art

One Farm at a Time: Co-ops come together to save local farmland

2011-03-15T04:04:08Z

In a small family acreage in nearby Capay Valley, farmers Annie and Jeff Main have worked their land for more than 30 years so they may provide diverse, organic produce to the local community.

But the threat of increasing costs, commercial development and their approaching retirement motivated the Mains to take action and collaborate with the community to preserve their farm, Good Hummus Produce. Starting about 10 years ago, the Mains have devoted themselves to not only preserving their own land, but making all family-operated farmland accessible and affordable for future generations.

Realizing the challenge that the community faces as the owners of local organic farms reach retirement age, Paul Cultrera, general manager of the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op (SNFC), and Eric Stromberg, general manager of the Davis Natural Foods Co-op (DFC), formed the One Farm at a Time program, focusing their first effort on Good Hummus Produce.

Starting quietly last spring, the campaign’s mission is to raise funds to save the local farms such as Good Hummus that supply their market with fresh food, as well as form awareness and strong relationships between co-op customers and local farmers.

“I’m from Massachusetts, and when I grew up, I lived with the results of what could happen here. I mean the farms aren’t there anymore. And it sort of hit me,” Cultrera said. “Here we are in this incredibly fertile part of the country. You can basically grow anything here. And we’ve got all these great farmers who’ve spent 30-40 years building up the soil and building these relationships with their communities, and it could all go away.

“It’s in our co-op’s best interest to support these farms, because if those farms aren’t there, we’re not going to have the food,” he added.

The solution that the Mains helped form to these various agricultural and economic challenges came in the form of an easement, which, with the support of national and local land trust, would put limitations on how the land can be used, protecting it from development. In addition, an easement would allow younger farmers to purchase the land and farm it for its agricultural value, which at the Good Hummus Farm would be $100,000 – 200,000, a much more affordable price than its commercial price given to developers. With eight farmers over 65 years of age for every farmer under 35, the easement will allow retired farmers to pass along their land to younger farmers eager to take it over and learn from generations of organic farming.

“Jeff turns 60 this year, and I’m 58, and we have some years left, but the question is, if our kids aren’t going to do it, who is?” Annie Main said of their retirement. “What we’re trying to do is create a family infrastructure that can be passed on. If a family doesn’t exist, then we create the family.”

Lacks of government money inspired the Mains and Cultrera to seek their own funding. Good Hummus Farm, with the help of the Davis and Sacramento co-ops, raised about $150,000 in funds from mainly individual donations.

“As painful as it is, we felt that that’s what we want because it’s community support and belief of what we’re doing and what can happen that’s important,” Main said.

Based on cooperative economics, the co-ops invited their customers to support the campaign by donating at the co-op register or online or by purchasing SNFC and DFC One Farm at a Time merchandise such as a piggy bank children can fill up with coins and return to the co-ops.

In addition, several co-op suppliers gave grants to underwrite the campaign startup costs, and so far, vendors Equal Exchange Coffee, Straus, Lundburg Family Farms, Organic Valley and Veritable Vegetable have agreed to donate proceeds from their products sold at the co-ops.

Cultrera has carried this vision strongly throughout the local community.

“We’re not just trying to raise money, we’re trying to build a community. We’re trying to have our customers have a stake in saving farms,” he said.

Upon local success of One Farm at a Time, the campaign could be replicated nationally as co-ops and farms across the country partner together to reach a greater audience and to preserve farmland.

"The bottom line is, it’s not just us...It’s one farm and then the next," Main said. "If we don’t do this, I believe that we’re going to see a lot of small farms disappear.

"A lot of farms are watching what we’re doing and waiting to see how it works. But you do things that you believe in...and you want to see it completed."

'Pick Me! Fruit Crate Art and the California Dream' premiers at Railroad Museum

2011-03-09T07:56:21Z

The California Dream, as portrayed by vintage fruit crate art, inspires visions of a healthy horizon of gleaming sunshine, warm, temperate climate and an endless spread of sweet, colorful fruit.

