Dear Friends,
What a year! I anticipated this year to be a bit of a rocky road paved with unchartered territory…me turning 60! I had built it up in my head that this milestone birthday was something negative, a reminder of how old I am and how quickly I got here. As it turns out, this trip around the sun was not my biggest challenge of 2024. Packing up 56 years of my childhood home would be the hardest thing I have had to do. As insurmountable as it appeared at the sheer thought of it, I wasn’t convinced that it would be feasible to remove a lifetime of treasures, tokens, fond memories, sad memories and endless “stuff”. But with the selfless generosity of the best friends in the world, we got to work.
Our family home was not just a house. It was a studio where my parents created a lifetime of artwork. It was a museum of works of their friends, their mentors and a few famous folks. It was a library of a thousand books, books used to teach students, to enchant readers, to enlighten those who sifted through the pages of splendor. It was a color wheel of orange, yellow and green Fiestaware, pink and green depression glass and colorful metal tin toys. It was a space for young and old students to work in an inviting space of creativity and to be inspired by the collaboration of fellow artists. It was a time capsule of decades of love letters, photographs, home movies. It was 56 years of sentimentality. But the ultimate decision was to sell the house and invite a new family to breathe fresh air into the space. I struggled with how to dismantle this masterpiece puzzle and where to put all the pieces while respecting the legacy of my folks. I found that if I employed local artisans and crafts people to spruce up the joint I could respect the creative nature of our family.
First, we started with truckloads of items donated to the Oakland Museum & the Crocker Art Museum. Books were donated to a local gentleman who took them to libraires and schools. Oakland based companies were employed to refinish hardwood floors, paint and update the interior. Landscapers from the neighborhood beautified the garden. All the while, serendipity moments kept happening. The stained-glass panel in the bathroom door needed repair. I found a local artist, Kerbi Urbanowski, who dismantled the pieces and added glass she sourced and built it back together better than its original condition. But the magical moment came when I saw her response in seeing mom’s beaded handbag collection which reminded her of her grandmother. She was a stranger to me who was transformed into family. I invited her to choose a bag as a keepsake. My mom was all about sharing and she would be so touched!
The last part was to share the million collectables with others by way of an estate sale. The Portuguese men I hired could have been my dad’s family! Respectful and wonderful and looked like my grampa! We opened the house up for 3 days, inviting neighbors in to peruse the collection of items which were loved by my family but deserved to be enjoyed by other families. Although bittersweet, it was comforting to see heirlooms being shared. Our neighbor Dr. John (who was the doctor who treated my mom) bought our dining room rug and told me his family will put it in their dining room as a reminder of my folks. A childhood friend, whom I used to babysit, purchased the slot machines for his kids. Incredibly rewarding to watch people find items to add to their like collections. The moment that made it feel like I was doing the right thing was walking up the street to my car on the last night in the dark and the lighted kitchen of a neighbor caught my eye…I saw my mom’s treasured colorful bowls beautifully displayed in her window.
I made a promise to myself to only sell the house to a family who was artistic, imaginative and open to welcome in the creative energy our home had to offer. With the help of local real estate extraordinaire Martha Hill, she found a family who will continue to paint, create, write and talk about the benefits of art. It is with pure love and thanks to those who helped me through the most physically and mentally difficult year. It took a village, and I am grateful.
Spotlight
We did GOOD this year!! In 2024 we expanded our scholarship programs with Cal State University East Bay and UC Berkeley Art Practice Department with additional awards presented to students practicing art. They are selected by a panel of department heads and professors. At CSUEB I was blown away by the caliber of talent and the devoted leadership of the professors. This spring the following recipients were presented with the “Mel Ramos Foundation Award” (2) to Dalia Enriquez Jiminez and Rachael Songer and the “Leta Ramos Foundation Award” to Lauren Borden at the “Juried Student Award Ceremony” on April 16th in the beautiful courtyard at CSUEB (Cal State Hayward to those of us old folks!) The awards certificates are accompanied with a financial gift.
Dalia Enriquez Jiminez
“Caravaggios Medusa x Dalia”
Lauren Borden
“Lost’
Rachael Songer
“Neo-Retro: Vibrance Unvield”
In addition to the “Juried Student Awards” the Ramos Family Foundation sponsors 2 students per year to apply for a financial grant. The student must be enrolled in the Art or Education Department and meet the academic good standing requirement. The cash grant is awarded to a student needing financial assistance and in exchange, the student will teach 4 art lesson plans of their choosing in the Hayward Promise School District. This program has been so successful with appreciative teachers who can expose their students to an arts education with no cost or extra work for them. The foundation covers the cost of materials, and the student teachers provide instruction.
And the BIGGEST news in 2024 is we established the Ramos Scholarship in Art Endowment. The funds to seed the endowment will be invested to grow in perpetuity to support students in need of tuition assistance for decades.
Our Grant Recipients for 2024
UC Berkeley Art Practice
Two students were the recipients of the “Ramos Family Foundation Award” at the exhibition “None but the rain” on April 10th held at the Worth Ryder Art Gallery on the Berkeley campus. The recipients received a monetary award and were beautifully recognized during the exhibition.
