Alena Museum

What Alena Museum does

Alena Museum is a non-profit cultural institution founded in 2016 and headquartered in Oakland, California, with a second location in Atlanta, Georgia. The organization is dedicated to celebrating and preserving the artistic expressions of the African Diaspora through exhibitions, artist residencies, educational workshops, community events, and public art installations. Its primary audiences are Black artists and visionaries from the African Diaspora seeking dedicated space to create and showcase work, and Black community members seeking cultural connection and heritage education. The museum has engaged with over 30 artists locally and globally and runs a self-guided Oakland's Black Legacy Walking Tour as part of its cultural preservation work.

The organization operates through a community-led, event-driven go-to-market model. Core offerings include immersive exhibitions (e.g., NASSI {REBIRTH}), artist residencies with expanding stipends and live-in facilities, space activations, public art installations, and educational workshops. A flagship initiative is the R3 Collaborative (Remember, Resist, Reclaim), a coalition with Black Cultural Zone, Black Terminus, and Eastside Arts Alliance focused on reparative justice in East Oakland. Marketing is conducted primarily through organic social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) and word-of-mouth community referrals.

The museum's revenue model relies on donations, monetary contributions, and asset donations (property, vehicles), supplemented by earned income from space rentals and artist residency program fees. No public pricing is disclosed. The organization is currently running an Alena Evolution/Eviction Campaign, indicating displacement from its current Oakland space and a need for donor support to fund relocation. The institution is independently operated with no parent company and no venture capital funding.

Name

Alena Museum

Legal name

Alena Museum

Website

https://alenamuseum.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Alena Museum is a non-profit cultural institution in Oakland and Atlanta that supports African Diaspora culture through exhibitions, artist residencies, educational workshops, and community space activations for Black artists and community members.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Heritage Services

NAICS

Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Cultural Centers & Community Cultural Organizations (BPAGAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA), Arts Education & Community Arts Programs (BPAGAHAC), Indigenous, Ethnic & Folk Arts/Heritage Organizations (BPAGAHAI), Public Art, Arts Councils & Grantmaking Programs (BPAGAHAH)

Keywords

• Cultural preservation programs
• Artist residency programs
• Community art exhibitions
• Diaspora cultural heritage
• Community space activation

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Support: The museum relies on monetary donations from supporters to fund programming, the eviction campaign, moving costs, and operational expenses during displacement periods.
2. Space Rental: The museum offers space rental opportunities for community events, projects, and engagements at their Oakland and Atlanta locations.
3. Artist Residencies: The organization hosts artist residencies featuring stipends, live-in facilities, and artist resources and development through their community network.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Alena Museum is a cultural sanctuary that curates exhibitions, hosts artist residencies, runs educational workshops, and produces community events focused on preserving and advancing African Diaspora artistic expression. It also operates the R3 Collaborative, a coalition-driven reparative justice initiative for Black Oakland, and provides space rental for community gatherings.

Product overview

Alena Museum is a cultural sanctuary dedicated to celebrating and preserving the artistic expressions of the African Diaspora through exhibitions, artist residencies, educational workshops, and community events. The organization operates across multiple locations (Oakland and Atlanta) and offers a Black Futurist platform for space activations. Its core offerings include immersive exhibitions and art installations, an expanding artist residency program, community events, and space activations. The R3 Collaborative is a key initiative focused on reparative justice through Remembering, Resisting, and Reclaiming Oakland's Black legacy, complemented by the Oakland's Black Legacy Walking Tour. Together, these products form an ecosystem for cultural placekeeping that honors, protects, and propels Black culture forward.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• R3 Collaborative: A collaborative reparative justice experience for Black Oakland, focused on Remembering, Resisting, and Reclaiming Oakland's Black legacy through art, activism, and community action.