In the early 1900s, California was depicted as a land of promise where eastern city folk migrated west in hopes of farming the widespread and fertile land. This prized picture of California, in part, grew out of the railroads that helped deliver bountiful harvest coast to coast and spread the message of the new frontier through fruit labels.

A collection of these artistic fruit crate labels can now be seen by visiting, “Pick Me! Fruit Crate Art & the California Dream,” an exhibit shipped and presented by The California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento.

The exhibit takes you inside a 1924-era Fruit Growers Express Refrigerator Car NO. 35832, one of thousands of ice-cooled “reefer” cars that traveled east loaded with California’s rich harvest. Soon after the Transcontinental Railroad’s completion in 1869, these fruit cars began traveling to many large population centers across the country and irrigating farmland, vastly transforming the state’s agricultural economy.

The first shipments saw boxes stenciled to identify the grower, location and variety of produce. In hopes of attracting wholesale agents in the east, both ends of the crates were adorned with whimsical works of graphic art and lithography. Soon, these distinctive and colorful labels evolved into full-fledged advertisements for some of California’s most beloved brands and fruit growers: Sunkist, J.E. Noia, Sierra Vista, Red ball, Handsum, Albion and Fido, to name just a few.

More than 80 vintage labels, which were produced over a period of 70 years until the 1950s, were selected from the museum’s permanent collection, the California State Library and from private collector Jim Dahlberg. These unique works of art not only display the railroad’s revolutionary fruits of labor, but tell the story of California’s prosperous farmland and the dream of the golden state.

For Railroad Museum librarian Cara Randall, who helped select the labels for the collection along with Robert Mistchenko, fruit crate art was “designed to promote California every bit as much as it was designed to promote fruit.”

“The fruit crate labels themselves are a fascinating segment of commercial art history,” she said. “They were being made during a time when advertising was coming of age and developing standards, and I think it's wonderful that so many of these labels have survived the years so that we can trace that development and see all the different styles.

“To me, as someone with no background in art history, I am astounded by the level of artistic skill that went into each of these labels,” she said, “even though they were designed to be discarded at the end of a long train ride to market.”

Kendra Dillard, California State Parks director of exhibits, described how the fruit crates carried on the advertising campaign that was started by the western railroad companies in to entice easterners to move west.

“New customers meant a thriving railroad industry. Their clever promotions pictured verdant land where it was always sunny and warm, even in winter when the northeast was covered with snow,” Dillard said. “The fruit crate labels adopted and expanded this tradition. Landscapes showing perfect rows of fruit trees and abundant green gardens portrayed California as a magical place where life could be better. Because many of the label artists who worked for the printing companies were immigrants themselves, they illustrated their new environs as they experienced them. They painted mythical farm sites and idyllic pastures inhabited with adorable animals and cherub-faced children.”

For native Sacramentan Gerry Holzapple, the fruit crate works of art recall a simpler time in Sacramento’s history.

“I came to the exhibit out of nostalgia,” Holzapple said, remembering when he used to see the fruit labels on the passing trains and in the markets as a youth. “These guys are too young to remember,” he added, nodding to his younger family members, who joined him at the exhibit on Sunday. “But I relate to it. They’re beautiful.”

Even for those who don’t remember, fruit crate art remains an American art form that reflects the styles, cultures and prejudices of the time period, “shaping a significant part of today’s vision of the past,” said Dillard.

To her and many others throughout the country, that vision is not lost.

“California is still seen as a land of opportunity where people find the promise of a new life in the wide-open West,” she said.

Premiered on March 4, "Pick Me! Fruit Crate Art & the California Dream" will remain on display at the California State Railroad Museum through March 30, 2012.

