NORTH COAST, Calif. – The show must go on!

The Mendocino College art community has taken the challenge presented by the current shelter in place and will continue its 30-year tradition of Spring Student Art Shows by featuring it virtually.

The show can be viewed by visiting here.

This team effort of the college’s graphic designer, publicity team, art gallery, and all academic departments, heralds in a new concept and a new era for the Mendocino College Art Gallery.

In the past, the show was mounted and shown in the Mendocino College Art Gallery for the last six weeks of each academic year.

Now the show can live on in its virtual home for as long as people want to visit and view it.

Another truly revolutionary aspect is now, for the first time, all creative pursuits can be showcased for everyone to view at the same time.

The usual show staples include 2d arts (painting, drawing, photography, and digital printed artworks) and 3D arts (sculpture, ceramics and pottery, and digital 3D printing).

This year, with this new virtual show concept, additional arts will be included, such as culinary arts, theater, dance, music and creative writings.

The Spring Student Art Show is Mendocino College Art Gallery’s largest and most popular show.

The students, their families, the college and community always look forward to seeing the creativity that thrives in Mendocino College students. Now it will be even easier and more fully representative of all student’s creative pursuits than ever before.

The show will be continually expanding over the next two weeks.

Many items in the virtual show are for sale and can be purchased by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . All proceeds go directly to student artists.

For more information please contact the Mendocino College Art Gallery at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Middletown Art Center announces a three-part digital marketing workshop “Tools for Visibility in the Age of Social Distancing” geared to professional artists.

It’s happening this Saturday, May 2, from 1:30 to 3 p.m. and the next two Saturdays, May 9 and 16.

This course is designed to help artists explore a range of new digital tools to inventory their work and collections and to establish an online presence.

“It will help you to market and manage your art career more easily and professionally, and provide an online showcase for potential buyers, collectors and galleries to see your work more easily,” explained Workshop Leader and Curator Nicola Chipps. “We will also be talking about the COVID-19 Crisis and resources within the arts community that can provide a forum for discussion, as well as relief programs”.

This is the first of a professional development series the MAC plans to offer artists.

The workshop consists of three sessions: “Explore: Intro to Artwork Archive,” “Build: Your Online Catalogue” and “Connect: Tell Your Story.”

The format will be with a live instructor on the Zoom platform, which allows for interactive questions and answers. A laptop or computer is required. All sessions will be recorded so you can review the material if you miss one.

The fee is $60 for MAC members and $75 for non-members.

Please preregister online at MiddletownArtCenter.org/classes. Partial work-trade options are available. Technical support will be offered 30 minutes before class by appointment. Enquire via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The MAC has been offering children’s, and Woodland Community College art classes online since the shelter in place began.

Find out more about how MAC is adapting to the current evolving situation and ways to support the MAC’s efforts to weave the arts and culture into the fabric of life in Lake County at www.middletownartcenter.org .

I had to drop out of a philosophy class in college because I'd begun to think about what I was thinking about and I was getting dizzy and sick.

Here's a poem by Danusha Laméris about getting relief from thinking. It's from “Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems,” published by Grayson Books of West Hartford, Connecticut.

The poet lives in Santa Cruz, California, and she has a book forthcoming in April 2020 from the University of Pittsburgh Press entitled “Bonfire Opera.”

Thinking

Don't you wish they would stop, all the thoughts
swirling around in your head, bees in a hive, dancers
tapping their way across the stage? I should rake the leaves
in the carport, buy Christmas lights. Was there really life on Mars?
What will I cook for dinner? I walk up the driveway,
put out the garbage bins. I should stop using plastic bags,
visit my friend whose husband just left her for the Swedish nanny.
I wish I hadn't said Patrick's painting looked "ominous."
Maybe that's why he hasn't called. Does the car need oil again?
There's a hole in the ozone the size of Texas and everything
seems to be speeding up. Come, let's stand by the window
and look out at the light on the field. Let's watch how the clouds
cover the sun and almost nothing stirs in the grass.

American Life in Poetry does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. It is made possible by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2013 by Danusha Laméris, "Thinking," from The Moons of August, (Autumn House Press, 2013). Poem reprinted by permission of Danusha Laméris and the publisher. Introduction copyright @2020 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.

‘JACKIE ROBINSON’ ON PBS

April 15th is a milestone every year as the deadline for filing of tax returns.

But April 15, 1947, is one of the most historically unforgettable dates of the post-World War II era, right up there with the moon landing and the day President Kennedy was assassinated.

Baseball fans immediately recognize that this date in 1947 marks the breaking of the color barrier in Major League Baseball when Jackie Robinson made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on Opening Day.

Now that those who enjoy the nation’s pastime have been relegated to reruns of vintage games as this year’s opening day has come and gone with stadiums around the country sitting idle, PBS has resurrected its two-part “Jackie Robinson” documentary.

For a limited time, PBS has made the Ken Burns documentary available for streaming to commemorate the celebration of the first African-American to play at the major league level.

Part 1 of “Jackie Robinson” is devoted to his early life and baseball career, focused on the significance of the first player in the Negro Leagues to get drafted into the majors by the visionary Branch Rickey, general manager of the Dodgers.

Though born to a family of sharecroppers in Cairo, Georgia, Jack Roosevelt Robinson (his middle name is in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt) was raised in Pasadena, California where his athletic ability served him well in school.

Robinson proved to be an all-around athlete and film clips of his football career demonstrate his talent for running the ball. At UCLA, he was the first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: football, baseball, basketball and track.

