The Week in Words...
My iPhone didn’t have any memory left, and my digital
camera’s battery was dead, so this latest jam-packed residency in the Coachella
Valley wasn’t as heavily photographed…so lets go ‘old school’ and use our
words.
After the spectacular performance that the AMFM music
collective gave the East Valley Voices OUT LOUD last week in Coachella I wanted
to get a better sense of where they wanted to go with their music. We had a long and rich brainstorming session
and from that have started to explore ways that they can grow their audience
and share their voices throughout the entire valley and maybe even out to
LA. Some cool things are in the
works…stay tuned, and check them out HERE.
Guadalupe
When I attended the Virgen de Guadalupe festivities in
Thermal and Mecca back in December I was taken by the richness of color, the
diversity of depictions, and the drama of the rituals I witnessed. Later, in conversation with Bill Shinsky from
the Coachella Valley Arts Center, we discovered that we each had a strong
connection to the Guadalupe image as a conveyer of meaning – both my mother and
grandmother are named Lupe, and Bill had a powerful personal experience with a
depiction of the Virgen at an art exhibition many years ago. We met for lunch last week and talked about
collaborating on a Virgen de Guadalupe art/performance/lecture project that
will take place at CVAC in September.
Artists, scholars, performers, writers, and the clergy will be invited
to explore, discover, and share ideas about this most iconic and significant
image. Stay tuned for details, and a
call for proposals. See the CVAC website HERE.
East Valley Repertory Theater
Carlos Garcia is retiring!!! This beloved theater educator
from Desert Mirage High School in Thermal will turn in his keys in a couple of
weeks, then take a well-deserved break before booting up the next round of East
Valley Repertory Theater activities.
Crisalida is helping the EVR plan for a Ten Minute Play Festival to take
place in late September. New and
established playwrights will be invited to submit proposals for a two-character
play set in a taqueria (taco shop).
Selected plays will receive a production at the play festival. The plays can be in Spanish, English, or one
of the indigenous languages spoken in the valley (such as Purepecha), and will
be directed by professional theater artists. All productions will be videotaped
for archival and study purposes. A
series of writing workshops will be conducted during the summer to help new
writers prepare their ideas and scripts.
Again, stay tuned for details! Check out the EVR on facebook HERE.
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| EVR Artistic Director Carlos Garcia. |
East Valley Voices OUT LOUD
Take a look at the earlier posts about the East Valley
Voices OUT LOUD event we held at the CULTURAS Rancho last week. Based on the success of that event, and the
wonderful collaborations that made it possible, we are planning to have a
series of other East Valley Voices OUT LOUD concerts featuring the creative
voices of local residents. Please tell
me if you know someone (or ARE someone) who has a special artistic gift and is
willing to share it – our project is all about that. The next EVVOL will be in September –
location TBA. Right…stay tuned.
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| Spoken Word artist Arturo Castellanos performing at East Valley Voices OUT LOUD |
Miracle Worker
Every once in a while the universe answers your prayers and
all you have to do is say “yes”. This
was the case in meeting Moises Huerta, the new Crisalida Project Manager. During these past two weeks we have spent a
lot of time together at poetry readings, workshops, auto shops, taquerias, the
McCallum, at my house, and lots of other places. It’s been a steep learning curve but Moises
has shown himself to be a capable and compassionate man who completely
understands and supports the Crisalida mission.
It is a HUGE relief to have Moises on the ground managing the day-to-day
workings of the project. Whew.
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| Moises in front of the McCallum theater last week. |
Meet Oscar Guevara...
Every once in a while the universe…wait! Twice in one week?! Yes.
It is with great pleasure that I can tell you that Oscar Guevara will be
working with us not only as a visual art workshop leader, but also as Community
Engagement Facilitator. One of his
primary roles will be making sure that our van is used to the utmost. Oscar comes with a perfect set of skills to
do this job – maturity, passion, organizational skill, automotive know-how, and
a personal understanding of the creative process. Again, whew!
Meet Irene Rodriguez...
