Sonder Art Collective was founded by Em Erce and Mia Asuncion, two friends who grew up together in the Bay Area and have been part of each other’s lives for nearly fifteen years. Creativity has always been something we’ve shared—through different seasons, different mediums, and eventually, different cities.

The word sonder describes the quiet realization that every person around you is living a life just as vivid and intricate as your own. It’s a feeling that has stayed with us, and one that came to define what we wanted this collective to be: a place to notice people, hear their stories, celebrate what they create, and bring them into one another’s worlds.

As our lives carried us to different coasts, Sonder grew with us. Today, Em leads our Bay Area chapter while Mia leads our New York City chapter, connecting the two places that have shaped so much of who we are and how we see creativity.

Sonder is, in many ways, an extension of our friendship—a love for making things, bringing people together, and believing that something special can happen when creative people are given the space to truly know one another.