Live Mariachis at Galilee Center

By Moises Huerta

The Galilee Center in Mecca was a happening place this Thursday June 16. It was our first time to experience the talent of the Paul Lomeli Mariachi Group. As you can imagine the music inspired lots of Mexican emotion and lots of pride. It is not easy to ignore the desert heat but after a while it was all about the music.

It is our pleasure to have Paul Lomeli and his mariachis become part of our effort to spotlight the East Valley and all the talent that has too long gone ignored. Paul and some of his group are recent graduates and they seem to have a grasp on the value of being bilingual and bi-cultural. It is reflected in their excellent mariachi performance.

Here are some images of the day we had at the Galilee Center.

These guys killed it!
Puro orgullo Mexicano...

Completa la oracion:   Antes de morir, quisiera... Quiero que me recuerden por...  La leccion mas importante de mi vida es...

 Oscar making the sentence completion post-it boards. Dude is a total artist even when he prints letters.

(Below) Our photographer Jorge Perezchica moving in for the right shot.

Crisalida Is On The Move!

By Moises Huerta

Lots going on!
The big theme this week is Live Mariachi Music. Paul Lomeli's Mariachi group will be providing the ambience for most of our coming events.
Thursday is a big day. Crisalida will be at the Galilee Center in Mecca providing Live Mariachi music from 3:30-4:30 right before the food distribution. That evening our own Maria Galaviz will begin a new poetry workshop in Spanish in Indio at the Coachella Valley Art Center which will run from 5:00-8:00 pm.
The Crisalida Art Van will soon be visiting the Indio Senior Center and also Martha's Village in Indio. I had the honor of meeting Felicitas Lugo of ISC and Elena Rosenthal of Martha's Village. Plans are set for Crisalida to be at the Senior Center July 30th to celebrate all July birthdays. We will be providing Live Mariachi music for this event.
Plans are also in the works for Crisalida to come to Martha's Village, provide Live Mariachi music, and set up the Art Van for the residents and visitors to enjoy. We were received with much enthusiasm and we hope to incorporate other events as well at both locations. We hope this is just the beginning of another East Valley collaborative effort.
Thank you for all the likes on Facebook and for being a part of a growing East Valley movement.

Rolling in the East Valley

Unrelated to the events but I love this picture

Writers, Singers and the U.S. Poet Laureate!

Writers, Singers and the U.S. Poet Laureate!

It has been a remarkable week in Crisalida-Land.  Tuesday we were at the Crisalida Poetry Writing Workshop led by Maria Galaviz in the Mecca neighborhood of North Shore right on the Salton Sea.  Thursday we set up our mobile art studio/music venue at The Gallile Center in Mecca, and Friday we hosted the new Poet Laureate of the United States, Juan Felipe Herrera, for a rousing two-hour Skype poetry reading/open mic.

The East Valley is sharing its voice, a lot!

Poetry Workshop - North Shore

Maria asked me to give a workshop to her dedicated students on effective techniques for reading poetry aloud.

Writers doing what writers do, and with team work.

Mano a mano, voice to voice.

The Salton Sea from the North Shore.

Gotta say the students were terrific.

See the class, see the sea...

Maria Galaviz brings home cooked meals to each of her classes, makes for a delicious time.

Tools of the trade...

The poet speaks...

The teacher reads...

Getting down...literally.

It was Mrs. Garza's last class (seated in center with white shirt), so we sent her off in style.

Galilee Center Performance

Another dream came true on Thursday.  Back in September I volunteered at the Galilee Center Food Bank in Mecca and had the thought that one day we would have a Crisalida Van packed with art, a sound stage, and offer music and joy to the weekly gathering of folks who wait for hours for their baskets of groceries.  Though the heat was 115 degrees, and the van didn't yet have A/C, our Crisalida Team of Moises Huerta and Oscar Guevara made magic happen.  The van looked great, Oscar's artwork drew a crowd, and our guest artist, Jesus Galaviz, sang his heart out. 

Delighted that Mitch Gershenfeld, the CEO and President of the McCallum Theatre came out to Mecca to see the project in action.

Jesus Galaviz sang original songs and some popular favorites.

Take note of the butterfly...and the eyes.

Take note of the butterfly...and the cheeks!

The scene...

Visitors inside the van with Oscar Guevara and his remarkable artwork.

