The commission, inactive since 2011, will advise city officials on policy affecting the arts, and advocate for the Cultural Funding Program (CFP), which awards $1 million to local artists and nonprofits annually. Its revival marks another step in the city’s fitful efforts to buoy the arts.

The appointees are working artists, nonprofit professionals and policy experts including Theo “Aytchan” Williams, director of Carnaval arts group SambaFunk; Jennifer Easton, public art director at Bay Area Rapid Transit; Diane Sanchez, a philanthropy consultant; and Kevin “Kev” Choice, an educator and musician who’s worked with Goapele and Lauryn Hill. (Full list below.)

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf praised the new commissioners and their connections to the city. “The importance of arts and culture in creating a vibrant and just city is shown by the breadth of experience of the commission members who are dancers, musicians, curators, cultural strategists, educators, non-profit administrators, lawyers, publishers, writers, storytellers, community organizers and civil engineers,” she said in a statement.

Williams of SambaFunk, one of the Afro-diasporic dance and drumming organizations based in the city-owned Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, said he’s pleased to represent performing arts often overlooked next to ballet and the symphony. Like most local arts figures with an eye on City Hall, Williams also sees a gap to close between officials’ praise of Oakland’s cultural life and investment in its perseverance. “So the main thing is more funding,” he said.