Pajaro Valley Arts Gallery showcases artwork made using fire
“Out of the Fire” is the latest art exhibit to showcase at the Pajaro Valley Arts Sudden Street Gallery in Watsonville. More than 55 artists are in the show with artwork that was created or affected by fire, such as a kiln, welding, blown glass and other methods.
Susana Arias and Judy Stabile curated the show that includes jewelry, ceramics, forged metal, porcelain and more.
“One of the things that is intriguing about working with fire is that you never know how the final work is going to turn out,” Stabile said. “You have an idea, you have a process — but sometimes the process fails, or other times the material fails and changes the outcome.”
And in that unpredictability, often new ideas emerge, Arias added.
Fire brings these sculptures to life. PHOTO: Tarmo Hannula
“When the overall artwork changes and you might like it and you learn something new in working with fire,” Arias said. “We had a very strong response in our call for artists. The majority of the artists are local.”
The theme of the show emerged from the idea that when working with fire, it does not always yield the planned results.
“I think that’s why artists continue to work in the medium, everything is different every day,” Stabile said.
Arias said watching the artwork come through the door as the show was being hung last week surprised her.
“It’s one thing to see photos of the works, but as they were carried into the gallery some of them took on a new life,” she said.
Stabile and Arias said that curating the show took on the task of grouping works not just by processes but by color and form. They said the show was a large departure from previous ones in that many of the works are three dimensional.
“In some cases a clay piece, a bronze and a glass work played off each other well,” Arias said. “It was very different from arranging paintings on a wall.”
Stabile said that Arias continues to put an enormous amount of energy into the continuation of PVA.
“She has put a lot of time into this over the years at Sierra Azul, working with Hedwig with the Sculpture Is shows,” Stabile said. “She’s an amazing person that has given a lot to PVA. She works from her heart. This is her passion.”
If You Go:
“Out of the Fire” runs from Aug. 8-Sept. 24. The opening reception is Aug. 13 from 2-4pm at 37 Sudden St., Watsonville. For information, call 722-3062.
Cries of “Union power!” rang out across Winchester Boulevard in the 91-degree Fahrenheit heat, as the actors’ strike arrived in Los Gatos.
On July 20, the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) members picketed in front of Netflix’s corporate headquarters.
The relevance of Silicon Valley as an artificial intelligence incubator that’s bringing change to entertainment pay models was not lost on the demonstrators.
“This is our livelihood,” said Rick Haffner, a 63-year-old from Cupertino who’s been in SAG-AFTRA for some two decades, urging tech executives to work with actors on a new funding model. “Silicon Valley, take the lead!”
On May 2, the Writers Guild of America went on strike, after talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down.
WGA waged a highly coordinated campaign that managed to shut down the majority of shoots in Los Angeles. Other, more limited, actions took place further afield.
SAG-AFTRA, the union representing 160,000 performers, joined the WGA’s movement on July 13, opening a new front in the war over compensation rules in the streaming era.
On July 19, Netflix announced it was phasing out its basic ad-free plan for American viewers, the Verge reported.
The company, which recently started cracking down on password sharing, increased its subscribers by 8% and now has 238.9 million global users, according to collider.com.
Nevertheless, it failed to meet investors’ expectations. Wall Street was hoping for the company, which was birthed in Scotts Valley, to deliver $8.3 billion in revenue—but it came up short with $8.19 billion (and $1.5 billion in profit), the website said.
It was on the heels of an 8% share price tumble that actors beat a path to its Los Gatos campus.
The location was an obvious Bay Area target, explained Kathryn Howell, president of the San Francisco-Northern California SAG-AFTRA local.
“There aren’t as many (studios) here,” she said, noting while Pixar and Lucasfilm are nearby, both are subsidiaries of Burbank-based Disney, whereas this is Netflix’s global home base. “Netflix is one of the big companies that sits on the other side of the table.”
Anthony Abate, from Sonoma, held up a paycheck for a penny from NBC Universal to illustrate how bad residuals can be—and why he feels the protests are vital.
“It’s about spreading the wealth,” he said. “Trickle-down economics has never worked.”
Abate was irked by a proposal from the studios that would see background actors hired for a day, to be scanned and recreated digitally in future scenes for no extra money.
Robert Chestnut, a 60-year-old Carmel-by-the-Sea resident whose credits include “Days of Our Lives,” “Airwolf” and “Bumblebee,” also joined the picket.
“We used to have network stations, movie releases and cable,” he said. “Now that we have streaming, everything’s changed.”
Part of the problem, he explained, is that Netflix isn’t transparent about how many people watch its shows.
The actors want 2% of streaming revenue, but it’s impossible to figure out what that figure is if studios keep this information to themselves, Chestnut said.
Chestnut’s message to Netflix’s board of directors chair Reed Hastings, who co-founded the company and has made his home just over the hill in Santa Cruz County?
“Get your head out of your ass and support our locals, our trained professionals,” he said.
Neither Netflix nor Hastings replied to requests for comment.
The National Association of Counties (NACo) on July 21 voted unanimously to urge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) to change the way it funds flood control projects for economically disadvantaged communities.
Currently, the ACOE uses a 1:1 benefit-cost ratio when figuring the feasibility of a project, requiring one dollar of savings for every dollar spent.
That has hurt communities such as Pajaro and Watsonville, since the ACOE formula asses agricultural land as a zero.
