photos: in Weedpatch

headed north on Ridge Road which becomes Weedpatch Hwy

Sunset School on Sunset Rd at Weedpatch Hwy, adjacent to Weedpatch Migrant Camp

Looking in to season housing complex known as Weedpatch Camp

Community Hall at Weedpatch Camp (in 2007)

Looking at the stage in Weedpatch Camp Community Hall (2007)

Looking away from the stage in Community Hall (2007- Cornerstone's Nico Lang & Michael Garcés with David Nigel Lloyd, formerly of the Arts Council of Kern)

From the lobby? at west side of the Community Hall (2007)

a glimmer of an idea long ago...

2008 - Weedpatch Visits

Oct 2, 2008 -  On October 2 Michael, Nico and I visited Weedpatch with our friend from Arts Council of Kern, David Nigel Lloyd.   David brought in a community-based arts company from the UK, CoLab, to do a project with Weedpatch in October/November 2006.  As part of that project 3 sub-groups were defined in the community- English speakers who migrated west during the Dustbowl, Spanish speakers who immigrated from Mexico and Latin American countries, and Mixtecan speakers who immigrated from the Mexican state of Oaxaca.  The CoLab project ended up being a collection of stories from all three groups that were translated into all three languages. 

On our tour we saw where the main part of town is (maybe the equivalent of 12 blocks) including a trailer park where most of the Oaxacan community lives.  One mile south on Weedpatch Hwy is the Sunset School.  This elementary school might be a housing option for us.  They also have a cafetorium which might be useful.  About half a mile east from there is Sunset Labor Camp.  Formerly Weedpatch Labor Camp, this is an enclosed area with housing for seasonal workers (in use April? thru September).  The camp also include a few original buildings from the 1930s including a community hall that includes a small stage.

This would be an outstanding performance venue (with a serious amount of clean-up).  Another half mile down the road is another school- Vineland Elementary, another housing possibility.  David Lloyd has many connections with all these organizations & locations.  There is a “Dustbowl Festival” on October 20 (8am – 3pm) at Sunset School.

One idea Michael suggested is to plan for I-6/2009 in Weedpatch, allowing us to do story circles with the permanent community in the winter, and with the migrant camp residents in the summer of 08, during I-5 and involving I-5 students.

Oct 20, 2008 - Michael and I attended the Dustbowl Days Festival in Weedpatch.  The event was held at the Sunset School so we had a good opportunity to case the school for how it might accommodate as a living/study facility for an Institute Summer Residency.  It would be great since in addition to many classrooms there is a “Cafetorium” that includes a kitchen.  Seems like we’d rely on outdoor solar showers there similar to the set-up in Grayson.  Unlike Grayson, however, and just like, Holtville, all staff would likely be living on the school campus with the students since the motel options are not nearby.

It’s less than 10 minutes walk to the Community Hall and the Migrant Camp.  The historical buildings there were all cleaned up for the Dustbowl Days event.  We talked with some people at the historical buildings—two women who had lived at the camp as children, and some younger folks (including the nephew of the two women) who have an interesting theater company in Bakersfield called The Empty Space.  They were at the festival in costume and handing out flyers for their current production called Onionheads, that is set in the Dustbowl era.  One of the actors was familiar with Cornerstone from having participated in the 2000 Cal State Fresno Summer Arts program led by Bill Rauch the year before we did Growing Home.  He also came to LA to see For Here Or To Go?   There was a friend with them who works with the Mecca Health Clinic which serves mostly migrant farm workers.  She took extra fliers to post at the clinic since a lot of their clients spend part of the year living in Weedpatch.

*  *  *  *
We ended up not going to Weedpatch, or even pursuing more tangible support & information at that time.  Our Institute Summer Residency in 2008 was planned for much of the year to be in a Ventura County town called Piru.  But it's a very small town and we could not secure housing for a residency there.  Our last best option of living at Piru Elementary School was 100% not viable late in the game-- March 2008.  Instead we did our I-5 collaboration in our own home neighborhood where Cornerstone is based: the downtown Los Angeles Arts District.  

In 2009, we worked with folks in Eureka CA, in Humboldt County.
In 2010, we were again closer to home, in the NE Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacoima.
In 2011, we returned to the Central Valley as we collaborated with Fowler in Fresno County.  
In early 2011 The Arts Council of Kern reached out to us and invited us to please come work in Kern County once again.  (Our first Institute took place in Lost Hills, an unincorporated town in west Kern County.)
 *  *  *  *

May 26, 2011 As we gear up for I-8 in Fowler, we are also looking toward next summer, trying to work farther out to determine collaborating communities.  Some communities we are exploring for 2012 and 2013 are Oildale, Tehachapi (both in Kern Co), San Pedro, Sylmar, East Salinas and a partnership with Amino Pat Brown Charter High School in central Los Angeles.

