ArtWell Issue 8: Spring 2023

As Spring 2023 draws to a close, and Summer in Fresno takes hold, we share this publication to update you and inspire you to continue as artists or patrons of the Arts Over the past few months, ArtHop has continued its full operation, and we have welcomed several new official venues to the ArtHop community Local artists continue to produce and exhibit work, creating programs and movements that enrich our community; we celebrate these contributions each October at our annual Horizon Awards in recognition of National Arts and Humanities Month This October, Horizon Awards will be presented at our inaugural State of the Arts dinner and reception Stay tuned for forthcoming details about this exciting new event

This edition of ArtWell presents examples of how the Arts continue to inspire and encourage positive work in the community, including Fresno’s literary community, which continues to thrive. This April, in honor of National Poetry Month, Mayor Dyer and Fresno City Council confirmed Joseph Rios as Fresno’s 6th Poet Laureate Rios was presented with a proclamation at the April 20th City Council meeting, and Fresno Arts Council hosted a public reception to recognize his appointment Rios will serve in this honorary position through March, 2025 Outgoing Poet Laureate, Megan Bohigian, organized a poetry reading featuring four local poets to celebrate National Poetry Month

FRESNO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS COMPETE IN POETRY OUT LOUD

FAC CELEBRATES THE 10TH ANNUAL ARTS ALIVE IN AGRICULTURE JURIED EXHIBITION AND RECEPTION APRIL 27, 2023

FRESNO ARTS COUNCIL CERTIFIES NEW COHORT OF TEACHING ARTISTS

FAC STAFF ATTENDS ARTS AND CULTURE SUMMIT AND ADVOCACY DAY IN SACRAMENTO

ANNOUNCING FRESNO'S POET LAUREATE, JOSEPH RIOS

ARTIST CALEB DUARTE TO CREATE MURAL AT FRESNO YOSEMITE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

AND MORE

2023 Arts Alive Awards Winners celebrate at the reception April 27th.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE, CONTINUED

In February, Fresno Arts Council hosted the annual Fresno County Poetry Out Loud contest, a national poetry recitation competition for high school students, at City Hall. Clovis West junior, Aaron Santibanez-Ramirez, won this event and advanced to the virtual California Poetry Out Loud finals

Our 10th annual Arts Alive in Agriculture Juried Exhibition and reception was held on April 27th in the barn at the San Joaquin Parkway Trust River Center Seventy-two agriculture-themed artworks by local artists were displayed while guests enjoyed refreshments, wine and beer tasting, and live entertainment An awards ceremony presented prizes in several categories, as well as a “Best in Show” and “Farm Favorite” award This event would not be possible without the generous contributions of our event sponsors; we thank them for their support

As 2023 progresses, Fresno Arts Council eagerly awaits the completion of the Cultural Arts Plan, required by Measure P, which will guide the distribution of funds to art programs in Fresno We look forward to the infusion of vital support to our arts community, and we encourage you to reach out to us as guidelines and applications become available There is always something new and exciting being shared by the Fresno Arts Council, so subscribe to our online e-blasts and connect on social media to stay updated with what’s in the pipeline this year

Revel in the Arts,

Lilia Gonzáles Chávez, Executive Director

The 2023 Fresno ArtHop logo Design by Jose Juarez

ABOUT US

The Fresno Arts Council (FAC) is a public 501(c) (3) non-profit organization established in 1979 under the name of “Alliance for the Arts" by local artists, art organizations and interested individuals who wished to create a voice for the Central San Joaquin Valley

Today, the FAC serves as the official State-Local partner to the California Arts Council, as designated by the county board of supervisors By Memorandum of Understanding, the FAC serves as the local arts agency for the City of Fresno, tasked to support and promote the arts industry and to Enrich Our Community’s Way of Life Through the Arts, and acts as an umbrella agency for artists and art organizations from all cultures and disciplines through advocacy, education, programs, and services

We are a non-profit organization managed by a volunteer board of directors The FAC solicits support from foundations, government, and corporate funders, membership dues, and private donations.

