S1: It's time for Midday Edition on KPBS. Today's show takes us through San Diego's arts and culture scene. I'm Jade Hindman. Here's to conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. A writers festival highlights local storytellers.
S2: So it was an idea to have a festival that celebrated the writing community in San Diego that's growing and vibrant , and also to bring readers and lovers of storytelling in all its forms.
S1: Plus , DJ cotton Candy is honored for their work as an artist and activist. They'll be joining the show , and we'll go through all of the events happening this weekend in your weekend preview. That's ahead on Midday Edition. Welcome in San Diego , it's Jade Hindman. Today's arts and culture show takes us to a writers festival showcasing the stories of our region. Plus , local activist and artist DJ cotton Candy is honored and we'll talk about the events in your weekend preview. This is Midday Edition , connecting our communities through conversation. The fifth annual San Diego Writers Festival is this Saturday at Coronado Public Library. Over 90 speakers will explore the styles , genres and lived experiences through writing. They'll share strategies for crafting a scene , writing about place , and telling their personal stories. Joining me now are two moderators and panelists participating this weekend. Tracy J. Jones is the president of the International Memoir Writers Association. Tracy , welcome.
S2: Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to talk about the Writers Festival.
S1: So glad to have you here. Also with us , Laura Cathcart Robbins. She's a writer and host of the podcast The Only One in the Room. Laura , welcome to you too.
S3: Thank you so much. I'm really excited to be here.
S1: Glad to have you both here. You know , Tracy , let's start with you. You were a huge part of organizing the San Diego Writers Festival.
S2: So it was an idea to have a festival that celebrated the writing community in San Diego that's growing and vibrant , and also to bring readers and lovers of storytelling in all its forms , whether it's playwright , comics , movies , to bring them all together. So it's a community event. It's something that we're so proud to be doing our fifth year with it , and we even survived doing it on Covid year , doing it virtual. So it's been a little engine that could. The San Diego Writers Festival and the International Memo Writers is a proud sponsor of it. But the festival itself , the big team there is Marni Friedman , Jennifer Thompson and , uh , Carolyn Gilman and Anastasia Zedek. They are the team behind this. And just we're just thrilled to be a part of it. Wow.
S1: And you know , it's free. Is that right ? I just want to make sure.
S2: That's the funniest thing. Yes , it's absolutely free. It's hard to imagine a writers festival with 90 speakers , New York Times best selling authors , best selling screenplays , 40 events , one day free music , food trucks , live entertainment and poetry reading. So I'm replying on Facebook and people are like , are you sure it's free ? It doesn't seem like this should be free. And it is 100% free. And we're very honored to have a partnership with the Coronado Library and Public Performing Arts Center and Warwick's books as well , to help us produce and put on such a festival of such caliber this year. And Laura's been on our advisory board since the beginning , I think. Right , Laura , I. Have.
S3: Have.
S1: Well , I want to know what inspired you to join.
S3: So in 2018. In October 2018 , I went to a three day writer's retreat given by Elizabeth Gilbert and Cheryl Strayed called Brave Magic. In the Santa Cruz Mountains. There was 600 people and I was the only black person there. And so I wrote an article about that for Huffington Post , and it went viral pretty much immediately. And one of the many , many , many responses I got after that article went viral was from Jennifer and Marni , and they said that they were putting together this writing festival. They were , you know , getting ready to launch it. They didn't want anyone to ever have the experience that I had at their festival. And what I consider joining the advisory board so that I could , you know , help ensure that that experience didn't happen for anyone else. And I was just like a brand new writer. I hadn't written my memoir yet , um , which came out last year. I had been that was my first article , my first published article. So I was at the very beginning of my writing career , and I was thrilled that someone would ask me to join an advisory board for a writing festival. And , um , so we've been working together ever since , and they are true to their words. Like they really make sure that each festival is as inclusive as possible and inviting , and that the barrier to entry , which is like what Tracy was talking about , how we can't believe it's free just to remove any barriers to entry for people who want access to something that they might not normally have access to.
S1: And you mentioned the experience that you had and and how you're taking part in ensuring that no one else has to go through that.
S3: I want to make that clear. But I do get brought in for the conversations as we're looking forward to the next festival. And it's always like , you know , checkpoints , you know , who are we representing on these panels ? Who are these panels speaking to , who are they for ? And if they're for one community more than another , we want to make sure we even that out and have some equity and that everyone is represented as best we can. You know , it's as far as writers go , right ? We're not going to be able to represent everybody in the world , but as many genres as we can in this festival , we want to represent so that everybody can say , oh , that's for me. This is where I need to be. These are going to be my people on this panel or this is totally not me , but I want to learn more about this particular genre or this particular group of people. So we really we really look at it in a strategic way and map it out so that , so that we have full representation. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. I mean , about the panels , because you'll be moderating one called Who Tells our stories , who sells our stories ? Black authors speak out. Um , tell me a bit. About that.
