Wednesday, July 16, 2014

UA Homes

At the end of last year I began my second commission from Resources for Community Development. The project was two murals for the UA Homes building in Berkeley as part of the renovation of the facility. Thank you to RCD’s Jessica Sheldon for her inclusion of murals as a cultural element in the building! Thanks also to Cynthia Carrie, UA Homes Property Manager and her staff for their onsite support during the painting.

RCD wanted murals that reflected the multicultural community of the building that includes single adults in affordable units and the Indian businesses on the first floor of the building. Maulin Chokshi, owner of Bombay Jewelry Company, one of the businesses and president of the University Avenue Association, envisioned a mural on the UA Homes building for many years. The renovation presented the opportunity to fulfill his vision. The murals became an instant hit with shoppers who regularly pose in front of the murals. Residents responded warmly, especially because the second mural, on 10th street, extended our presence and conversation about visual representation and community life.

Joaquin Newman helped me with the initial design workshop with the residents in October 2013. Discussions with Chokshi and the other owners, Deepka of Bombay Spice House, and Parnish who represented Sari Boutique and Roopam Sarees provided insider sources of Indian culture. In January 2014, I recruited Nadya Voynovskaya and Rob Gibson to help me paint the walls. We met at Berkeley Community College while I taught the Mural Design&Creation class for Juana Alicia in Fall 2013. Nadya and Rob, veterans of Juana’s class, brought dynamic skills and strengths to the UA Homes project! We finished the UA Homes murals in early June. Rob documented our in-progress painting. I have a presence in the neighborhood with these two murals and the Berkeley Watershed and Community Mural at King Park!

In October 2013, I curated The Tree of Life and Death: Días de los Muertos at the Oakland Museum of California, the 19th the Days of the Dead exhibition. I worked again with Evelyn Orantes, Curator of Public Practice, and Bea Carrillo-Hocher, and together with the artists we created the exhibition in the new Natural Sciences galleries! The Museum’s interdisciplinary context enriches the artists’ Ofrendas. Days of the Dead grew out of the celebration of agricultural practice and a worldview that places humans within the larger natural world – an entry into Natural Sciences. Days of the Dead is a living tradition inspiring changing forms of expression that promote invention and creativity and honoring the dead brings out the beauty and pageantry of the altars and practices – an entry into Art. Days of the Dead reminds us of individuals, their unique experiences, and their relationship in time to us – an entry into History.

The artists that were: Ruben Guzman, Shayna Hirshfield, Miguel Chacon, Nancy Hom, Ernesto Olmos, Karen Seneferu, Samuel Rodriguez, Wendeanne`aka Stitt, Amy George-Cortez and Salvador “El Chamuco” Cortez, Fernando Hernandez (who curated the 15th annual exhibition), Natalia Anciso. The school and community groups were: Bancroft Middle School, lead by artist and teacher Lee Rosenberg; La Escuelita Elementary, lead by artist Jose Enrique Ortiz and teacher Margarita Garcia; community altar for Bobbi Salinas by ECHO (Educational Coalition for Hispanics in Oakland), lead by artist Patricia Rodirguez and writer Lucha Corpi.

Codex to the Future was included in two exhibitions All Good Things at SOMARTS and Big Room For Ideas: Social in Practice at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Shalini Agrawal and Chris Treggiari included the project in a selection of projects that are rooted in community arts. Shalini is the new Director of the Center for Art and Public Life and architectural designer with a strong community vision. Chris is Center for Art and Public Life scholar in residence at CCA.

New projects are in the works!

Stay Creative! Stay Engaged!