Introduction

In collaboration with the San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture (SDCAC), Mixte crafted a year-long media and branding campaign titled Far South/Border North: Artists and Cultural Practitioners in Community (FSBN). This initiative beautifully illustrated the transformative power of local artists and cultural practitioners in addressing critical issues such as public health, social justice, climate action, and civic engagement across San Diego and Imperial Counties. Using public relations, digital marketing, and strategic communication, we amplified the voices of these artists and spotlighted the impact of their work on community health and connection. 

Collage of event photos showing attendees mingling, dancing, playing instruments, and viewing colorful art displays.

Our Objectives

To transform community engagement with the arts through the FSBN initiative, Mixte designed a strategic approach with these key objectives: 

  • Elevate and Celebrate Local Talent: We focused on spotlighting local artists and cultural practitioners, painting them as key contributors to enriching the underserved communities within the California Healthy Places Index. 
  • Boost Public Awareness: Our strategy included coloring the public’s perception about the Far South/Border North projects, deepening their understanding and engagement with pressing issues.
  • Inspire Community Support for the Arts: We encouraged residents to appreciate and support the arts as a vital brush in painting a brighter, more equitable future for their communities.

The Outcome

Mixte’s focused campaign painted a vivid picture of how strategic marketing and media efforts can create connections between artists, cultural practitioners, and the communities they serve, ultimately leading to:

  • Artist Visibility Enhanced: Our efforts raised the visibility of local artists. With placements like op-eds and opinion pieces published in the San Diego Union-Tribune and Western Cities, we raised awareness of programs while maintaining control over messaging, tone, and substance. The project received extensive media coverage, being featured 53 times and accumulating over 240,000 coverage views. 
  • Increased Public Engagement: Our targeted social media campaigns significantly increased public awareness of FSBN, resulting in thousands of social media views, over 700 uses of the campaign hashtag, and more than 2.5 million views of video content that shared the campaign’s value and impact. 
  • Strengthened Community Support: By connecting art with community engagement, Mixte successfully supported the live symposium and expo, Public Impact Day. Our efforts helped to achieve full reservations and a waiting list to attend the symposium and ensured a consistent flow of participants at the expo. Additionally, we secured live media coverage for the events.