Under that same formula, higher-income communities with million-dollar homes take precedence over those with lower-value properties.
Under the recommendation from NACo, the ACOE would implement changes to its cost-benefit analysis to offer equitable flood protection for disadvantaged communities.
The resolution carries no requirement for the federal agency to implement the changes. But the unanimous concurrence from NACo—a national organization that helps elevate local issues to a national level—will carry weight for federal lawmakers when they consider the issue, says NACo spokeswoman Rachel Serrao.
The new policy was proposed by Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors Chair Zach Friend, and received unanimous support from the board four years ago.
“For decades, Santa Cruz County led the fight for improved flood protection along the Pajaro River but were challenged by federal funding formulas that favor wealthier communities,” Friend says. “Now that we are on the verge of finally moving into the design and construction phase, we do not want to see other communities subject to high flood risk left behind.”
Locally, efforts to prevent flooding are set to get a big boost.
The Pajaro River Levee will soon receive a $400 million upgrade by the ACOE to offer 100-year flood protection, with work to begin in spring 2024.
In addition, the county’s Zone 7 Flood Control District has invested millions in flood prevention projects over the years to increase water flow and prevent new breaches on the Santa Cruz County side of the Pajaro River.
This includes the bench excavation project in 2012, during which work crews removed 300,000 cubic yards of sediment along 7.5-miles of the Pajaro River and its tributaries to improve flow and prevent flooding.
Question of the Week: “What should be done about the Otter 841 affair?”
841 the otter is a playful otter’s daughter. One day when she was feeling bored, she stole a local surfer’s board. Her playground is the surf, but does that mean she owns the turf? Is this the otter’s water? We turn to you for what to do.
“The otter owns the ocean, she is meant to be there, she should be free to play where she lives. Don’t try to capture her.”
—Natalie McCowan 21, Student“I want to take her home and give her a hot pink surfboard and name her Georgie Girl!”
—Amélie Thams, 12, Student“It’s about more than one otter. The red tide is toxic algae that is affecting the sea animals’ food, and they are acting up because of it. Let her do her thing, because more are coming ”
—Daniella Blomquist, 19, Musician, with Lily“Otters were here before us so she deserves her freedom. She’s just being a territorial creature. We should make her a mascot, and she can have her own logo like on an Otter Pop!”
—RJ Castro, 50, Chef“She needs to buy a surfboard like everyone else! But seriously, she could be trying to play. Many animals play cross-species so we could play back. If she is captured, give her a place to play.”
—Mark Fullerton, 64, Student“I think we should set her free. It’s her home, not ours.”
World premieres, percussion superstars and a farewell to Ellen Primack
“Without music, life would be a mistake,” said the German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche more than a century ago.
And I agree.
Arguably the invisible tissue that connects us each to each, music magically weaves networks among musicians, composers and listeners.
Once interconnected, we remain that way. We always remember favorite songs, or the first time we sat in a darkened theater, swept away by the beauty and power of live orchestral music.
Nothing, certainly nothing on a digital screen, can compare with that enchantment, which is why August is my favorite month in Santa Cruz. For two weeks, thanks to the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the town will be awash with brilliant music, much of it as new as tomorrow.
The appeal of the festival lies partly in its power base of outstanding musicians, many of whom return year after year to perform, rehearse and surprise each other.
MASTER MAESTRO Music Director Cristian Măcelaru says new music should be treated with the same reverence as the classics. Photo: RR Jones
“The Cabrillo Festival is different than other festivals,” Music Director Cristian Măcelaru told me. “Because the intensity with which we fulfill our unique mission informs the quality of the music we present. I believe that new music needs the same kind of attention as we give to masterpieces of the past.”
And Maestro Măcelaru’s attention draws from an international reservoir of colleagues and protegés able to finesse new compositions and breakthrough performances.
Among musicians, networking is a self-validating prophecy. For example, a renowned teacher mentors gifted pupils who in turn showcase works she creates for them at the Santa Cruz festival. Or an innovative emerging composer might come to the attention of the festival director at a workshop halfway around the world, and then, voila, arrives to bring that spark, that something new and extraordinary, to the Civic Auditorium. Thus are connections created and renewed.
For the next two weeks, from the free open rehearsals starting on July 30 through the resounding final evening on August 13, we will hear a potent stream of new music live in the Civic Auditorium.
Taking center stage this season is percussion: A galaxy of objects that can be hit, shaken, scraped and struck, some come with their own sonic voices—bass drums, maracas or cymbals. Others are tuned to the composer’s desired pitch—such as timpani, vibraphone and xylophone.
Oscar-winning composer Tan Dun’s percussion concerto, The Tears of Nature, will be performed on August 5 by virtuoso soloist Beibei Wang. During the festival’s second week, acclaimed percussionist Colin Currie returns to Santa Cruz with an arsenal of drumming instruments that include pans, buckets and oven racks to perform Julie Wolfe’s street-inspired concerto, riSE and fLY.
EYES OPEN Composer Jennifer Higdon’s second opera ‘Women with Eyes Closed’ debuts in Philidelphia in September. PHOTO: A. Bogard
And just to make sure we’re paying attention, Opening Night Friday August 4 spotlights master percussionists Svet Stoyanov and Matthew Strauss performing the West Coast premiere of Duo Duel, an electrifying double concerto by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon.
Higdon, a prolific and in-demand artist, whose second opera—Women with Eyes Closed, debuts in Philadelphia, September 2024—will be in residence once again during this year’s festival.