Exploring Love and Lust at Crocker Art Museum

2011-02-12T02:53:05Z

Love and lust were in the air Thursday night when Crocker Art Museum hosted its Art Mix series with the theme of “Love & Lust” in celebration of Valentine’s Day. The evening both warmed hearts and taunted mischief with a melange of performances and activities for a diverse audience, many of them couples. As DJ Mike Colossal spun sensual sounds, visitors posed affectionately in a photo booth by Beatnik Studios, drank pink pomegranate martinis and wrote Mad Lib love letters to each other.

On the third floor, Crocker featured selected amorous works in “Couples in the Collection.” The show includes Otis Oldfield’s portrait of his wife Helen in “White Dress,” John Bankston’s “Into the Rainbow,” and local painter Wayne Thiebaud’s portrait of his wife, titled “Betty Jean Thiebaud and Book.” The evening also engaged curious audiences with a presentation by Pecha Kucha, a global design network, which asked five local creative minds, “What turns you on?” The artists’ inspirations ranged from Kurt Edward’s photography of Jerry Brown in the ’70s to modern museum architecture and women in the humanities.

“We want to offer something for everybody,” said Christian Adame, Crocker’s lifelong learning manager. “Sensory overload is fun. It kind of sets (us) apart.”

The sensory experience hit its peak with provocative performances by the Sizzling Sirens burlesque dance troupe, a unique live art display, featuring theatrically enacted Valentine-themed vignettes. The live art pieces, a project that Sizzling Sirens founder Jessica Swanson says “fulfils an artistic fantasy,” explored five themes: Love, voyeurism, desire, mother nature and erotica.

Virtually visit the five Love & Lust scenes by viewing the Sizzling Siren’s program below:

Desire
“We always long for the forbidden things, and desire what is denied to us.”
– Francois Rabelais

Friends and neighbors for years, Lucinda and Harlow are both caged in sterile and unfulfilled marriages. Leaving the ladies with their domestic duties, their husbands have left for a weekend fishing trip. While the two housewives tend to their chores, the absences of their spouses allows them to explore their simmering feelings for each other. It does not take long for the tempted twosome to submit to their yearnings, and consequence is not a concern to them. Only one outcome is for certain: The dirty laundry will only get dirtier for these desperate dames.
Performed by Lucinda Buttons and Harlow Mynx.

Love
“Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.”
– Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) American clergyman, writer

Love is friendship, intimacy, comfort, exploration, sensuality, understanding and kindness, an emotional and physical reaction that recognizably unifies us when we experience it. Our sweet ingenues know the true meaning of love, and enjoy in celebration its many glorious forms. They teach us the pure gratification that comes when loving and exalting another simply for the enrichment of the divine spirit that lies within us all.
Performed by Shauni Fatale and Meowie Wowie.

Voyeurism
“You like to watch? Watch this…”
– Carly Norris, “Sliver”

Voyeurism, from the French voyeur, “one who looks,” can take several forms, but its principal characteristic is that the voyeur does not normally relate directly with the subject of their interest, who is often unaware of being observed. We are all made the voyeur at some point in life. We watch, listen, experience, from afar. It is not in our nature to resist the draw to see something private — not for our eyes to see. The challenge to holding to the secret, anticipation, excitement and peripheral titillation can be insurmountably ferocious.

Perofrmed by Colette Corbeau and Pantichrist

Mother Nature
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
– Albert Einstein

There is an organic and ancient seduction that swells with Mother Nature’s own power of creation and destruction. She is both awe inspiring and all consuming, with a ravenous passion the undercurrent to all her magnificent workings. Patience and raw power emanate from her very being, as she draws you into her spellbinding and ethereal gaze. She is all of us and none of us. A part, yet above. We revere and love her because she is everything.
Performed by Alijiah Dresden.

