Manasha Garcia, based out of the San Francisco Bay area, is the Co-founder of the Jerry Garcia Foundation and Jerry Garcia Music Arts, LLC. She is also an American music producer and artist known for her work in watercolor and mixed media. Specializing in impressions of landscapes and angels, a few of Manasha’s most recognizable works include, “Butterfly Garden,” “Angels Sing,” and “A Rose in Winterland.” The large selection of her work can be found in the Garcia Weir gallery, alongside the visual art created by her late husband, musician Jerry Garcia.

Art—in all its glorious forms—has been a part of Manasha Garcia’s life since early childhood, thanks to creative blessings from her grandparents. Visual art, specifically, has been a vibrant thread throughout the fabric of her life. As a young adult, she was accepted into the early entrant program at Shimer College, where she studied visual art while in attendance in the Shimer-at-Oxford University program. Equally important to Manasha, though, was her drive to make a difference in the world around her. Most often, these two passions united and she was able to use her talent in visual arts to speak to greater causes.

When Manasha met Jerry Garcia in 1978, the couple instantly connected deeply, establishing a lifelong friendship founded on a mutual creative vision and shared values. Twelve years later, Manasha and Jerry were married in a private ceremony, free of legal convention, at the California home they shared along with their daughter, Keelin Noel Garcia. Art and philanthropy continued to be an important aspect of their lives as a family. Jerry dedicated his 1992 book of art, “J. Garcia: Paintings, Drawings, and Sketches,” to Manasha.

Though Jerry Garcia passed away in 1995, Manasha Garcia and her daughter have ensured his vision—that music and art hold the power to bring healing to the world—continues to live on. Together, in 2014, they curated the first museum exhibition for the late visionary in the ‘Art and Pop’ exhibit in the Centre National d’art Contemporain Le Magasin in Grenoble, France. Following the exhibit, they donated several pieces of art to the institution.

Furthering Jerry’s vision, less than a year later, Manasha and Keelin established the Jerry Garcia Foundation, a music charity program that supports humanitarian, environmental, and artistic causes. They provide gift grants of museum-quality art to like-minded, non profit organizations. To date, they have partnered with organizations like WhyHunger, the Playing for Change Foundation, Reef Relief, and The Guitar Center Foundation, among many others. 

In 2019, Manasha Garcia and Keelin formed the OnlyLove record label to aid in the creation of Foundation projects, including a new compilation album of Jerry’s music, titled, “My Sisters and Brothers,” released in August 2020. All streaming proceeds from the album are being directed toward COVID-19 relief programs around the world.

In addition to her work with the Foundation, Manasha serves as Producer at Jerry Garcia Music Arts, LLC., curating and producing select recordings from the Official Jerry Garcia Music Archive. She also works as a volunteer on the Advisory Board of the Guitar Center Foundation. 

To learn more about Manasha Garcia and her philanthropic work, please read her blog or visit The Jerry Garcia Foundation.