That he was good at football caught the attention of the media and writer George Will narrated the Los Angeles Times article that noted Robinson “carried the football as though he was carrying a watermelon running from its owner who had a shotgun.”

Before he could pursue a professional career in sports, Robinson was drafted into a segregated unit of the Army during World War II. Way ahead of Rosa Parks, Robinson once refused the order of a civilian driver to move to the back of a military bus.

The military police that responded were disrespectful and Robinson refused to back down, which then lead to his arrest on the charge of insubordination. Taking an aggressive posture with an officer reflected his strong sense of social justice.

Fortunately, Robinson was found not guilty during a court-martial and then penned a sharply-worded to the Adjutant General expressing his disgust with how the Army treated him and asking to be retired from the military. An honorable discharge was granted.

Robinson’s baseball career got launched when he signed with the Kansas City Monarchs, one of the teams in the Negro Leagues, where he drew the attention of Branch Rickey who was scouting for talent to add to the Dodgers’ roster.

Interviewed for the documentary, the legendary Buck O’Neil, who played most of his career with the Kansas City Monarchs, revealed that Robinson hated the Negro Leagues because they were poorly financed and operated in a hectic, disorganized fashion.

The key to Rickey drafting Robinson into the Dodger farm team in Montreal was to convince the proud ballplayer that he would have to hold his temper in check and not respond to the vicious taunts, racial epithets and worse while not retaliating.

Racial discrimination against Robinson was so pervasive that there were teams in Southern cities in the minor leagues that refused to play if Robinson was on the field. One city canceled a game claiming the lights didn’t work, and this was for a day game.

Robinson’s widow, Rachel, playing a prominent role in the documentary, observes that her husband felt the pressure to succeed on the field to achieve social progress because “he felt the weight of black people on his shoulders.”

Animosity to a black player was no less virulent when Robinson made his entry on to the majestic grounds of Ebbets Field and even some Dodger teammates like Dixie Walker asked to be traded rather than play with a man of color.

The second part of “Jackie Robinson,” though it includes film clip highlights of his playing days in Brooklyn, incorporates a look at Robinson’s life after baseball when he wrote a newspaper column and assumed a more assertive stance as a civil rights activist.

Robinson entered the business world as the first black person to serve as vice president of a major American corporation, the Chock full o’ Nuts company that originated from a chain of New York coffee shops.

Not affiliated with any political party, Robinson was nonetheless involved and surprised many by actively supporting Richard Nixon during the 1960 presidential campaign after being unimpressed by his opponent.

Both history buffs and baseball lovers should enjoy “Jackie Robinson” for the great footage of great moments like stealing home plate in the 1955 World Series and public speaking for civil rights. Hurry to catch this on the PBS website before you have to search elsewhere.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County poets are invited to enter the Voices of Lincoln Poetry Contest.

Last year 2018-2020 Lake County Poet Laureate Richard Schmidt won with his “Rodeo Cowgirl” poem and was invited to Lincoln to read it.

The Voices of Lincoln Poetry Contest began in 2005 as a regional contest for Lincoln and Placer counties.

In later years the contest extended to the greater Sacramento area. In 2010, a poet from Ohio entered the contest and in 2012, the contest became international with a poet entering from Queensland, Australia.

The contest is now in its 16th year and the number of poets entering has grown.

In 2017 the most entrants in the history of the contest drew 182 poets from 43 California cities, seven states outside California and from Canada, England, India, Nigeria and Singapore.

Last year winning poets came from 17 California cities, four states – Arizona, Georgia, Massachusetts and Ohio – and one from London, England.

A special division “Young Poets” category is set up for poets 18 years or under.

Last year 13 young poets entered the contest with ages ranging from 12 to 17. There are five categories to challenge the poets’ imagination.

Poets may submit a maximum of three poems, one from each of the five categories.

The deadline for entrants is July 18. Poems must be submitted in hard copy to Alan Lowe, contest coordinator.

Forms may be found here and additional information can be obtained by emailing Lowe at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

First, second and third-place winners are selected in each category, both for adult and young poets.

The winning poets are invited to read their poems at the Voices of Lincoln Poetry Contest Special Event on Oct. 11 at the Lincoln Public Library in Lincoln.

If a winner is unable to attend, their poem will be read by a member of the Poets Club of Lincoln.

How many poets does it take to change a light bulb? Only one.

Here’s a poem by Jared Carter from his new book, “The Land Itself,” from Monongahela Press.

This is a fine example of how a talented poet can make a gift for us from the most ordinary subject.

Carter lives in Indianapolis. His “Darkened Rooms of Summer: New and Selected Poems,” is published by the University of Nebraska Press in a series I edit for them.

Changing the Front Porch Light for Thanksgiving

To balance there, again, in the early dark,
three rungs up on the old stepladder,
afraid to go any higher, it wobbles so—
to reach out and find the first set-screw
stripped of its thread, barely holding the lip
in place—to stretch even farther, twisting
the next one to break the rust, turning
the last with the tips of your fingers until
the white globe drops down smooth and round
in your hands, and you see inside a pool
of intermingled wings and bodies, so dry
it stirs beneath your breath. To watch them
flutter, again, across the grass, when you
climb down and shake them out in the wind.


American Life in Poetry does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. It is made possible by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2019 by Jared Carter, "Changing the Front Porch Light for Thanksgiving," from The Land Itself, Monongahela Press, 2019). Poem reprinted by permission of Jared Carter and the publisher. Introduction copyright @2020 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.