“I always have fun at Cabrillo,” she told me, the warm backbeat of Tennessee in her voice. “I get to work with musicians I’ve worked with in other orchestras, and because the town itself is so much fun it’s nice to catch up with some of them in a more relaxed atmosphere.”
During the cloistering of the pandemic, Higdon says she “wrote and wrote,” including the Duo Duel destined for Cabrillo. “I think the isolation we were all feeling in the early months created a certain introspection, a need to reach out. So I wrote a more melodic percussion concerto, using only pitched instruments. The piece moves between a marimba, vibraphone and six timpani—it’s very energetic,” she laughs.
Higdon believes that the rare double concerto will “give people a chance to see percussion virtuosity—it looks like a choreographed dance with the two players working together.” The visual experience should be as exciting as the electrifying sound. And the composer admits that this dynamic tour de force contains “some of the fastest work ever written for percussion.”
DRUMS THE THING Cabrillo Festival percussionist Svet Stoyanov spearheads performances featuring lots of percussion. PHOTO: rr Jones
One of the virtuoso percussionists who’ll perform Higdon’s epic concerto, Duo Duel, is Bulgarian native Svet Stoyanov. “It transcends speed,” explains the marimba specialist about Higdon’s concerto. “It’s much more about flow, and at that point, I believe craft turns into art.”
Considered a marimba virtuoso, Stoyanov maintains that he really plays “a lot of instruments in the percussion family.” And he also maintains that live performances of these instruments are especially fun for audiences. A world music aficionado, Stoyanov is adept with Bulgarian native instruments. “In fact, I’ll have one with me at Cabrillo and may be able to demonstrate a bit.”
Being a good musician, according to Stoyanov, requires a performer to become versatile with the language of more than one instrument. “I’m in love with universal possibilities of sound and textures—it’s truly one of the most beautiful things about percussion, what makes it so very rich to the listeners as well.”
Percussionists like to joke, he says, that they are “all closet rock drummers.” But with the idea of a concerto for percussion, “people have no idea what to expect. That’s both comical, and I think very exciting to the listener. If you go to a concert you’re literally going on a journey. You know you’re going to experience something you’ve never had before.”
The great thing about working with Higdon, he admits, was that she “agreed to actually explore how the beautiful and melodic lines of a piano concerto could be applied to the art of percussion.”
Stoyanov speaks for himself and his colleague Matthew Strauss when he says, “We love Jennifer Higdon. We love her music. And we’re really grateful to Jennifer who loved the idea of creating an emotionally expressive percussion piece and embraced it so very wholeheartedly.”
At the end of the day, Stoyanov believes that the piece he’ll be performing is about “exploring how beauty can be applied to the idea of percussion.” He is committed to a renaissance in percussion as an art form.
“You know, when people hear about the percussion concerto they’re excited. They don’t know exactly what to expect, but they know there’s increasing depth in the musical potential for these instruments.” And having a celebrated composer dedicated to creating a double percussion concerto, “changes not only the present,” Stoyanov contends, “but the future of our art form as well.”
The Cabrillo Festival 2023 season is by no means confined to percussion. In addition to a farewell commission to honor Ellen Primack, by Festival favorite Anna Clyne, Pulitzer-prize winning composer Kevin Puts has composed an Orchestral Concerto inspired by Amanda Gorman’s Hymn for the Hurting. Composer-in-residence Dan Caputo opens the festival’s Finale with a texturally complex piece, Liminal, which explores the feeling of that elusive realm between sleeping and waking. Originally scheduled for the 2020 season (canceled due to COVID), Caputo’s creation of ambient layers came about from his lifelong interest in soundscapes and musical behavior across many genres.
Sound, space and atmospheric abstractions underpin his omnivore appetite in musical exploration, and Caputo cited Gyorgy Ligeti’s avant-garde orchestral music and electronica—“the layering of all these sounds”—as one of his compositional points of origin. “I’d say I was sort of influenced by contemporary classical music, which I studied as a doctoral student, and then by the experimental electronic world, people like Kate Soper, and Daniel Lopatin of Oneohtrix Point Never. I listened to a lot of experimental work.”
Liminal began, Caputo explains, with “treating the orchestra as one large body, using it to make and vary single gestures. Off-balance rhythms yet synchronized gestures,” he describes the compositional strategy, as opposed to writing for individual instruments or sections and then putting them all together.
The score ended up requiring specialized score symbols inserted at the top of the pages of music, to help synchronize the communication between conductor and musicians. “I always try to pre-plan,” says Caputo, a professor of music at University of Southern California. “But as the music gets created I let the ideas go where they want to go.” The piece we’ll hear at the opening of the festival’s final concert is the last one composed by Caputo entirely for live orchestra. “It was my last non-electronic composition.”
Caputo, like many musical artists, found himself stuck in quarantine during the pandemic, composing in solitude. Working electronically provided the solution, as he recorded himself playing, and re-recording, engaged deeply in sound experiments of shimmering layers and aural development, joining live instruments, such as clarinet or violin, with electronic accompaniment. Now working on large-scale EP-length works for streaming platforms such as Bandcamp and Spotify, Caputo looks forward to Santa Cruz. “I’ve never been to the Cabrillo festival, but of course I have lots of colleagues who have enjoyed performing here.”