We are located at 1245 Van Ness Avenue in Downtown Fresno, and the office is open to the public during weekdays from 10:00AM to 2:00PM, and by appointment

FRESNO ARTS COUNCIL STAFF

ASSISTANT

OUR WORK

The Fresno Arts Council provides and advocates for local arts programming and services as well as employment opportunities for working artists to both teach and create original artworks in the Fresno County area

Fresno Arts Council provides assistance for public arts projects, including murals, sculptural installations, and other design projects We work with individuals, businesses, and community organizations to understand their vision and needs, develop and distribute a call for artist proposals, and guide the selection and contract process from idea to execution. In 2022, Fresno Arts Council worked with such agencies as California High Speed Rail, Fresno Yosemite International Airport, and State Center Community College District For more information, contact Program Coordinator, Eric Martinez at eric@fresnoartscouncil org

Fresno Arts Council provides Arts in Education programming for county K-8 schools In March 2023, the program certified several new teaching artists to work with Fresno County students, helping them to meet Common Core and Arts Education standards through arts education programming Each year, Fresno County’s Poetry Out Loud™ contest selects a winning student to represent area high schools at the California State Poetry Out Loud competition For more information, contact Andrea Mele, Program Coordinator at andrea@fresnoartscouncil org

History

In 1980, the FAC received a grant from the California Arts Council (CAC) to provide technical and administrative assistance to various arts groups in Fresno County Within a year, the purpose of the FAC expanded to sponsoring and encouraging cultural education and creative activities, as well as serving as the umbrella unit for all county arts organizations, in such areas as legislation, education, and community awareness of the arts

In addition, the FAC coordinated and disseminated information concerning the arts: Beginning in 1991, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the FAC hired folklorist, Amy Kitchener, who developed our program of folk arts locally and created performances and exhibits with local communities The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) was formed under our guidance as its own organization, under the leadership of Kitchener In the mid-1990s, the City of Fresno passed Arts to Zoo, a measure collecting 001% of sales tax for cultural organizations The money was distributed for a year and a half before the tax was declared illegal In 1998, the remaining money was given to the FAC and the Fresno Regional Foundation for distribution In 2010, the FAC completed redistributing those funds annually to arts and cultural organizations In 2015, with support from former Assemblyman Henry T Perea, the FAC established the Rural Access Fund Today, the FAC continues to innovate new grant-making opportunities for local artists, including the Fresno Arts Safety Net Fund (FASNF) and FAC Cares, both in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that started in Spring 2020

Arts programs and cultural activities attract industry and other businesses to a community, resulting in growth and economic progress but it takes support from private and public sectors, and people like you, to create and foster this creative activity

We rely on individual, organization and business membership dues, as well as event sponsorships as an integral part of our funding. Be an advocate for the arts in Fresno County by becoming a member of the Fresno Arts Council today

JOYCE

COKE

JERRY

Please visit fresnoartscouncil org for updates and announcements

FAC staff welcomes guests to Arts Alive in Agriculture

Fresno County High School Students Compete in Poetry Out Loud at City Hall

Poetry Out Loud, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and The Poetry Foundation, is an annual national poetry recitation contest with county and state competitions preceding National Finals California Arts Council facilitates and sponsors these county competitions and hosts each year’s California state contest

This year, Fresno County’s competition was held in Fresno City Council Chambers at Fresno City Hall on Wednesday, February 8th Seventeen students from five local high schools Washington Union High School, San Joaquin Memorial High School, Clovis West High School, Endeavor Charter, and Roosevelt High School performed poems chosen from the Poetry Out Loud database Students selected, memorized, and rehearsed poems with guidance from their teachers, Carlie Frye and Joseph Olivares (SJMHS), Kolab Vuong (WUHS), Erin Garcia (CWHS), and Susie Shaw (Endeavor) Writers and educators, Megan Anderson Bohigian, Steven Sanchez, and Gabi Cruz-Brittsan, served as judges, adhering to Poetry Out Loud’s scoring criteria and guidance

Each participant received a certificate of achievement and monetary awards were presented to the top three scorers Alejandro Kitchener Morales (RHS) was second runner-up for his performances of “Invisible Children” by Maria Llanos and "Jaguar" by Francisco x Alarcón Michael Trahan (SJMHS) was runner-up with “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost and "The Days Gone By" by James Whitcomb Riley, and first prize went to Aaron Santibanz-Ramirez (CWHS) for his recitations of “Friendship After Love” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox and "Onions" by William Matthews

Aaron Santibanez-Ramirez advanced to California’s virtual Poetry Out Loud competition, held March 7 State finals are normally held at the Capitol in Sacramento, but were conducted virtually this year SantibanezRamirez submitted three distinct video recitations, as well as an original composition in the Poetry Ourselves writing competition, available only to County winners

The California Arts Council will host an in-person celebration in Sacramento on May 15-16 for all Poetry Out Loud County Champions Though Santibanez did not place in the statewide competition, he said, "this whole thing is amazing and it’s very fascinating that all of this fun came out of me just taking a leap of faith and committing to the county competition!"

