Capital City Arts Initiative

Click here to read. Mark Salinas is the Public Art Program Manager for the City of Berkeley, California and is responsible for the municipal development and implementation of public art policies, procedures, and programming. Salinas is an activist for centering social responsibility and cultural competency within the arts, believing transparent and inclusive practices support a healthy democracy. In 2020, amid Black Lives Matter protests and the Covid-19 pandemic, he created The First Lady Presents…, an online arts education initiative promoting the visibility of artists from non-dominant communities in Nevada. Alongside namesake project partner Nevada First Lady Kathy Sisolak, this statewide program reached national recognition. Mark is a recipient of the 2019 Nevada Humanities Rising Star Award and the 2022 Nevada Governor’s Point of Light Award.