It is easy to overlook the presence of our local artists in our everyday lives. Here in the Central Valley, the arts are essential to our community. The Pan Valley Institute’s Artevism Cohort has spent this past year trying to find ways to describe and define our relationship to the America around us through art and activism. Through that search, we realize that we must reflect to see what is right in front of us. The ArteVism Interns and Fellow believe that the arts provide an essential means of gaining perspective, speaking up for those disenfranchised, uplifting the community, and being a reflection of what our community is facing. We must highlight our community’s creativity in the arts and encourage them to showcase their hard work and inspiration. We will close the four cohorts of the ArteVism Fellowship with the inauguration of a short theatre play that tells how youth of color struggle to find a rightful place in US history. Poetry, music, and other art and cultural expression forms will exist.

We cordially invite you to join us in showing appreciation and support for our community and spreading the word that Art and Activism are alive and well in the Central Valley.

The Pan Valley Institute is proud to present an acto written by Rodolfo Robles Cruz. This theatre presentation is inspired by the work of Luis Valdez and a group of farmworkers who developed the actos to educate farmworkers about the need for a union and to defend workers’ rights. The Pan Valley Institute has developed a modern-day interpretation of the acto. Our presentation discusses marginalized racial groups and their relationship with America as a country, identity, and concept. After taking inspiration from the many stories, testimonies, and histories of the diverse ArteVism 2024 Cohort, Rodolfo Robles Cruz has written an acto encompassing the intersection of antagonism, frustration, and hope for the future.

Coordinated by cultural organizer Rosa Hernandez, Nu’u Yavi, a Mixtec word that means plaza, will be a space where immigrant women of Madera will congregate and share traditional dishes from the Mixtec and Triqui regions of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Through an informal market, these women delight their neighboors with traditional flavors of home. Now, for the first time, the general public is invited to gather at the Nu’u Yavi to learn about and enjoy dishes with indigenous roots.

Nu’u Javi is also intended to:

• Recognize the preservation efforts of immigrant traditional cooks living in Madera;
• Honor their contribution so that ancestral food continues to be preserved and passed down to new generations;
• Provide a safe and accessible space for them to exhibit and share their knowledge of indigenous culinary arts and
• Increase the visibility of these women and open a market for their products beyond that of their communities of origin.

Meet the chefs who will be participating and the dishes they plan to provide:

Mireya Agustín López, originally from Santiago Juxtlahuaca, Oaxaca, will share pork pozole, chicken pozole, and chicken tamales in banana leaf. These dishes are one of the most traditional in Juxtlahuaca and are never missing on the day of the Nu’u Yavi. These dishes are made from natural corn and yellow chili, typical of the coast.

Ciria Arenas Cruz, originally from San Agustín Atenango, Oaxaca, will serve red and yellow chicken mole. Moles are typical of the Mixteca, especially their hometown, and combine dried chiles, sesame, garlic, and other ingredients.

Kenia Guzmán Paz, originally from Santiago Juxtlahuaca, Oaxaca, specializes in traditional desserts, including ticutas, chus, polvorones, and chilacayote empanadas. These desserts are characteristic of Juxtlahuaca. Kenia started making these delicious desserts in Madera in 2016 to offer flavors of Juxtlahuaca to her compatriots living in Madera.

Marcelina Bautista López, originally from San Martín Itunyoso, Oaxaca, specializes in mole tamales with chicken in corn husks, which are typical of her hometown. The tamales and their mole’s elaboration preserve ancestral practices.

Rosa Hernandez, originally from Santiago Juxtlahuaca, Oaxaca, will serve aguas frescas made from natural ingredients from chilacayote, hibiscus, horchata, watermelon, tamarind, and lemonade. In addition, her brand, Mole Viko, will be available. This mole is made and prepared with the most traditional ingredients of her hometown.

We hope you’ll attend, sample unique dishes, take some to go and learn about indigenous culinary arts.

This platica presents diverse migration experiences centering on those left out, excluded, or made to feel invisible.

In present times, the migration narrative is dominated by the idea of people fleeing their countries due to poverty and violence and coming to the U.S. in search of protection and a better life. While this idea encompasses a reality, migration is a more complex phenomenon. We tend to ignore the economic factors that have attracted workers to perform jobs essential to the U.S. economy. It is not only that migrants need to migrate, but it is also true that there are sectors of the capitalist economy that rely on the low-wage labor of migrants. Another critical aspect hidden in the migration narrative is the global and internal displacement of people due to wars and racist and imperialist policies.

The ArteVism 2024 cohort will share their stories of migration and displacement and how these experiences have shaped their identities as American citizens. They will highlight the impact of the secret war and the displacement of Native Americans, the effects of the African American experience, and the shaping of our country through the lens of the Great Migration. The Great Migration exposed elements of racial divisions and disparities, including housing discrimination. These components will allow for a discussion on how migration from one form of racial disparity can lead to other forms.

We will begin this community visit at the Sunday morning service at Philadelphia Outreach Ministries in Lemoore, where Josh Slack is the choir and music director and the pastor’s son. After the service, we will visit the old church building and hear from Pastor Kenneth L. Slack about the history and importance of the black church, its role as a form of resistance to oppression, its unique history with race in the Central Valley, and how the arts are used in worship, celebration, and expression. Josh’s mom will be serving us lunch at their home. We will conclude with a community tour of Lemoore.

Protecting employment and worker rights for migrants (May 28, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT): Join the next monthly webinar in our migration justice series. This month, we’ll hear from AFSC staff in Oregon and California about immigrant workers’ issues. We’ll also explore opportunities for advocacy to ensure all workers have access to labor protections. This webinar will be bilingual in English and Spanish.

Protección del empleo y los derechos laborales de los migrantes (28 de mayo, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT): Únase al personal de AFSC de Oregón y del Valle Central en California para aprender sobre los problemas que enfrentan los trabajadores inmigrantes en varios sectores. Ofreceremos un análisis de las condiciones actuales y algunas ideas y oportunidades de incidencia para garantizar que todos los trabajadores puedan acceder a las protecciones laborales. Este seminario web será bilingüe en inglés y español.