Erotica
“It breeds lust. Lust defiles the body, debouches the imagination, corrupts the mind, deadens the will, destroys the memory, sears the conscience, hardens the heart, and damns the soul.”
– Anthony Comstock

It’s a centuries-old campaign to bowdlerize, censor and reign in the great minds of classic writers because of their lustful content, and Comstock’s present-day bluenose successors’ basic motivations remain the same: to apply the values and preconceptions in a minority in such a way that the majority is denied free access to thoughts and ideas. This exhibit, featuring ribald and erotic excerpts from the likes of Ovid and Walt Whitman, demonstrates that erotic writing is a legitimate form of literary expression.
Performed by Tenacity Jane.

Scene text courtesy of The Sizzling Sirens

Photography by Julia Marino

Annual Winter Wine & Food Fest helps grant 100 wishes to local children

2011-02-01T03:14:06Z

Saturday, the Make-a-Wish Foundation Sacramento and Northeastern California chapter hosted the elegant 23rd Annual Winter Wine & Food Fest, featuring tasting from 120 regional wineries, breweries and restaurants.

The event also offered live music by classic cover band Over the Edge Band, a silent auction hosted by Dave Thompson from MIX 96 and a VIP live auction. The proceeds from sponsors, auction items and ticket sales will help grant wishes to local children “with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.”

This year, the Make-A-Wish Foundation Sacramento and Northeastern California chapter will grant approximately 230 wishes. The goal of the event was to raise approximately $500,000, enough funds to grant about 100 wishes for local children.

“Final numbers aren’t in yet,” newly appointed Director of Development Lea Ann Carlisle said. “But we are very happy with the way things went and (we are) feeling positive about the results.

“Make-A-Wish grants wishes to every medically eligible child” she added. “We won’t turn anyone away. So if more were referred to us, we would seek out other funding to make sure it happens. (The) average cash cost of a wish is about $5,000, so we also seek donors who will ‘adopt’ a wish.”

Held at the Sacramento Convention Center, the fest is the regional organization’s largest fundraising and wish-granting event. With several loyal supports and a few new organizers this year, including Carlisle and Make-a-Wish’s new regional CEO, Kennan Bridge, there was a new style and aura to the historic event, which included a red carpet and “star-studded” interior design, which “ ties into what we do, because our children are stars,” according to Carlisle.

Many area vendors and sponsors collaborated to make the event a success. Supporters included the board of directors, chairs and volunteers, as well as local business owners and working participants who donated their time for the good cause.

One such volunteer vender was Bassil Kamas, a massage therapist from Fair Oaks. Next to several of the wineries and other vendors at the event, Kamas set up his massage chair, where he offered deep-tissue and neck and shoulder massages for more than 30 attendees.

“I got involved because I always like to give back to the community, and what better way to do it through reputable charity events?” Kamas said.

“You really see the best of people in their association for Make-A-Wish,” Carlisle said. “We have a lot of supporters who have been touched by a wish themselves or family members who have been touched by a wish. So many people are touched by our mission and personally experience the magic that we provide.”

Inspired by her life-enhancing story, this year’s Winter Wine & Food Fest planning committee chose to honor 2011 Wish Ambassador Samanatha Louie, who was diagnosed with Biliary Atresia as an infant. Despite several food allergies, her dream has been to learn to be a chef. As a Make-a-Wish Foundation grantee, Louie was able to fulfill this dream by giving her the opportunity to take cooking classes in Italy.

“My expectations don’t include anything special, I am just happy that I have a special chance to have a wish,” she wrote in the event program. “Life is sometimes a hard struggle, but this wish made my life happier. I wanted to be a chef for a long time, but I’m allergic to so many foods … Cooking in Italy makes me even happier, and cooking with my family in Italy is the best thing that could ever happen to me.”

Many of these 100 wishes will be made at the newly built “Wishing Place” at the Make-a-Wish facility in Natomas, one of three Wishing Places in the United States, and the only Wishing Place on the West Coast.

Since the facility was built 14 months ago, about 85 percent of children referred to Make-a-Wish visit the Wishing Place, a magical room filled with stars. Once there, the children are given a coin and key and then make one of several kinds of wishes that include: “I want to be…,” “I want to meet…,” “I wish to have…,” “I wish to go…” and “I wish to give…,” where children can wish to give a gift to a loved one.