Invitation from ACK and steps that followed

April 20, 2011

From Jill Egland

Hi, Paula -

The Arts Council is interested in applying for an NEA grant in this next cycle (2012 implementation). It’s entitled “Theatre: Art Works” and has three different takes on it: the creation of new works, the hosting of a visiting production, and Would Cornerstone be open to collaborating with us in a Kern-based community theatre project Kern similar to “Waking Up in Lost Hills?”

We’ve had several staff shifts since you were last in contact with us. Jeanette Richardson our ED, and David Nigel Lloyd, the arts ed program director, are both no longer employed here. I’m trying to get the two people currently in those roles to come with me to see The Unrequited in the next couple of weeks, so they can get a feel for what it is that you bring to a community.

~~~

May 18, 2011  (to Cornerstone colleagues, From Paula)

Sabrina and I talked with Jill Egland at Arts Council of Kern today.  They are really interested in having a full on Cornerstone experience in Kern County.  They have selected Oildale and Tehachapi as best Kern County communities for us to collaborate with. 

Jill also was clear that they are open and really want us to do what we do without any agenda from them except how it can impact them with professional development. They also chose these two towns as places that may be ripe for a community play experience to inspire them into ongoing positive change.

They are really excited about the I-9 Institute time-slot.  We suggested they consider a model that doesn't have the burden and restrictions that an Institute would place on a Kern Co project-- one where they hire Cornerstone artists and maybe someone to take the lead with Comm Engagement and these handful of CTC folks would work in partnership with Kern folks.  This version allows for the project scope to be modified according to what they can fund.

They are more interested in the pre-designed parameters of an Institute project.

And rather than be dependent upon their fundraising, it seems like we might just consider these towns as potential I-9 (2012) communities that come with a passionate, connected partner org (Arts Council of Kern) who may bring more funding into the project.  Jill thinks that ACK's relationships with schools will help us secure facilities needs.  So far they seem to bring us the most in terms of our alternative I-9 communities of San Pedro and Sylmar.

We've tentatively set a meeting/field trip date for Monday May 30.  We'd go meet with the ACK folks then visit both towns.  If we can set it up, I'm hoping that the town visits would also include site visits of potential housing & venues.

PS- Backstory:  ACK folks saw Waking Up In Lost Hills (2004), hired us for a very well attended 2DI (2006) and have sent 4 to 6 individuals to participate in 2DIs at ctc.  They've  also produced 2 fairly large scale youth-focused projects utilizing what they've learned through us, (and maybe more) though they struggle with these projects and feel they need more guidance to really get it right.

~~~

 With Jill and Laura from Arts Council of Kern we visited the towns of Oildale and Tehachapi.

Ashley Walden put together some basic info that included demographics, possible partner organizations and schools in each of these towns.  

Jill arranged a meeting with relevant people in each town: 

Oildale: Mtg at District Supervisor's Office (in Bakersfield)

+ Rep from District Supervisor Mike Maggard's office
+ Rep from the community-based group, Citizens for a New Oildale
+ Rep from a Bakersfield Sound nightclub, Trout's  (no show)
+ Rep from Standard (as in "Chevron Oil") School District  (no show)

Tehachapi: Mtg at Tehachapi Unified School District Office
+ Administration from Middle School and High School (2 people-maybe more?)
+ Jon Hammond: journalist, musician, representative of the Piute tribe  (no show)
+ Rep from District Supervisor Zach Schrivner's office
+ (possible) Rep from Wind Energy Center  (no show)
+ (possible) Rep from local community theatre group, BeeKay Theatre Company  (yes! 2!)

Good meetings in both towns.  Though the Oildale meeting was small, it felt particularly worthwhile to have met Jeanette (Jan) the founder of a grassroots organization called Citizens for a New Oildale.  After the meetings in seemed clear that while Oildale would be a lot harder to do in terms of building relationships as well it being a town somewhat defined by hard issues (poverty, history of racism, disappointment, high drug use, and seemingly generally onery), there was a greater need for a project like ours in Oildale than in Tehachapi.  Tehachapi has a lot of summer tourist activity and many arts festivals & events.  More importantly, they have the BeeKay Theatre Company who is not only a local theater company, they have already embarked on efforts to engage a broader part of the community.  

Update: local staff & documentation

A few weeks back Geoff (pronounced JOFF), our Production Manager, and Kimberley Newton, our Costume Designer, were measuring the stage and trees around the stage in Panzak Park.  There was a man in the park who approached them and it turned out he just happened to be a retired technical director.  His name is Kelly Crutchfield and he lives in Fowler.  We had been talking recently about some of the few vital tech positions we needed to fill, so it was crazy good fortune when Kelly told us that his wife has a lot of costume experience, and that is daughter, Kim, & son-in-law, Chad, are IATSE electricians with plenty of production experience.  Since then we've hired Chad to be Master Electrician and Mrs. Crutchfield-- also named Kelly!-- to be costume assistant.  Kim and her dad will also be working with us doing production work.