National semi-finals and finals were held in Washington D C and virtually streamed May 9-10 Sreepadaarchana Munjuluri of Indiana won the National contest, and a prize of $20,000 Congratulations to all of our Fresno County students who participated, and thank you to their teachers, coaches, and judges who volunteered their time to make this event a success If you are interested in bringing Poetry Out Loud to your high school or volunteering as a coach or judge, please reach out to Program Coordinator, Andrea Mele at andrea@fresnoartscouncil org

Photos, clockwise from top left:

Washington Union HS students before the competition; participants gather with their certificates; San Joaquin Memorial HS students and their teachers; top three POL finalists; Clovis West HS participants and their teachers; Endeavor Charter students; County Champion, Aaron Santibanez Ramirez

2023 Fresno County Poetry Out Loud

Arts Alive in Agriculture: A Juried Exhibition Celebrates its

10th Year

On Thursday, April 27, Fresno Arts Council presented the 10th Annual Arts Alive in Agriculture Juried Exhibition in The Barn at the San Joaquin River Parkway Trust and Conservation Center Arts Alive in Agriculture is a celebration of our agricultural industry through the visual arts with the intent to promote and encourage creative perspectives on our intimate relationships with food-production here in the Central Valley

Visual art submissions were solicited and accepted through a juried application process Thirty-eight local artists showed their agriculture-themed work in five categories: Agricultural Landscapes, People and Agriculture, Machines and Technology, Photography, and Sculpture, Assemblage, and Found Objects In each category, cash prizes were awarded to first and second prize, as well as honorable mentions Local art experts, Steve Dzerigian, Jared Barbick, and Matthew Hopson-Walker served as judges They selected Jerry Blessing's mixed-media painting, “Sowing Seeds” as Best in Show, and event sponsors awarded Gail Perry's “Dairy Queens” watercolor painting the Farm Favorite award

“I wanted to say thank you again to the Fresno Arts Council, the sponsors and the juried exhibition judges that made the event possible," said Best In Show winner, Jerry Blessing "The 10th annual Arts Alive exhibition was my first time ever participating in a juried exhibition, and it definitely won’t be my last time! The event was fantastic with roughly 70 works of art being presented, all by wonderfully talented artists The Central Valley has always held a rich, vast culture in regards to art and events like this always serve as a wonderful opportunity for artists and art lovers to come together and appreciate that culture ”

This year’s reception featured a grazing table by Fig and Honey Lavish Grazing, wine tasting courtesy of O’Neill Vintners, and beer tasting by Tioga Sequoia Entertainment was provided by Green Bush Spring Quartet This annual event would not be possible without the generous support of sponsors many from the agricultural industry that this exhibit celebrates A full list of winners is also available on our website, as is a catalog of the show’s featured pieces Please contact the artists directly if you would like to purchase their artwork In 2024, Fresno Arts Council will present the 11th Anniversary of Arts Alive in Agriculture The call for art submissions will be posted this Fall For more information about sponsorship or volunteer opportunities, please contact Program Coordinator, Andrea Mele

2023 Arts Alive in Agriculture Winners

Best in Show: "Sowing Seeds," Jerry Blessing

Farm Favorite: "Dairy Queens," Gail Perry

Agricultural Landscapes:

1st: "Cotton Farm," Jessica Keller

2nd: "Valley Blossoms," Daniel Van Green

Honorable Mention: "Barn-Highway 43Hanford," Jim Curnyn

People and Agriculture:

1st: "Palm Turkey," Elaine Blake

2nd: "Keeping the Bees," Mary Beth Harrison

Honorable Mention: "Hard Earned Rest," Dixie Salazar

Machines and Technology:

1st: "Cattle Grazing the Irrigation Canal," Tim Fleming

2nd: "Dairy Queens," Gail Perry

Honorable Mention: "Pistachios and Process," Daniel Van Green

Photography:

1st: "Honeybee Covered in Pollen," Kathryn Cehrs

2nd: "Tending the Flock," Helen Gigliotti

Honorable Mention: "Fall in Firebaugh," Finn Telles

Sculpture, Assemblage, and Found Objects:

1st: "Rocco Checks Messages," Ren Lee

2nd: "Fox," Evany Zirul

Honorable Mention: "String Bean Theory," Beth Thielen

FRESNO ARTS COUNCIL SPONSORS

THEFRESNOARTSCOUNCIL'S10THANNUAL ARTSALIVE InAgriculture:AJuriedExhibition

WASMADEPOSSIBLEBYTHEGENEROUSCONTRIBUTIONSOFTHESESPONSORS

LINDA&ROBERT GLASSMAN

BONNIE&JOE COELHO

JOAN&BOB SCHOETTLER

KEITH&PATRICIAHARRISON

JAMESCOSTA FARMS DONALD WILLIAMS

LARRYBALAKIAN MARYLAFOLLETTE

BERBERIAN RANCHES

Fresno Poets Gather at FAC to Celebrate National Poetry Month

On April 11, Fresno Poets and poetry lovers gathered in the gallery of the Fresno Arts Council in honor of National Poetry Month. The event was organized by outgoing City of Fresno Poet Laureate Megan Anderson Bohigian, who read along with three local poets, including Fresno's new Poet Laureate, Joseph Rios, Kenneth R. Chacón, and Corrinne Clegg Hales. Stay tuned for future readings curated by Fresno's new Poet Laureate, Joseph Rios.

Joseph Rios

Kenneth R Chacón

Megan Bohigian

Corrinne Clegg Hales

Fresno Arts Council Certifies New Cohort of Teaching Artists to Offer Arts Lessons for Fresno County Elementary Students

This March, Fresno Arts Council certified twenty-three new teaching artists to work in Fresno County PK-6 public schools. In four day-long sessions, professional artists and arts students from Fresno State and Fresno City College developed their teaching skills, including classroom management and student engagement, navigating and teaching to California Common Core and Arts Standards, and arts lesson planning and assessment

With the passage of Proposition 28, which will provide supplemental arts education funding for all California students, the need for credentialed art teachers and teaching artists will increase. Fresno Arts Council has been helping to place teaching artists in Fresno County classrooms to provide instruction in visual arts, media arts, dance, theatre, and music for several years Part of this effort includes training artists to offer lessons and experiences tied to California Arts Standards in safe and engaging environments

Fresno Arts Council’s training was developed in partnership with Fresno County Office of Education to prepare professional artists to supplement students’ current art curriculum provided by their multiple subject teachers Teaching Artists are not usually credentialed teachers, but instead are dual-career professionals who possess expertise in their artistic discipline and the ability to engage students in grade-level arts learning Teaching Artists work in tandem with classroom teachers to plan a sequence of lessons that help students meet standards and develop skills and confidence in visual, performing, and media arts, while establishing a foundation for lifelong art appreciation.

For this session, Fresno Arts Council partnered with Fresno State University to offer its certification training to students enrolled in Art 177S, a service learning course for Arts majors. Students received class credit for participating in this training. Our newest cohort of teaching artists includes specialists in drawing and painting, ceramics and sculpture, theatrical performance and technical design, dance, and fiber arts.

If you are interested in bringing teaching artists into your school, classroom, or community space or are interested in future teaching artist trainings, please contact Program Coordinator, Andrea Mele at andrea@fresnoartscouncil.org.

Fresno Arts Council Attends CA Arts & Culture

Summit and Advocacy Day in Sacramento in April

Californians for the Arts and Create CA, arts advocacy and education organizations, hosted the inaugural CA Arts & Culture Summit April 17, 2023 in Sacramento during California's 5th annual Arts, Culture, and Creativity Month The summit was the first major in-person event since the beginning of COVID The conference featured several panels, workshops, and a keynote address by Favianna Rodriguez, founder of The Center for Cultural Power California State Superintendent of Instruction, Tony Thurmond, also provided an address

In addition to networking and community-building opportunities, panel discussions and workshops centered on arts education and Proposition 28, equitable grant-making, arts and culture policy and advocacy, community arts organizations and the creative economy, supporting artists and culture bearers, and more The summit was followed by a day of advocacy on the Capitol Tuesday, April 18, with several speakers, including legislators, youth advocates, artists, and Arts administrators Following the rally and press conference in Capitol Park, attendees met with their state representatives and legislators to advocate for sustained or increased funding for the creative economy, arts education, and equitable policies and resources to support artists and community arts organizations The CA Arts & Culture Summit was partially funded by the California Arts Council

Photo by Doug Cupid Photography

Joseph Rios, American Book Award Winner, Appointed City of Fresno Poet Laureate

Mayor Jerry Dyer has appointed Fresno poet, Joseph Rios, as Fresno’s sixth Poet Laureate. Rios was honored at City Hall with a Proclamation during Fresno City Council’s April 20th meeting He recited an original poem, "Fresno Is," following the proclamation The appointment served as a culminating event to National Poetry Month

Joseph Rios is the author of Shadowboxing: Poems and Impersonations (Omnidawn), winner of the American Book Award and was named one of the Notable Debut Poets by Poets & Writers Magazine for 2017 His poems can be found at Poem A Day, Huizache, The Rumpus, the San Francisco Chronicle, and on Metro buses and trains in Los Angeles He was recently named a Stegner Fellow by Stanford University He lives in Fresno