Tribute to Juan Felipe Herrera at Coachella Valley Arts Center

Crisalida Community Arts Project raised the roof last night at the Coachella Valley Art Center in Indio in praise for our new U.S. Poet Laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera.  Thanks to local artist/photographer Jacklyn Garcia Lopez and East Valley Rep founder, Carlos Garcia we were able to bring Mr. Herrera to the community via Skype.  An enthusiastic crowd of poets, artists, musicians, readers and thinkers gathered to celebrate the first Latino poet laureate.  The deal was if you read an Herrera poem you can read one of your poems...and it worked beautifully, about a dozen poets brought Herrera's words to life, and then got to present their work the crowd.  Once again big thanks to the Crisalida team for making this happen!  Special thanks to Francisco Rodriguez, Mariana and Isidro Zepeda, Moises Huerta, Luis Fausto, Bill Shinksy, Edgar, and Oscar!  Also, big thanks to Sofia Enriquez who brought her stunning visual art to show in/out of the Crisalida van.  These are just a few images...more on the way.

The Giant, (aka Mario Garcia) rendered Mr. Herrera's poetry with a hiphop flavor.

Red sun over Indio.

Notice Mr. Herrera on the screen - he was wonderfully generous, genuine, and fun to hang with.

An Exciting Time In The East Valley

Blog by Moises Huerta

     Hello everyone, once again our new Crisalida van rolled up; this time for a block party celebrating the wonderful work of the Coachella Valley Housing Coalition. The celebration took place Thursday June 4th around 6pm.
      It was a real heartwarming pleasure seeing everyone there but meeting the Lemus family at their open house was really a moment of true pride. I brought a guest who was so touched by the housing project he teared up as he reflected on how life changing this is. And he is so right.
     The event began with the local ballet folklorico setting the scene for a great evening with lots of color and joy. Then we had speeches by many representatives from Coachella Valley Housing Coalition, USDA, and from homeowners who have participated in the housing program. It is obvious that this is an exciting time for the East Valley Community.
     Afterwards we were all treated to a delicious dinner and refreshments. As a final treat we had the pleasure of seeing the talented younger ballet folklorico dancers from Desert Hot Springs.
     As you will see in the pictures there were fun activities for the children too.

Fantasticas fotografias

Ballet Folklorico is such a beautiful sight of color at any event.

Mexican pride on display!

             

“A good home, and a good neighborhood, builds a strong community,” said Single Family Housing Program Director, Ron Tackett, from USDA.

The Lemus Family proudly opened their home to all visitors; the place

  

is beautiful and amazingly furnished.

                                          A Team of Women from USDA

This man (and family by his side) stood up to express his gratitude for the housing program and for all the positive effect it has had on his family.
                                                                   

                                                      Fun times for the little ones too.

Thank you Francisco Rodriguez for being so generous with your time.

Who's enjoying this more the kids or the adults?

Thank you Coachella Valley Housing Coalition for an awesome job one more time!

Crisalida brings their storytelling project to the Galilee Center in Mecca, Calif.

Crisalida brings their storytelling project to the Galilee Center in Mecca, Calif.
By, Lenin Silva

Residents of Mecca, Ca lining up at a food distribution event at The Galilee Center on the morning of January 8th, 2014

On the morning of January 8, 2015 the team at Crisalida set up their second Storycorps inspired project at The Galilee Center in the city of Mecca, Ca. One of the head directors of the facility Claudia Castorena allowed the Crisalida team to set up a listening booth during a food drive at the center.

Lupe Torres (left) representative from The Galilee Center and Gina Chapa (right) discussing the event before people arrived

 The team showed up at 11:00AM to set up and get acquainted with the setting. Around noon people from the surrounding community began to show up and receive a ticket for the food drive that was about to take place.

Crisalida team members (left) listening to Mecca residents (right) experiences and stories at The Galilee Center

There were many people present at The Galilee Center who spoke with us and shared some of their stories and experiences. Unlike the team's similar endeavor at the Synergy Festival, which took place earlier during the concluding months of 2014, most people at The Galilee Center did not consent to having the audio and/or video devices on while they shared their stories. Between the waiting period when people showed up and when the food was actually distributed the Crisalida team did however have the opportunity to talk with residents from the community of Mecca.


Special thanks to Claudia Castorena, Lupe Torres, and all the kind folks at The Galilee Center who allowed the Crisalida Community Arts Project into their facility. 

The Day of the Virgen de Guadalupe in Thermal and Mecca - WOW!

The Day of the Virgen de Guadalupe in Thermal and Mecca - WOW!

I'm rushing out to a new play reading by the wonderful Carlos Garcia at Coachella Valley Arts Center in Indio so quickly putting up these pix in the meantime to share the world I'm discovering.  Thanks to Gina Chapa for being my guide!!

THERMAL

Procession led by folks from PUEBLO UNIDO through two mobile home parks where they are working to provide better living environmental health.

Sister Gabi, instant friend!

MECCA

Procession and festival in honor of the Virgen de Guadalupe -- amazing community spirit!!