Bringing the festival to its conclusion on August 13 will be the World Premiere of Anna Clyne’s Wild Geese, commissioned by the festival to honor longtime Executive Director Ellen Primack, who steps down from her role this season.Primack, 62, has employed her extraordinary tenacity and passionate belief in the power of performance to build the Cabrillo Festival for Contemporary Music’s influence in the expanding world of new music. After 32 years as Executive Director, she will turn over the reins of the festival in October to H. Riley Nicholson, currently the Executive Director of the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas.
Primack characterizes the Festival’s “two-fold personality” as both international and yet small. The depth of the orchestra, drawing participants from all over the country, as well as their willingness to stretch out of any known comfort zone, is, she smiles, “one of our strengths.” As is access—“especially rehearsal access, which allows audiences to experience the entire living, breathing process.”
Ellen Primack has characterized her work as “match making:” joining staff, musicians and donors in open-hearted, open-minded support for adventurous contemporary music. “One of Cristi’s strengths,” she reminds me, “is that he’s committed to fostering programs that are relevant, and that has led to a diverse soundworld. At the festival you’re going to like something,” she grins. “And you’ll probably fall in love with at least one offering.”
Open rehearsals are a gateway drug, Primack likes to explain. “Inviting us to slow down and be inside live music. The festival is so much about the live experience. The audience itself has a role in the actual performance.” She’s convinced that even younger audiences realize that “live music is distinctive. The other thing about new music is the diversity of voices. And the young composers we bring to the festival speak their language.”
Free family concerts help to bring in the next generation and those live exposures are the memories we build upon, that stay ever after in our lives, Primack believes. “We have a $20 youth ticket for patrons 30 years of age or younger, for any of the performances,” she reminds me, with a gleam in her eye. “Early experiences help us feel comfortable with music, and our obligation is to tell the stories, to allow people to have a new vocabulary filled with energy and a sense of joy.” And that energy has fueled Primack’s enviable track record of finding support for the commissioning of more than 50 new pieces for the festival orchestra since 2006, including work by Philip Glass, John Adams, Mason Bates and Jennifer Higdon.
“The festival is thriving artistically, and this seemed like a good time for me to step down, to find more time for family and friends.” While stepping down from her role with the Festival, Primack is nowhere near retiring. She’ll help with the transition to a new Executive Director, as well as continue her arts consulting. “I’d like to rebuild the arts cohort in our community, sharing ideas, brainstorming. And building leadership.” Leadership is something Ellen Primack knows about.
Don’t miss the bounty of rehearsals and concerts at this year’s Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. The world will be listening! July 30-August 13, at the SC Civic Auditorium 307 Church Street. For tickets visit cabrillomusic.org or call 831.420-5260, x5
I appreciate the Good Times’ invitation to address issues raised in Sandy Lydon’s July 11th and 12th Santa Cruz Sentinel commentaries on Cabrillo’s naming decision, to run alongside new commentary I understand he has been invited to share here.
Mr. Lydon and I both care deeply about this college and the communities served, especially those who’ve faced discrimination. We’ve both been recognized for work to elevate people historically marginalized and oppressed; Mr. Lydon for his activism supporting Asian immigrant communities in our region, and me for equity and civil rights work supporting LGBTQ people, to name just some of our work.
Cabrillo, in fact, is where I first learned about activism. I attended Cabrillo from 1994 to 2002 while working fulltime as a preschool teacher in Ben Lomond. Cabrillo presented me such rich, forward-thinking perspectives, far beyond any I’d been exposed to before. It’s where I first learned concepts of white privilege and whitewashing of history. It’s where I learned anti-bias education, and that “intent” does not exempt one from “impact” when causing harm, even if that harm was unintended.
This is the “Cabrillo way” as I learned it and is what grounded my commitment to social justice.
The “Cabrillo way” Mr. Lydon described in his July 12th commentary differs. His takes Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo off the college’s signage to discuss his nuances and complexities, but then posts overgeneralized and convenient definitions of JRC on our website and puts him “back up” only to promise annual reflection and reexamination. My “Cabrillo way” suggests that if in that process we learn the impact of the name is harmful to any of our students, we have a responsibility to address that impact, not just the original naming’s intent.
I must admit, I shared Mr. Lydon’s views when this request was first presented. I’d hoped that as we explored the namesake, we’d find that who he was and how the college came to be named after him warranted keeping the name. But the very ideologies I learned at Cabrillo the college helped me understand our responsibility in separating the college from Cabrillo the man.
It is undoubtedly distressing for Native and Indigenous students to attend a college named for a man who gained immense wealth and power through slave labor resulting from the conquest of Indigenous Mexico and Central America. A man who set the stage for the colonial conquest of California and the subjugation of Native and Indigenous peoples who lived in this region for centuries, their ancestors.
At the onset, I committed to holding equity as central to this process, ensuring all students feel welcome, have a sense of belonging and thrive. While I heard many good people share many valid reasons for not changing the name—including Sandy Lydon—I also heard the stories of Native and Indigenous people suffering from transgenerational trauma and injustice, exacerbated by our college’s name. Others heard this suffering as well.
After a near three-year educational process that Mr. Lydon participated in, survey results illustrated that when people learned about Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and the harms caused from our college carrying his name, support for changing the college’s name increased. This, alongside all we learned throughout our educational process, informed our Name Exploration Subcommittee’s ultimate report to the community, its recommendation and the six-to-one majority governing board vote to change the college’s name.