“I'm honored to follow in the footsteps of other poets laureate like my poetry teacher, Lee Herrick and Bryan Medina, host and founder of the Inner Ear Poetry Slam,” said Rios. “They created space for me when I first started to call myself a poet. I hope my tenure as Fresno's Poet Laureate creates more space for others to find poetry. I am guided by the words of Roque Dalton and believe that "poetry, like bread, is for everyone " There is a great beauty in this city and the poets from here are the best at finding it I want the world to know all of them ”

The City of Fresno Poet Laureate program was established by Resolution of the City Council in 2012 to promote and extend the city’s significant literary culture The Poet Laureate for the City of Fresno is an honorary position Rios will serve a two-year term, commencing in April 2023 and ending March 2025

Carissa Garcia, who submitted Rios’s nomination, says, “Joseph is a poet for the people He embodies Fresno and the Central Valley and reflects this in not only his poetry voice, but in everything else he does For Joseph, poetry has no bounds.”

The City of Fresno Poet Laureate is selected by a city-appointed selection committee The committee reviews nominations and evaluates them according to guidelines established by Fresno City Council resolution For general information about the program, please see Fresno Arts Council’s website

Rios succeeds Megan Bohigian (2021-2023) as Poet Laureate and joins former Fresno Poet Laureates, James Tyner (20132015), Lee Herrick (2015-2017 and California’s current Poet Laureate), Bryan Medina (2017-2019), and Marisol Baca (2019-2021) Fresno Arts Council celebrated Rios's appointment at a reception at the Fresno Arts Council gallery Thursday, April 20th

Joseph Rios, accompanied by FAC Executive Director, Lilia Gonzáles Chávez, Mayor Dyer, and Fresno City Council, receives his Proclamation at City Hall on April 20, 2023

Artist Caleb Duarte to Install Large Scale Mural at Fresno Yosemite International Airport

Fresno sculptor and Fresno City College professor, Caleb Duarte, has been selected to create and install a mosaic mural at the Fresno International Airport Duarte’s piece, entitled, “You Have Arrived,” is a four story vertical mixed-media mural, which will be installed on the Airport's newly-opened parking garage

Duarte’s winning proposal was selected last fall from a field of 17 applicants, who responded to a statewide call issued by Fresno Arts Council in coordination with the Fresno Airport, who collaboratively created guidelines and a panel review process. The sculpture is visually compatible with the original 1962 mosaic art piece created by Raymond Rice, “Sky and Ground,” on the adjacent terminal.

The proposed design “illustrates an embrace of a figure representing a growing abstract tree with wellgrounded roots, reflecting on our surrounding mountains and forest,” according to Duarte’s submission “The figure’s hands visually state, “I have arrived, I am from here,'' decorated with floating patterns to symbolize flight and aerial views mirroring the existing mosaic mural located across from the proposed wall "

In a facebook post, Duarte described the project’s intent and philosophical basis: “The tone of the main figure will be brown earth tones as the natural color of the earth The main figure is inspired by a series of sculptural performances co-authored within communities in California It derives from sculptural performance and public interventions created within the past years in the realm of Social Practice, Social Sculpture, relational aesthetics and/or community Arts, combining a Social Realist lens with that of the abstract patterns of the existing Raymond Rice mural of 1962; Here it will take on its own interpretation through the aesthetics of natural materials The horizontal patterns symbolize both a corporate farm landscape and those who work the earth.”

Duarte will use painted ceramic relief, mosaic tiles, and painted river rock to create the final design, which is expected to be installed in 2023.

Caleb Duarte via calebdurarte org

Photo: Fresno Yosemite International Airport

LitHop, Fresno's Annual Literary Festival, Returns to Tower District for its 6th Year

Fresno's LitHop, an annual literary festival held in the city's Tower District, returns for its sixth year on Saturday, October 14, 2023. The festival, founded in 2016 by California's Poet Laureate, Lee Herrick, during his tenure as Fresno's Poet Laureate, features free public readings across venues in the historic neighborhood Each reading begins on the hour and showcases four readers, who have organized and submitted a proposal around a theme or topic Though there are some venues that are 21+, most readings and venues are accessible to all ages. There is a limit of two reading proposals per reader to avoid time conflicts and/or double-booked reading events. If you plan to submit a reading proposal, be sure to read the guidelines carefully. Reader proposals will be accepted until July 1, 2023. Please see lithopfresno org for more information LitHop Fresno is a fiscally sponsored project of the Fresno Arts Council