Julia Kerley “I lost something in the hills” is a sculpture made from wooden house frames and sedimentary rocks sourced from the artist’s childhood home. Her piece “Watering my building blocks” is a glazed ceramic and cinderblock fountainhead with running water.
Isaiah Acosta was recognized for his piece “Somethings Last a Long Time” which is a glass aquarium exhibiting Modelo beer cans untouched by the decomposition process.
Diablo Vista Middle School
Students Crafting Compassion: Creative Outlets in the classroom. Through interactive discussions, role-playing exercises, and reflective journaling, they will be encouraged to step into the shoes of those around them, exploring diverse viewpoints and empathizing with different life situations.
Cristo Rey De la Salle East Bay High School
Funds will be added to an endowment to convert an empty basement space into a stellar Art & Music room. Art supplies, musical instruments and instructors will be included in the budget.
Latitude High School
Mind Matters: Supporting teen mental health. Art supplies and materials will be used to transform the therapy room into a calming, sensory-friendly space where students can self-regulate, decompress and thrive. “The art supplies will give students a creative outlet to express their emotions. In my experience, many teens struggle to articulate their feelings verbally, and art can serve as a bridge for self-discovery and healing. By integrating these materials into my therapy practice, I hope to create a holistic support system that addresses emotional needs but also fosters resilience”
Green Valley Elementary School
“Through engaging in art activities, students will have the opportunity to explore different mediums, experiment with colors and textures, and develop their artistic skills. Research has shown that engaging in art activities can have a positive impact on cognitive development, emotional well-being, and overall academic performance. By incorporating art into our curriculum, we hope to enhance the learning experience for our students and provide them with a well-rounded education”
Natomas Park Elementary School
Exploring, discovering, and experimenting through art has great value in education. “Art experiences and experiments lead to gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skills. I also find that my students are motivated and highly engaged when they are creating art in my classroom.”
Kaiser Early Childhood Center
Teaching supplies for speech therapy & autistic children. “Autistic folks oftentimes maintain special interests- it could be Eric Carle’s Brown Bear, it could be trains, it could be music, or it could be art”
The Aspen Institute
DEAI Consortium- Advancing Next-Gen leaders in visual arts. A national collaborative effort of Artist-Endowed Foundations large and small that commit to hosting college students from backgrounds under-represented in the visual arts for paid summer internships/fellowships, helping them gain a crucial toehold in the visual arts profession.
Dear Rochelle Leininger,
Thank you so much for donating to my project for art supplies. My students love creating art and fun supplies make everything even better. They are going to be so excited to hear that they will be getting new markers that they haven’t used before. I am grateful for donors like you who believe in me and my students! You are truly appreciated.
Dear Rochelle Leininger,
Thank you so much for your generous donations. Your generosity has made it possible for our class to integrate art into our learning. These materials will give our class the opportunity to be collaborative and creative in our learning. We are so appreciative of your support and thank you for giving to our classroom.
Good Tidings We Bring
To expand the exposure of our mission and the efforts we are accomplishing, we donated lithographs to be displayed in public areas for all to see! We also donate every year to museum art auctions, primarily the Crocker Museum and the Oakland Museum, who use the proceeds to maintain the museum’s ability to allow free access to all visitors.
“Superman” hangs in the office of Congressman Robert Garcia in the House of Representatives. He supports progressive education policy, supporting working families, climate crisis and fighting to expand essential rights for women and the LGBTQ+ community globally. “Wonder Woman” hangs proudly in the Portuguese Consulate General’s office in the embassy in Bratislava, Slovakia. My dad’s family came from the Azores, Portugal.
New lesson plans added to our Virtual Education Center! Please visit and share with teachers, educators, home-schoolers and parents who could take advantage of free teaching resources. vec.crockerart.org
Our family foundation relies primarily on donations from like-minded friends and family who believe in the importance of arts, education and supporting those keeping creativity available to all.
We have improved the ease in donating by adding PayPal and credit card options on our website. ramosfamilyfoundation.org/donate
Checks are graciously accepted, payable to: “Ramos Family Foundation” and mailed to:
Ramos Family Foundation, 229 Stetson Drive, Danville, CA 94506
This holiday season our message is to Find the Good any way you can and to spread that joy to someone who needs it most. A simple gesture of kindness can be the greatest gift to someone who is struggling or feeling overwhelmed. Colored pencils to a Kindergarten teacher, learning toys to a speech pathologist, tuition assistance to a first-generation college student, an encouraging word or just a smile can make a meaningful difference. The grants and donations we made this year, thanks to ALL of our donors, directly changed the lives of many students and teachers and for that I THANK YOU!! And to my guardian angels who tirelessly helped me pack artwork, sort mom’s treasures, organize books, lift heavy boxes, take loads to donation drop-offs and storage units, let me cry, made me remember the good…I’m forever grateful.
With love and appreciation,
Rochelle