“(It’s) amazing that in this economy, with all the challenges people are facing, how it takes children to remind us what really matters,” Carlisle said.

You can learn about future Make-a-Wish events and ways to help grant more wishes by visiting: www.makeawish-sacto.org/

A Big Idea: Compleat Female Stage Beauty

2011-01-21T02:40:42Z

It is the year 1661 in England, and the lovely Desdemona lies sleeping in her bed, long golden locks draping over white linen. She awakens slowly to the sound of her lover. “Othello, is that you?” she asks sleepily. Othello, a masculine Moor, approaches her, intent to kill in his heart. He grabs a beaded pillow, and in a few moments, suffocates the damsel to death.

Gasps of terror turn to laughter as Desdemona jumps up from her deathbed, takes off a wig of flowing curls, and reveals the man behind Shakespeare’s lead lady – Ned Kynaston, the theatre’s greatest male portrayer of female roles in London.

“Oh, but the play is not over!” he says. The audience cheering, he falls elegantly onto the bed. Later, backstage, Kynaston and his company of actors try desperately to deal with the startling news that women are now allowed on the stage, a reality that threatens Kynaston’s career and identity.

However, the audience is actually witnessing a play within a play, “Compleat Female Stage Beauty,” and Ned Kynaston is performed by actor Benjamin Ismail.

“Compleat Female Stage Beauty,” written by Jeffrey Hatcher and directed by Brian Harrower, will run until Feb. 5 at the intimate Big Idea Theatre in Sacramento. The play is a timeless, comical and tragic story about the impact of gender in society and how to find our true selves; we must dare to remove our “masks.” The play stars company members Ismail as Kynaston and Kristine David as his rival, the first female stage actress: Margaret Hughes.

Ismail first came across the script for this play in 2004 as a student at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas.

"When I found it, I thought, ‘Oh my god! I have to do this someday!’ ” he said.

As a theater major with an emphasis in directing, Ismail proposed the play to his school, but the department declined because of the expense of the costumes.

Ten years later, Ismail finally gets to play what he considers to be the role of a lifetime.

“The script itself is just brilliant. The journey and the arc that Hatcher has written into it is a dream role.” he said. “I not only get to play Kynaston...but I get to play two Shakespeare roles that I would never get to play in real life because I’m not black, and I’m not a woman, so I get to play Othello and Desdemona.”

As a company member at Big Idea Theatre, Ismail had the chance to pitch three shows for the upcoming season.

“It was the first thing on the table,” he said.

But even then, it took a lot of campaigning to win the support of the theater.

“It’s a monster of a show. There are so many scene changes, so many costume changes and there’s so much going on, and we have a really small theatre here,” said Harrower, the director. “But it was such a good script, and I thought it was a really important story to tell.”

Five weeks and several lighting tricks later, the company managed to create a historic proscenium space, purchase 30 Restoration-era costumes on a budget of $500, and premiere the play to a receptive audience.

“That was kind of one of the challenges of making this piece, making sure that all of those elements were treated well and were given their full birth,” Harrower said. “It’s a very complete play. The first 45 minutes are almost completely a comedy. Then the next hour is a really serious drama and at the end it still manages to come out very redemptive.”

After finally playing the character that’s been in his pocket for more than six years, Ismail said that putting on the show has been quite an emotional journey.

“It’s quite a process for me,” he said. “I start getting ready for the show at 4:30 every day to start at 8, because I have to get everything pretty to be a woman or whatever...During rehearsals I’d get so into it that when the scene would be over, I just couldn’t shake it...I’m still discovering new things in the show. It has been hard to leave (Kynaston) at the theater, but I relish that."

Ismail added that it's not just his character that's layered with emotions, but the rest of the cast as well.

"All of the characters have so much going on underneath the surface," he siad. "This show is very much about putting on a show whether or not you’re on stage.”

