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MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — The Middletown Art Center, or MAC, invites the public to “Raíces Hermosas: Conversations with Artists,” on Saturday, April 6, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the MAC gallery.
The Raíces Hermosas ~ Gorgeous Roots group exhibit highlights contemporary expressions of Latinx art and culture.
Conversations with Artists and the Raíces Hermosas exhibit are free and open to the public.
This conversation with selected artists will be facilitated by the exhibit’s guest curator, Jez Flores-García, Ph.D. The event offers an opportunity to hear directly from the artists about their creative processes, inspirations and concerns as Latinx artists. The artist panel includes five exhibiting artists. Alex Blas, Jaymie de la Torre Hernandez, Maria Mariscal, Manuel Rios and Martín Zúñiga.
Lake County resident Alex Blas has exhibited his richly detailed figure paintings in galleries including Lyons Weir Gallery (New York) and George Billis Gallery (Los Angeles). Sculptor Jaymie de la Torre Hernandez of Angwin works in clay and found objects and is an instructor of fine art at Pacific Union College.
Maria Mariscal and Manuel Rios are based in Sacramento. Mariscal’s work focuses on intersectional Latinx identities and mental health. In his work, Rios explores the nuances of Latinx identity in rural versus urban environments. He is a professor of art at Woodland Community College. Martín Zúñiga creates art that focuses on community and facilitates collaborative youth art projects and art events as a member of the Raizes Collective in Santa Rosa.
Flores is a curator and art historian specializing in contemporary art and Chicano art. Her research focuses on the ways artists navigate burdens of representation and forge intersectional alliances of resistance. “The Raíces Hermosas exhibition brings together work by artists across generations who identify as Latinx. However, that identity is complicated, at both individual and community levels. During the panel we will hear from the artists about representation—in every sense of the word—and its burdens.”
The event will be accessible via Zoom through the MAC website at www.middletownartcenter.org. Live Spanish translation will be available.
Raíces Hermosas is on view at MAC through May 27, Thursday to Monday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The gallery hosts school field trips on most weekdays until 1 p.m.
Please visit MAC’s website or contact 707-355-4465 to learn more.
Funding for the Raíces Hermosas project is provided by the Specified General Fund for the Museum Grant Program under the California Cultural and Historical Endowment
The Middletown Art Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the arts and cultural enrichment in the Middletown community and beyond. Through exhibitions, workshops, and events, MAC strives to inspire creativity and foster a deeper appreciation for the arts.
To learn more and contribute to support Raíces Hermosas and other MAC arts and cultural programs, visit middletownartcenter.org or call 707-809-8118. The MAC is located at 21456 State Highway 175 in Middletown.
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- Written by: Middletown Art Center
UKIAH, Calif. — Beloved concert pianist Elena Casanova will storm the stage in stilettos for the grande finale of the Ukiah Community Concert Association season.
The concert will take place beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 21, at the Mendocino College Center Theatre, 1000 Hensley Creek Rd, Ukiah.
Casanova’s brilliance is well known to American audiences where she is renowned equally for her spirited performances of both the European masters and Latin American composers.
Her recordings, “Ensuenos de Cuba,” “Fuentes sin Igual,” and “Recordando” have been met with rave reviews. Critic Joel Thompson wrote of the Cuban native: “The rhythms of this music that Casanova has so skillfully and passionately rendered may grab hold of your soul, allowing you to become Cuban for a while — the mark of a great pianist.”
In addition to numerous solo piano recitals, Casanova has performed as soloist with orchestras throughout Northern California, including Symphony of the Redwoods, Ukiah Symphony, and Pacific Union College Orchestra with a repertoire including Mozart’s “Piano Concerto no. 21,” the “Khachaturian Piano Concerto in D-flat Major,” Beethoven’s “Emperor Concerto,” and Liszt’s “Piano Concerto No. 1.”
She has also performed in a variety of popular idioms with Grammy Award winning reed player Paul McCandless, Grammy nominated guitarist Alex DeGrassi, and with recording artist and pianist Spencer Brewer in his annual Professional Pianists concert at the Mendocino College Theatre.
In a tour de force program created especially for the UCCA audience, Casanova will perform Cuban music with multimedia, multi-sensory and evocative elements including poetry and dance.
It promises to be a spectacular multi-media event celebrating Elena's Cuban heritage with exquisite piano compositions and snappy rhythms as well as participation by members of Cantabile (opera theater), Eloquence Ensemble (piano quartet), Paloma Victoria Rodriguez Irizarry (choreography and dance), and guest artist Adrian Casanova.
Tickets for non-season subscribers are $35 in advance and $40 at the door. Advance tickets are available online at www.ukiahconcerts.org and at Mendocino Book Company in Ukiah and Mazahar in Willits.
As part of their ongoing educational outreach program, free tickets are available to youth 17 and under when accompanied by an adult, and to full-time (12 units) college students. Free tickets must be reserved in advance by calling 707-463-2738 with name, phone number and email address.
For more information, please contact the UCCA at 707-463-2738 or email us at
Ukiah Community Concert Association has been presenting nationally acclaimed talent since 1947.
This all-volunteer nonprofit’s mission is to build and maintain a permanent concert audience and cultivate an interest in fine music of all genres among the citizens of the community and surrounding area. It is also their goal to encourage music appreciation in the schools of the community.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