One of the requirements of the James Irvine Foundation grant
was that we build strong evaluation procedures into our process. Every once in a while…yes, THREE times! Irene
Rodriguez was referred by Louisa Castrodale from the Palm Springs Unified
School District, and after a 3 step interview process I have determined that
she will do an excellent job in providing a clear and useful assessment of the
Crisalida project. Irene lives in
Coachella and has 25 years of arts administration and program evaluation
experience, and currently works at the Palm Springs Art Museum. Triple whew.
The Crisalida Community Art Van
Murphy’s Law be damned, we did it, the Crisalida van is up
and running, and traveling to a neighborhood near you very soon! We had a soft launch at the CULTURAS Rancho
last week, and another showing at the McCallum Theater. Keep an eye out for our “mariposa-on-wheels”.
CVHC contract
Crisalida has entered into a formal relationship with the
Coachella Valley Housing Coalition to provide arts workshops and performances
to low income housing projects for farmworkers and their families. Joe Mota and Nicole Sanchez have been
terrific partners and I look forward to a long and fruitful collaboration with
them and their property managers throughout the East Valley. Check out their wonderful programs and projects HERE.
Meet Leonardo Espinosa
One of the first and most impactful images that came to mind
when we began dreaming up the Crisalida Community Arts Project was to have
young artists sit with elders, to hear their stories, and to create art works inspired
by them. Sometimes dreams come true, and
last Thursday was one of those remarkable days. Crisalida artist Francisco Rodriguez, brought
his Praise Poem to the Las Casas housing project in Coachella to read it to Mr.
Leonardo Espinosa, a veteran of 40 years working in the fields and shoulder to
shoulder with Cesar Chavez. We
commissioned Francisco to write the poem based on two hour-long interviews we
conducted with Leonardo last month. For
the special event Leonardo invited his close friends and Joe Mota, Nicole Sanchez, Minerva and Maria of the
Coachella Valley Housing Coalition to sit with him as Francisco brought to life
his brilliant and generous poem. There
were more than a few tears…I was beaming with joy for the emotional power the experience
clearly had on Leonardo and Francisco both.
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| Snr. Espinosa listening the the poem. |
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| Francisco Rodriguez reading his poem at the Las Casas housing project community room. |
Francisco Rodriguez
Poema a Leonardo Espinoza
Un león duerme en su nombre
Y repleto de espinas esta su
apellido.
Guerrero de mil batallas, que se
encuentra retirado.
Usted que vive del recuerdo,
Que al soñar despierto emprende un
viaje
Hacia la juventud y la historia.
Aquellas memorias permanecen,
Esos tiempos no son más.
Pero aun así, el pasado, sin
importar que tan lejos este
Se debe olvidar.
Pues hasta el más feroz huracán jamás
se olvida
Que nació como suave brisa.
Suaves eran sus jóvenes manos
Sus herramientas consistían del
lápiz, papel, números y letras
Al trabajar en su país natal.
Pero aun así, existía la necesidad.
Aquel joven al soñar despierto
emprende un viaje
Que lo lleva a un mundo de sueños.
Esas manos que fueron suaves, se
volvieron de piedra
Debido al trabajo en el campo.
Manos duras que nunca olvidaron
La ternura al acariciar a su esposa
e hijos.
En los años, usted llego a conocer
el lenguaje
De los arboles.
Ellos agradecidos, le concedieron
sus ricos frutos,
Cítricos excéntricos.
Muy pocos llegan a tener el
privilegio
De caminar entre gigantes, pero
usted
Llego a estar de lado a lado con
uno.
Un hombre ordinario, que logro
grandes hazañas
Alcanzando la inmortalidad entre los
campesinos.
Un hombre que motivo a multitudes
Con una frase simple.
Simple, pero que puede desbaratar
montañas.
El “Si se puede”.
Una enseñanza que inspiro a
diferentes generaciones.
Regresando al presente
En este bello día, bajo la cobija de
la noche
Rodeado de gente misteriosa,
Yo también sueño despierto.
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