“Without what we do, who are we?” is a common question being asked throughout the play. Ismail said it’s a question he’s asked himself daily.

“Coming out in the south was a great experience for me,” he said sarcastically. “And I had to learn that lesson very quickly, that we’re not always what we do because, you know, I don’t have to be a stereotype. Kynaston doesn’t have to be a stereotype. We’re just people. No matter where we come from, we’re all people, and we’ve got that in common. ‘Why do we do the things that we do?’ That’s what every character is asking in this show.”

Performances of “Compleat Female Stage Beauty” are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. (Jan. 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 28, 29, Feb. 4, 5) and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. (Jan. 16, 23, 30).

Art Mix: Playing with color at Crocker

2011-01-15T23:03:39Z

Crocker Art Museum presented a diverse palette of art and music Thursday night as part of its monthly exhibit and performance series Art Mix. January’s theme, titled “I Hear Color,” celebrated the vibrant watercolor explorations of world-renowned abstract expressionist Paul Jenkins, the sunny, melodic music of San Francisco’s Jake Mann and the Upper Hand, and also featured a playful prism of colorful crafts -- kaleidoscope creation, T-shirt painting, a swatch and color theory tour, and a professional photo booth.

The evening exuded a “choose your own adventure” environment where guests could wander at their own leisure throughout the new modern structure of the museum, pockets of color and light penetrating corners and hallways.

The Color of Light

Jenkins’ exhibit “The Color of Light”, which is shown in the spacious second floor gallery through February 20, represents the spirit of post World War II American abstraction and Pollock-era abstract expressionism. The collection honors the painter’s sensuous and elusive watercolors and selected work on canvas, including 29 watercolors pertaining to the artist’s dance-drama, “Shaman to the Prism Seen,” performed at the Paris Opera in 1987, as well as his recent large-scale watercolor, “Phenomena Wind Arch” from 2009.

The artist's enduring exploration of Eastern philosophy and inward reflection were made evident especially through two of the Jenkins' major projects, “Phenomena Peking Prism,” from 1988, a watercolor triptyque that relates to his experience painting on silk in Beijing, China, and “Phenomena Meditation Tower,” five watercolors inspired by monumental stained glass windows.

At the exhibit, three art students from Sacramento City College studied Jenkins' unique use of color and unconventional paint application, which includes controlled paint pouring on a primed canvas.

The students pointed to some of their favorite works, which included an oil and enamel on canvas titled “Cherokee Strip”.

“The textures are just really cool in it,” said Sonia Antilla. “I like it because it’s not all primary colors like the other ones.”

Sam Lyman then led us to “Last Phenomena of the 75s.”

“I like it because it’s focusing on purple. It’s my favorite color! But also, I like just the form of it. There are sharp lines but also blurred lines, and I like the way the blue and purple bleeds together.”

Jenkins explains his fluid, ethereal approach to color in his book “Conjunctions and Annexes,” which can be found at the Crocker gift store.

"Color is like water that has to sink down in the silt below and then be directed to rise to the surface as if of its own will and, like a river current, find its estuary," Jenkins wrote.

Arts & Crafts

Below in the historical room, artistic energy radiated as children and adults alike had the chance to play with color and create kaleidoscopes and various accessories. Vibrant scarves, swatches, bustles, retro hair bows and T-shirts painted the drawing tables as artists fastened glittering shapes on their wares.

A young boy wrote his name in paint on his small white T-shirt. He spelled out “Ryan,” smiling with satisfaction as he adds abstract shapes around the letters. When asked what he was drawing, the 5-year-old shrugged and said, “I don’t know…just something from my imagination!”

“And what is your favorite color,” his mother, Shannon Shehadi asked her son. “Black,” he answered quite matter-of-factly. She explained that her son is a fan of the Raiders. “So, what about your second favorite color?” she asked. “Silver!” he said.