Products and services

• Exhibitions and Art Installations Immersive exhibitions and art installations featuring Afrofuturistic themes, interactive installations, and community-engaged public art that addresses systematic racism and Black liberation through creative expression. Targeted at the African Diaspora community and broader public audiences.
• Artist Residencies Residency program providing space for artists to develop projects and engage with community, including expanding live-in facilities, stipends, and artist resources through the organization's community network across Oakland and Atlanta locations.
• Space Activations Dynamic space activations featuring art installations, performances, and community gatherings that challenge narratives, reclaim space, and envision liberated futures through a Black Futurist platform and lens.
• Education and Workshops Educational workshops and programs focused on cultural preservation, creative expression, and community empowerment for the African Diaspora.
• R3 Collaborative A collaborative reparative justice initiative focused on Remembering, Resisting, and Reclaiming Oakland's Black legacy through art, activism, and community action, with partners including Black Cultural Zone, Black Terminus, and Eastside Arts Alliance.
• Oakland's Black Legacy Walking Tour Self-guided walking tour (Part 1: North Oakland) highlighting historically significant locations in the Black community including Marcus Books, It's All Good Bakery, Original Merritt College, Lois the Pie Queen, and Your Black Muslim Bakery.
• Space Rental Rental of cultural space for community engagements and project development, with dynamic spaces for art, culture, and community events at Oakland and Atlanta locations, contactable via [email protected].

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Black Cultural ZonecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOakland-based Black cultural institution committed to protecting, preserving, and uplifting Black communities through art, activism, and spatial justice. Collaborative partner in the R3 Collaborative coalition.
• Black TerminusminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partner in the R3 Collaborative coalition focused on Black community advocacy and cultural preservation in Oakland.
• Eastside Arts AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOakland-based Black cultural institution and key collaborator on community events including the Malcolm X Jazz Festival. Partner in the R3 Collaborative coalition.
• R3 CollaborativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Remember Resist Reclaim (R3) Collaborative is a coalition-powered movement led by Alena Museum and partner Black cultural institutions for reparative justice in Black Oakland. Focuses on East Oakland between 80th and 90th Street.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Black Cultural Zone: Oakland-based Black-led organization dedicated to preserving and uplifting Black communities through cultural programming and spatial justice. Direct peer and R3 Collaborative co-convener with overlapping mission and target geography.
• Northwest African American Museum (NAAM): Seattle-based museum preserving and sharing the history and art of African Americans in the Pacific Northwest. Closely comparable mid-sized community museum model with exhibitions, residencies, and education programs.
• Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture: Baltimore-based museum focused on African American history and culture with exhibitions, education, and community programming. Comparable mid-sized community-rooted museum with similar mission scope.
• Eastside Arts Alliance: Oakland-based Black cultural institution focused on art, activism, and spatial justice. Direct peer and active coalition partner within the R3 Collaborative, with overlapping programs in festivals, exhibitions, and community organizing.
• Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD): San Francisco-based museum dedicated to interpreting the African Diaspora through art, culture, and history. Direct peer in mission, audience, and programming model, though at significantly larger scale and with a permanent paid facility.

Others

• Akonadi Foundation: Oakland-based foundation funding racial justice movement work, including the Belonging In Oakland fund that backs Alena's R3 Collaborative. Ecosystem enabler and funding partner, not a direct competitor.
• East Bay Community Foundation: Regional community foundation serving the East Bay with grantmaking in equity, arts, and place-based work. A funder of the Belonging In Oakland fund and a relevant ecosystem peer for capital and partnership sourcing.

Broad incumbents

• Studio Museum in Harlem: Premier institution dedicated to supporting Black artists through its artist-in-residence program, exhibitions, and permanent collection. Comparable residency program model but at a much larger scale and with a major endowment.
• National Museum of African American History and Culture: Smithsonian museum in Washington D.C. dedicated to African American life, history, and culture. Operates at national scale with federal funding and serves a comparable cultural-preservation mission, though with vastly more resources.
• California African American Museum (CAAM): State-supported African American museum in Los Angeles with permanent collections, exhibitions, and educational programming. Broader incumbent in the same mission space with greater scale, institutional funding, and audience reach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/alenamuseum
• Facebookfacebook.com/alenamuseum
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/alena-museum

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Alena Museum