Carmen Moreno shares about the struggles her Native American tribe has faced in keeping their cultural traditions alive. Myrna Martinez Nateras / AFSC
After a two-week break, PVI’s ArteVism Fellows have regrouped to continue planning and hosting public activities to wrap up the first cohort of the ArteVism Fellowship Program.
Since November, we have convened two webinars addressing issues of concern to the Fellows, including looking at concrete examples of work that intersects creative expression and active citizenship. Guest speaker Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana shared her Playas de Tijuana Mural Project. Fellows and young elected officials held a dialogue about changing the Central Valley's political landscape: From Public office to Sustainable Community Upliftment.
Our first webinar of the 2021 featured ArteVism Fellow Cecilia Moreno and her mother, Carmen Moreno, on the struggles their Native American tribe has faced in keeping their cultural traditions alive. Carmen is descended from the Central Valley’s Tachi and Wuckchumni Yokut tribes, and is devoted to preserving her native culture and language.
To close the program, Fellows will release their video project “More than a Bread Basket.” The video will premiere on Monday, January 25, 2021 from 6:00-7:30 p.m. PT. Created, written, and directed by the ArteVism Fellows, this project is the culmination of nine months of work.
With the help of a learning group of youth from Fresno, Merced, and Tulare Counties, the Fellows use storytelling and dramatization to discuss active citizenship and social problems pertinent to their communities.
More than a Bread Basket follows a series of fictional characters based on the real-life experiences of learning group members and their extended families and friends. It seeks to show the diversity and cultural richness of the Central Valley while examining the struggles and daily challenges faced by the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities that call the Central Valley home.