Now that we know the name Cabrillo does continuing harm to members of the college’s public, many believe we have a responsibility to correct that harm by separating the name from our college. Clearly, Mr. Lydon sees this differently, as do those in our community voicing strong opposition to changing the college’s name. Some feel more time is needed to consider potential new names. There are now calls to pause this process so that our leadership can seek more public input.
Perhaps pausing is necessary—though I cannot decide that alone. But pausing will only be effective if everyone commits to truly listening to each other, respectfully. It should also center the voices of those harmed by the current name, and thoughtful dialogue about what qualities matter in a new name. That’s how we uphold the “Cabrillo way” as we move forward.
Adam Spickler is a Trustee on the Cabrillo College Board of Trustees. He has worked in nonprofit leadership and in state and county government since 2002. He is also a proud Cabrillo College graduate.
It’s Been Bass-Ackwards
By Sandy Lydon
Listen to it! It’s echoing throughout every corner of this county. Everybody’s talking about Cabrillo-the-college, Cabrillo-the-guy and the histories of each. Even folks who live off the Information Grid, enjoying their newsless lives, are finally hearing about the Cabrillo Name Thing. In fact, if we want to escape it, we can’t.
At the beginning it was a simple either-or choice, but since the naming subcommittee introduced five possible replacement names, it has swollen to seven choices. Support groups have arisen for all seven possibilities. Any day now I expect to see a group on a Highway 1 overpass (the Cabrillo Highway, BTW), waving signs urging motorists to “Honk if you love Cajastaca!”
THIS is the conversation we should have had before the Board voted to remove the college’s name on November 14, 2022. It has gotten a little strident and personal, but in the main it has been educational, even laugh-out-loud funny.
I believe a lot of the shrillness and stridency is born out of desperation caused by a looming deadline of Aug. 7. Trustee Adam Spickler and I are writing feverishly side-by-side, each trying to get in one last shot before the deadline.
I suspect that Trustee Spickler will bring up things that I’ve written or said in the past, and I’ll return the favor.
Spickler wrote a heartfelt letter published in the July 22 Sentinel apologizing for using the phrase “old white person.” To use such a phrase while combating racism is counterproductive. We older folks, defined by the Federal government as people over 40, are members of a protected class, just as are the Indigenous people he vigorously supports. We were hurt by the cavalier manner our opinions were dismissed on November 14. Fighting discrimination against one group by denigrating another divides the community and, in my opinion, is just plain wrong.
Had the Cloak of COVID not smothered us during the years 2020 and 2021, we might have been able to have this conversation before the November 14 meeting. Zoom and URLs are no substitute for in-person face to face meetings, and classroom interactions.
Many public institutions take a breather in August, and Cabrillo should too. Here are some of my reasons for extending the calendar but continuing the conversation, which comes on the heels of Richard and Theresa Crocker’s most recent pledge of $1 million to keep Cabrillo’s name:
None of the five names are worthy of replacing the college’s original name. Toss them all and begin again, this time using published works such as Don Clark’s Santa Cruz County Place Names as your sources.
The process for selecting those names is skewed by the members of the naming task force participating in the public sticky-note meetings. Some of them argued their support for their favorite names. I believe that this tilts the meeting results.
There were no apparent controls on the sticky-note process. It would have been easy for advocates of particular names to “stuff” the panels. I believe that any results coming from the “gallery walks” in the public meetings should be discarded, the present task thanked for their service and dismissed, and a new process be designed, without sticky-notes.
The money raised so that “no public funds” be used is far short of the $600,000 goal.
The conversation shows no signs of waning. As Trustee Spencer asked when she cast the lone dissenting vote, “What’s rush?” Indeed. And I’m sure that my co-columnist Adam Spickler has provided some powerful and erudite arguments that deserve time for our reflection.
Let’s continue the conversation.
Sandy Lydon has been a teacher for 62 years, the last 54 at Cabrillo. He is an award-winning author and lecturer, most notably for his activism on behalf of regional Asian-American communities. He was voted “Best College Teacher’ in Good Times’ first Best Of poll in 1976.
María Olvide Lozano’s 2-year-old daughter stomps around as her mother sits in the lobby of the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program at Community Bridges in Watsonville. It’s 5pm on a Tuesday and the pair are the only clients here as staff wraps up for the day.
Olvide Lozano is here for the monthly assistance provided by WIC to access healthy nutrition for her toddler. Leafy greens poke out of the bag that she received moments before as part of her food aid.
“They teach us how to give [our children] a balanced diet. Something that sometimes we don’t know about,” Olvide Lozano says in Spanish about the program. “So then I try to give them more vegetables, more fruits, less bread, less junk food.”
Olvide Lozano works as a blackberry picker on a local farm. She came to the area nine years ago from Jalisco, Mexico and has received WIC assistance for both of her children through Community Bridges for the past eight years.
The local non-profit is leading a new engagement effort that targets farmworkers like Olvide Lozano. The program received federal funding earlier this summer to embark on their project to enroll more immigrant and farmworker families in WIC. It’s a daunting task, however, and the organization will have to break through misconceptions and fears entrenched in the community.
Brief History
In 1972, the federal WIC program began as a pilot supplemental food program aiming to improve the health of pregnant mothers, infants and children in response to malnutrition among many poor mothers with young children. By 1975 the program was permanent. Over the years, federal legislation introduced various elements to the program, including nutrition education, breastfeeding support and social services referrals.
