They want to put Guerneville on the map as an arts destination. Lakes of Wada staff provides operations management, events management, technology support, and grant development assistance.
Russian River Historical Society
The Russian River Historical Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, protecting, and presenting the stories of the people and places that make the Russian River communities unique. From family photographs and artifacts to recorded oral histories and video interviews, we collect and share the memories that connect generations. By celebrating everyday lives as well as landmark moments, we help keep the heritage of the Russian River area alive for the community today and for those who come after us. Lakes of Wada staff provides technology support, operations support, grant development, and events management assistance.
Heron Arts
This 150+ person gallery space is located in an industrial and creative neighborhood in San Francisco, between Civic Center and the Mission. Lakes of Wada staff provides infrequent assistance with events management, technology support, and additional assistance to ensure the success of this gallery.
Governance
We are a 501(c)3 not for profit organization which is privately funded. We are not seeking donations at this time. Applications now open for our volunteer Advisory Board. Contact us for more information.
What Are “Lakes of Wada”?
What are the Lakes of Wada and what does it mean about what we are trying to accomplish? The Lakes of Wada are a boundary math conundrum postulated by the Japanese mathematician Kunizo Yoneyama in the early 20th century.
“Build a square island and establish a blue lake on it, bring blue water within a certain distance to every point on the island’s remaining dry land. Then create a red lake, bringing red water even closer to every point on the remaining land, and a green lake bringing green water even closer. Continue irrigating the island more and more aggressively from each lake in turn, you’ll reach the state where the three lakes have the exact same boundary.”
Visually, you can see this boundary math challenge if you build a pyramid of four spherical reflecting balls. Stare into the place where the balls intersect, and you will see a replicating pattern that continues indefinitely, a fractal.
For us, the Lakes of Wada are both a challenge and an opportunity for artists and creative thinkers.
We’re challenging artists to look beyond the limitations of what they perceive and learn to access boundless resources within ever refined spaces.
We are challenging supporters and funders to provide resources and support for an ever expanding group of creative individuals.