Nicole Nelson-Campos is a college student home in Los Angeles for the summer and fulfilling a Los Angeles County Arts Internship with Cornerstone.  She's focusing on development and communications and other administrative areas, but she's been recruited to help out with documentation for the Institute Summer Residency.  Nicole will spend most of the first week of the Institute in residence with us.  She'll take photos and hopefully some video, maybe record some video interviews.   She brings a lot knowledge and skill as a filmmaker and has the liberty of an outside eye since she isn't participating as a student or staff member with other responsibilities.  Nicole will also help us set up a weblog so that students and staff can share our experience in Fowler with friends and family far away.

Sage's First Trip on Hwy 99

Yesterday, Paula and I made the last trip North before the big move-in this weekend. I was excited to visit this place I had been hearing so much of, and nervous to experience the reality of 105 degree weather. There were lots of little errands on the list: setting up utilities and picking up keys for the house in Reedley, handing out letters to our neighbors in Fowler alerting them to our upcoming residency, and dropping off audition flyers to the library and other local businesses. With all of that, we were also scheduled to attend an evening event in Fresno featuring CTC’s MJG and Peter Howard who is finishing up a two-week residency as part of Summer Arts at CSU.

Coming over the Tejon Pass (known also as ‘the Grapevine’) was one of the most beautiful drives that I’ve ever done in California. You pass by an awe-inspiring lake (reservoir?) at the top, and see the Valley vista before you start your decent. Once we got down into the Central Valley, the highway was bordered with various fruits and vegetables that we don’t grow a lot of in Upstate NY. Apricots, Walnuts, Almonds, Grapes…

With each stop of the car the temp outside was getting hotter and hotter. We pulled into Reedley around 3:30pm and driving through the downtown area, saw a small farmer’s market closing up for the day.  As it turns out, the drive from Reedley to Clovis takes almost an hour one way, and we had to do some quick problem solving to figure out what we could really accomplish in the time we had. By the time the utilities were paid and the keys picked up it was 5:30 and we had just enough time to grab a quick bite at Whole Foods and head over to  Fresno State before 6:30.

The event was a great trip through CTC’s 25-year history. MJG and PH shared pictures and video clips and Peter lead the group in a little participatory activity.

Afterward I got to meet some of CTC’s biggest supporters in Fresno County and talk with them about our upcoming project. I met the Masumoto Family, who had made the 20/30minute drive from Fowler/Del Rey to attend the lecture. They even brought up a flat of their gorgeous peaches to bring back to the staff in LA. I got a chance to talk a little with Nikiko and hear about her journey with Cornerstone and her part in bringing us there. She is hoping to audition for the play and participate as much as possible, but is conscious of the workload at the farm this time of year being the busy harvest time. Her younger brother was also there and lit up at the suggestion that he should come by and audition.

Chatting with folks and hearing about the excitement that is already building in the community is so exciting and energizing for me and is great motivation for getting through a busy busy weekend and set up week. In the next week we will be tackling much of the move in and set up of our home away from home in Folwer and it’s great to know we have some gracious and enthusiastic hosts and collaborators for our 8th institute!
--
Sage Alia Clemenco

Design meeting at Traction Ave

 

Lynn, Geoff, Kim, (Amiya on Sykpe) Julie, Laurie, Sage

Lynn's model for set -- stage as shadow box and cement pad in front as playing space, using raisin crates or facsimiles for levels and sittables

some updates: script

So, as I may have mentioned: because housing in Fowler wasn't finalized until March, our story circle process and script writing was delayed.  Ideally we'd have script in April or May, if not sooner, but today is when we get the first draft of the script, called A Man Comes to Fowler. 
There's lot of planning that had to be done without a script.   So we did our best to gather a strong team of designers that director Laurie feels confident about and that we felt could roll with the unknowns and still be creatively great in an abbreviated play making process.  We also started early with the intention to simplify.  Being outdoors always is more wearing on the company, especially in the overly hot summer of the central valley.  Being in a public park also presents the challenges of balancing our artistic needs and desires with a public space that needs to continue to serve the community every day while we are there and afterward.  We also knew we'd have on the low end of our student class size, again defining our resources just a little tighter.

These ideas combined with our experiences in town and in story circles and conversation led to the idea of an Our Town- like play.  Not an adaptation exactly, but an "Inspired by" approach.
Additionally, Lynn Jeffries, a founding company member and terrific designer & collaborator wanted to be a part of this Institute and she is much more interested in puppet design & direction lately than she is in scenic &/or costume design.  So with our venue and this type of play we felt that could have the simplest set possible but incorporate a bunch of shadow puppets to help tell the story in an exciting way.  (Even though we weren't sure what the story would be.)
So we've been making decisions about the production for the past couple months and remarkably playwright Julie has been gracious and calm and collaborative in that even as she has the daunting task of writing a good play that meets the MANY needs of everyone-- including the people of Fowler!

This afternoon a few Cornerstone folks will read this draft of the play together and discuss it and head directly into another design/production meeting.
(Students will be sent a draft of the script very soon, too.)