Community Bridges opened its WIC program in February 1977. Currently, it serves more than 800 pregnant women, 900 breastfeeding women, 1,600 infants and 5,000 children across Santa Cruz County. It assists participants with nutrition education, breastfeeding education and health care referrals, among other services.
The WIC Community Innovation and Outreach Project (WIC CIAO) grant is awarded to 36 programs nationwide and the WIC program here is one of its distinguished recipients. The award is given to organizations involved in efforts to develop innovative outreach strategies to boost awareness and participation in the program.
The non-profit applied for this grant to help expand reach to immigrant and farmworker families and increase WIC enrollment in the area. Out of 84 California agencies providing WIC assistance, Community Bridges’ program was one of only two in the state to be awarded the WIC CIAO and received $244,189 for an 18 month-long project. Dana Wagner, the WIC Program director, is honored to receive the award and emphasizes that it was a team effort for the organization.
“I just knew that there were families that were likely eligible who just weren’t receiving services … and it connected so much to my values and the values of Community Bridges that I just want to provide the assistance to families that are eligible for services,” Wagner says. “WIC has a proven track record of helping families and helping them have healthier outcomes and I just wanted to make the services available. So when I saw this opportunity I just said ‘yes let’s go for it.’”
Community Bridges is planning on strengthening its partnerships with its Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the Center for Farmworker Families to “address barriers and misconceptions about participating in the WIC program,” according to a press release.
Risking It All
Dr. Ann Lopez, Executive Director of the Center for Farmworker Families, works with the local immigrant and farmworker population. She stresses the importance of meeting them where they are, as many are afraid of institutions for fear of deportation.
“People are very reticent to go anywhere that looks like an institutional setting even if there is tremendous benefit. The organizations must come to the workers and not vice-versa,” Dr. Lopez says.
The Center for Farmworker Families holds a bimonthly food distribution for undocumented farmworkers in a clandestine location in the Watsonville area. It’s set up this way so participants feel safe and comfortable, according to Dr. Lopez.
“I’ve learned firsthand that people would rather starve than risk deportation,” she says.
The fears these families have are not unfounded.
A Trump-era policy called the “public charge” rule made it so immigrants could be denied permanent resident status if they had received or were expected to receive public benefits, including food assistance. In 2021 the Biden administration reversed that policy. Senate Republicans have recently passed a resolution to reinstate the public charge rule, but President Biden is expected to veto it.
As it stands, receiving federal benefits like WIC currently do not affect immigrants’ status or prospective citizenship. Now that they have received the prestigious award, Community Bridges is ready to dispel myths and expand their reach.
“I am honored and thrilled to have been chosen for this opportunity to engage more families in the Pajaro Valley and surrounding area with WIC,” says Wagner. “I want to let families know that WIC is a safe place, that it is easy to apply for services and that we are here to assist with a variety of services to improve health and well-being. Food access knows no boundaries, nor does it care about citizenship requirements.”
The Scotts Valley Unified School District will hold a public hearing on Wednesday to discuss a parcel tax that would raise revenue for student programs and teacher salaries.
The meeting seeks to address the wealthy community’s struggle to maintain educational offerings.
District officials have long complained that government funding formulas disadvantage Scotts Valley—a comment that was repeated in the posted agenda for this week’s special meeting.
“Scotts Valley Unified School District is one of the lowest funded unified school districts in California,” the item summary reads. “This parcel tax will help protect Scotts Valley schools’ key academic programs, teachers and counselors in order to address the educational and social emotional needs of all of our students.”
The Parcel Tax Renewal Campaign Committee is considering an all-mail-in ballot in October and is looking at an annual $168 per parcel levy, which would be an increase of $60.
The district conducted polling earlier this year and found support for a tax, according to school board documents.
Superintendent Tanya Krause said SVUSD has been successful at hiring staff and is in a better position than it was a year ago.
“It was a challenging school year, but we made it through,” Krause said at a June 13 meeting.
The parcel tax could bring in $1 million a year for seven years, beginning in 2024-25.
The public hearing will be held at Scotts Valley Middle School, located at 8 Bean Creek Rd. in Scotts Valley, starting at 5pm.
DOG DAY AFTERNOON Seascape’s concerts were kid, family and dog friendly. Catch the last one Sunday. Photo: Brad Kava
Wrath of KaiJune: A Burlesque And Drag Tribute To Giant Monsters. With a name like that, how can you say no? It turns out this Wednesday performance is the ultimate tribute to show stomping glamour and seduction. It is the unified spirit that Pride month never dies. Performances are by local artists, including Xinistra Gl’amour, Babraham Lincoln, Sylvia Wrath, Shiza Minnelli, Miss Monsterra, Jubilee, Carolina Peach and Selina de Vestige. Giant monsters are unapologetically themselves and strive to bring this embodiment of KaiJune Pride to the stage. It promises to be a night full of monsters ready to take you for a wild ride into their world. It plays 7:30-9:30pm Wednesday at Woodhouse Blending & Brewing, 119 Madrone St. Santa Cruz. Tickets are $20 online and $25 at the door.
The Dream Inn is bringing the second Summer Dreaminn’ Marketplace, connecting residents, visitors and local artisans for an evening of shopping, food, beverages and music. Local artisans and makers will showcase goods as diverse as jewelry to art, ethically-made swimwear, soaps and screen prints, to woodwork on the patio with live music from Claudia Melega and Dennis Dove. It’s Wednesday 4-8pm on the front patio, 175 West Cliff Drive. Free admission.