At the table next to Shehadi and her son, Maia Kazaks and Madaline Stone of Sacramento were making hair accessories out of colorful transparent filters. Once the hairpieces were in place, the two friends danced over to the main hall for a photo op in the Crocker photo booth.

Wesley Davis, owner of Beatnik Studios, made colorful portraits of the two women. Davis explained how he used a slow shutter speed to allow the colorful stage lights bleed through the photo and allow his subjects to create colorful abstractions as they move.

Hearing Color

Beside the photo booth, the sound of guitar, bass and drums further amplified the animated mood of the room, and the audience moved closer to the stage as a couple twirled to the upbeat melodies.

Jake Mann and the Upper Hand played several hits from their new album, “Parallel South,” set to officially release on January 18 by the local Davis record label Crossbill Records.

In keeping with the theme of light, Mann explained how the record focuses on thoughts of “travel, movement and sunshine.”

“My last album was a little darker,” he said. “We’re getting sunnier with this one.”

Mann said that the band was excited to be able to “relax and stretch out their music” for the longer performance at the museum.

As apposed to the usual 35-minute bar set, the band performed two 45-minute sets at Crocker, playing a mixture of old and new songs, including their newest single “Days Are Long,” the improvisational “Say It’s Fine,” and a cover of “Drive” by The Cars.

“I like playing alternate spaces like this," Mann said. "It takes the focus off of us, and we can contribute more to the event."

Jake Mann and The Upper Hand will play again on Saturday, Jan. 22 at Phono Select in Sacramento.

The Crocker Art Museum holds its Art Mix event on the first Thursday of every month. You can experience the next Art Mix titled, "Love & Lust" on Thursday, Feb. 10 from 5 - 9 p.m.

Photography by Julia Marino

Migrant Children capture their lives through their own eyes

2010-12-24T01:43:05Z

A sunny day on the grassy playground, family gatherings around the table, an empty house, Our Lady of Guadalupe – these are just some of the vivid imagery captured by children of migrant agricultural workers temporarily living in Yolo County. Each of these photographs tells the untold story of migrant children – their fears, hopes and dreams as they migrate with their families from season to season, farm to farm.

A Través de Mis Ojos (Through My Eyes), sponsored in part by The Latino Legislative, Caucus Foundation and Spanglish Arte, is a collection of 48 intimate photographs featured from Dec. 10 through Friday at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Sacramento (CCAS). Viewers of the exhibit had the rare opportunity to experience a personal glimpse into the world of migrant children.

Most of the children in the exhibit learned about the art of photography in a class at Yolo Family Resource Center (YFRC) in Woodland.

Through the six-week program, facilitated by Neil Hollander and Natalia Deeb-Sosa, the children, most of whom never used a camera before, learned the mechanics of developing film and using 35mm cameras, which were donated by community members. Through these skills, the children were able to document aspects of their daily lives from their own perspectives. Their photographs also helped educate the community on the unique lives of farm workers

On Dec. 11, the art center held a Second Saturday reception, where they raised approximately $600 through donations, as well as through selling photographs and T-shirts. Proceeds will go toward the migrant children and their families, building YFRC services and setting up a darkroom so the children may continue producing quality photographs, such as the ones featured in "A Tráves de Mis Ojos."

According to Xico González, curator of the CCAS exhibit, “The class was such a huge success that the YFRC made a space for a small darkroom in their building.”

González first brought the idea of curating this exhibit “as a fundraiser and as an educational tool to provide the general public with an insight into the lives of farm workers.”

After past outreach experience in the Yolo County area, he decided to focus the project on the migrant community of Yolo County, specifically through the Davis Migrant Center, Dixon Migrant Center and YFRC.

“The responses have been very positive from the community towards this project, and exhibit,” González said. “People are very impressed by the children's photographs in terms of subject matter and aesthetics.”

One of the highlights of the exhibit includes an invitation to take "A Tráves de Mis Ojos" to San José State University in May 2011.