Reggae Thursdays at the Cruz Kitchen & Taps is a great time to get your rasta man and woman chops on. DJ Spleece is the man behind the stand who brings out the reggae fans. Check him out 6-8pm at 145 Laurel St., Santa Cruz. Free
MARIO Y SU TIMBEKO is a band formed by Cuban drummer and composer Mario Salomón, featuring Carlos Caro on congas and percussion, bassist and cuatro player Pedro Pastrana, Erick Peralta on keys, pianist Jason Moen, singer Christelle Durandy, singer and songwriter Juan Luis Perez. They made their debut on the streets of Oakland at the 2018 Temescal Street Fair. TimbeKO incorporates elements of R&B, gospel, jazz and funk into the sounds of popular Cuban Salsa, also known as Timba. They play Friday at 9pm at Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way. Tickets are $20.
THE LOSS of the great outdoor Seascape Beach Resort concert stage is bad news for Aptos area music fans: the great free summer concert series on the hill outside the resort will be canceled after this Sunday because of complaints from neighbors.
The series has brought in a wealth of original and cover music by some of the area’s top performers from 2-4pm in the picturesque spot where the resort stages weddings, with room for kids to play and families to picnic.
It became what Aptos is seriously missing: a town center with regular gatherings.
Neil Pearlberg, the concert promoter, said he was given news that he had to cancel a scheduled show by James Durbin last week–because he was told Durbin, the American Idol finalist, would bring in a “seedy” crowd. He was also told his last show would be July 30.
One resort manager said the business had noise complaints from a neighbor.
The weekly concerts attracted hundreds of people from all over, who might not have come to the resort on a Sunday, said Pearlberg.
“The place is dead,” Pearlberg added. “They are making money and bringing in people from Santa Cruz who never go there. It’s a battle. Is there a better stage in California? You’ve got rock ‘n’ roll, the beach and Monterey Bay. It’s what California is about. Aptos is crying out for something like this.”
There’s some good news: 1. The last show features a celebrated band called Pet Roxx, a classic rock covers outfit. 2. A resort representative said they would bring in quieter music by the bar and pool. 3. Pearlberg is working to launch a new concert series at Pleasure Point starting in August. Watch this space for listings.
COMMUNITY
CEO WORKS: What Small Businesses Need to Know: California’s Retirement Mandate and Secure Act 2.0
If you own a business in California with five or more w2 employees, it’s crucial you understand the state’s retirement mandate and how it affects your company. The Secure Act 2.0 is a new law aimed at improving retirement security for Americans and benefits create significant tax benefits for new SMBs that are setting up a new 401k plan for their business in 2023 and beyond. Failure to comply can result in hefty fines, so it’s essential that you make sure your business is in compliance. Presenter David Roberto will explain exactly what you need to know and will answer any questions you may have. Lunch included with ticket purchase and the first 15 registrants will get a free pair of socks and tumbler! Register at:bit.ly/scwceoworksj26
Santa Cruz author’s new memoir arrives at Bookshop Santa Cruz
Disclaimer: I know Lara Love Hardin.
La Selva Beach resident Lara Love Hardin is having her autobiographical book release of The Many Lives of Mama Love at Bookshop Santa Cruz Aug.1. The hometown release is auspicious. Her novel’s journey, paralleling her life, takes place in Santa Cruz. Like a scene straight out of Central Casting, the Bookshop audience will be filled with actual characters from her brilliant heartfelt first memoir.
Second is that Hardin, along with previous Santa Cruz Mayor Cynthia Chase, have started a non-profit called The Gemma Project that helps incarcerated women get the support and guidance they need. Chase will also be Hardin’s conversation partner at this must-see book release party.
The original Gemma program is the organization that Hardin joined while she was in jail for fraud and opiates. When you finally get to read The Many Lives of Mama Love, you’ll realize Hardin’s takeaway from the portion of her life that was disreputable, was to help others who find themselves entangled in America’s prison system.
Spoiler Alert: I’m going to talk about the book.
Not since The Lost Boys has a work of art referenced Santa Cruz as heavily as The Many Lives of Mama Love. Our little beachside town is the backdrop, the shimmering screen, that’s behind every wrong turn Hardin takes. And she takes a lot of them. It’s a heavy story. You might think that a tale of a woman who finds herself in the pits of opiate addiction and then has the pivot of the century, facilitating best-sellers with people like The Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jane Goodall and many others, is a whimsical tale. It is not.
Trigger Warning: It gets sad (but then it gets happy).
While I was reading the advance copy of Mama Love in my front yard, I was texting Hardin and giving her my impressions on the fly. It was fun until I realized I had tears running down my cheeks. For those of us who have dealt with siblings, parents and others who got caught in the death grip of opiates, Hardin’s story rings depressingly familiar.
Hardin’s hold-nothing-back account of her life is a testimony to how fragile our existence on this planet is. Hardin is a survivor.
She turned to crime to support her addiction. From getting a Master’s in Creative Writing and attending bourgeois garden parties, to picking the pockets and stealing the identities of the attendees, Hardin’s descent is subtle at first, then a downward rocket ship. Who would suspect a straight laced Californian looking soccer mom of ripping everyone off? And in some ways, this ability to be a chameleon is Hardin’s superpower. She can be many things to many people. It was in jail that she became Mama Love. It was out of jail she became a powerful literary agent and New York Times bestselling author.
Q & A
Are you looking forward to traveling around and talking about yourself?
I’ve been doing a lot of podcasts and interviews, but everything gets released on August 1, which is our launch week. After the Bookshop Santa Cruz release I fly to New York City the next morning for a talk at The Strand Bookstore. Then I go to Boston at Harvard Bookstore, then D.C. The schedule is still being filled in, but August 22 I’m in LA.
Are you nervous about seeing some people at The Bookshop event who want to talk with you?
I’m open to having conversations about just about anything. But it’s like one of the things I say in the book which is, do we let people pay for their crimes? If you met all your requirements, legally, are you forgiven? If you do your sentence, you pay your restitution, complete probation, are you done? Am I done? If there’s more to do, I’ll do it, but there is a point where internally, I’m done. I lost a lot of years living in fear and shame and running from imaginary mobs.
Do you still deal with shame?
It’s weird when I think I’ve done all this work in healing and then the fear and shame pop up out of nowhere. I just signed an author to my agency and she said she wanted to read my book. I gave her an advance copy of Mama Love. Two days later I get an email from her and the email is super-positive. She said she loved the book and the exploration of identity. And she closed with it’s an honor to work with you. But when I read the email, all I could think was that she doesn’t want me to be her agent now that she knows about me. A shame thought, no basis in reality, the exact opposite of what I’m reading in front of my eyes. The big difference now is I can notice that and think, “how interesting it is how the shame just pops back in so easily,” and I can let it go.
You went full Nine Perfect Strangers to prepare for writing your book.
I felt strongly that I needed to do Ayahuasca before I started writing the book. I didn’t have time for 30 years of therapy, I needed to hack it. Before I did it I got to speak to Gabor Maté, he’s the scientific advisor for the place I went to in Costa Rica. He’s an expert on addiction, has written a NYT bestseller and he’s an advisor there. He asked me what I was afraid of and I told him, number one, was that I was going to die. Two was that I was going to run off into the jungle all crazy and then die. I wanted to know how I reconcile being sober and going to the jungle to do a strong drug.
Did Gabor Maté set your mind at ease?
When I first met Gabor Maté, he asked me when I was taking opiates, what was I looking for? I said it made me feel connected to people and gave me joy and a sense of belonging. He told me, that is what I am looking for.
Was it life changing?
I think it helped me write the book because I’m really embarrassed by my own emotions. And exploring the roots of that really helped.
In what ways did it help?
Ayahuasca opened up memories that I didn’t have before and gave me compassion for the people in my childhood. I’ve always told people that I’m fine to be alone, I prefer to be alone. I need my alone time. I’m an introvert. And then in the Ayahuasca I saw this pattern in my childhood where I learned early on, I was safer alone and I carried that into adulthood. And because I never challenged this early adopted pattern, I experienced profound loneliness in my life.
How did it inform the way you wrote your book?
I had to be totally honest and real and raw in the book or why bother writing it? I had to get out of my own way and out of my comfort zone.
What’s your hope when people read it?
My hope is that people will resonate with the book. At the same time, if I’m going to have a big microphone for a while I want to do some good with it. Cynthia Chase and I co-founded a non-profit called The Gemma Project (.org) and it’s going to provide reentry services, particularly for women who are mothers. 80% of the incarcerated women in prison are mothers. Women need support to navigate the illogical and almost impossible jail system so they don’t end up back there.
How did your children, who are all in the book, feel about it?
I let all my kids read it. My youngest, Kaden, who just graduated high school really wanted to read it. He’s not a big reader, but he took it in his room and I kept checking in on him asking what page he was on. Finally he locked me out of his room and said we would talk about it tomorrow. He read it in six hours and texted me at midnight and said there’s a big problem at the end of the book.
I nervously asked what it was and he said there’s a typo at the end. The next day we talked and he said that he didn’t know any of that about me, about my life. It’s brought us closer. He did tell me there were boring parts. All the parts he wasn’t in.
Get your copy of The Many Lives of Mama Love at Bookshop Santa Cruz on Tuesday, August 1at 7pm. 1520 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz
Question of the Week: "What should be done about the Otter 841 affair?"
841 the otter is a playful otter’s daughter. One day when she was feeling bored, she stole a local surfer’s board. Her playground is the surf, but does that mean she owns the turf? Is this the otter’s water? We turn to you for what to do.
World premieres, percussion superstars and a farewell to Ellen Primack
“Without music, life would be a mistake,” said the German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche more than a century ago.
And I agree.
Arguably the invisible tissue that connects us each to each, music magically weaves networks among musicians, composers and listeners.
Once interconnected, we remain that way. We always remember favorite songs, or...
MUSIC AND ARTS
Wrath of KaiJune: A Burlesque And Drag Tribute To Giant Monsters. With a name like that, how can you say no? It turns out this Wednesday performance is the ultimate tribute to show stomping glamour and seduction. It is the unified spirit that Pride month never dies. Performances are by local artists, including Xinistra Gl'amour, Babraham...
Santa Cruz author’s new memoir arrives at Bookshop Santa Cruz
Disclaimer: I know Lara Love Hardin.
La Selva Beach resident Lara Love Hardin is having her autobiographical book release of The Many Lives of Mama Love at Bookshop Santa Cruz Aug.1. The hometown release is auspicious. Her novel’s journey, paralleling her life, takes place in Santa Cruz. Like a scene straight...