S3: So , you know , part of the the work that I do is a memoirist and a podcaster is and just as a black author , um , is broadening the reach of , of , you know , marginalized voices and , and black authors in particular. And , uh , Marnie and I had actually talked about having a panel for black authors and the , the , the subject matter I thought would be really interesting to explore was the path to publication and beyond for black authors. So what what does it look like when we when we want to tell a story , who do we sell that story to ? And how is that story then sold to the public. So that's that's what the panel is for. There's going to be three black authors. Um , I'm one of them , even though I'll be moderating. I'll also be speaking as a panelist. And we have Nikki Haley , who owns Octavia's Bookshelf , which is a black female owned bookstore in the Los Angeles area in Pasadena , actually , who opened a couple of years ago to great acclaim. I actually got in touch with her because I saw her on Good Morning America. This was a really big deal that her store opened. Um , Nikki has faced , uh , hate crimes and vandalism as a result of opening her book store , which is an all black bookstore. And then we have Charlie Sumpter , Bridget , who is a producer for Peter Chernin Company , and she's the person , you know , at that company in charge of purchasing , um , books to adapt it for the screen. And , and she she's also black , but she that's not her lane. Like she does everything. Anything that's good , she'll bring on. But she's going to talk about the challenges of adapting black stories for the screen. Nikki's going to talk about the triumphs and challenges of selling black stories and the the three authors , the other two authors. And I will talk about our journeys to publishing.
S1: You're also on a panel about Quit Lit.
S3: So it covers a kind of a wide spade of people , because it's like somebody may just be sober , curious , and they want to know how to cut back on their drinking. Or it might be somebody like me , um , you know , I'll , I'll be sober for 16 years this summer. My memoir is an addiction memoir. Who had a rock bottom and and is talking about that journey to recovery. So it really covers a spectrum. Really what this panel is about is about writing about heart subjects , writing about trauma , how how to be vulnerable on the page and put that out there. Addiction is one of the most vulnerable things you can write about. Three of the people on the panel are mamas and we're mamas through their journey , me included. So there's there's that. There's the parenting piece and it's it's just for me , it's another marginalized group that deserves the light. And I'm really excited that we're going to be able to present Tracy.
S1: Go ahead.
S2: Well , I just want to say that Laura is the San Diego Writers Festival Memoir Writer of the year , and her book stash , My Life in Hiding , is amazing , vulnerable , and kind of one of the first ones to kind of break open , um , for a lot of people in a different social , economic to talk about addiction. So it's an amazing memoir , and we're so thrilled to have her on two panels.
S3: Thank you. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , I mean , and this is a relatively new genre , or at least newly coined. So I mean , how does it feel to be part of a writers panel on sobriety and recovery , especially given that it is so close to you ? I mean , it feels great.
S3: And , you know , one of the things that I talk about when I talk about Quetelet or , you know , writing about addiction or recovery , is that there are very , very , very few people of color in this space. And in fact , if you Google Quetelet comma authors of color , I am the only person that comes up right now , which is an absolute shame because there are there are many other books. They're not on shelves at this moment. And there should be , you know , a variety of books , a very diverse grouping of books on this subject , um , for people to peruse through and match with and , and find their stories. And so wherever I can , I'm excited to sit on a panel and represent people of color in sobriety , because there are a lot of us , and our stories aren't always represented.
S1:
S3: And and there are a couple more , um , there are two that are in New York that have books on shelves currently , um , that are fantastic. They could not make the trek to San Diego for this one day , but it shouldn't be that there are just two other writers in New York. You know , there should be a variety of authors in LA that I could have called up , or San Diego or even San Francisco and said , can you come ? Down and be on this panel and the the , the , the people I've assembled , the women I've assembled are , are my friends. I admire them , I respect them , they're powerhouse authors. What race they were didn't matter to me when I was assembling this , but it certainly occurs to me that it would be nice to have a wider variety of representation , but there just isn't one to be had right now.
S1: Tracy , you'll also be moderating a couple of panels , one on memoir writing and the other on anthologies.
S2: And the four authors that we have are just they really show vulnerability. Their books are page turners. Memoirs these days need to read like a fiction novel ? It has to. You got to grab the reader quick. And these stories do. And we have got one saying inshallah with chutzpah , a gavel to fish out of water story which follows the unorthodox path of a Jewish woman working for the Muslim government. Um , we've got Stephanie Walder Taylor , who I also believe is on the Quetelet panel. She wrote drunk ish , a memoir of loving and leaving alcohol , and then the one that I'm finishing up right now , I'm so it's been such a great read. End credits. How I Broke Up with Hollywood by Patti Lynn and she wrote for friends , Freaks and Geeks , Desperate Housewives , Breaking Bad like the height of the career , but she quit at 39. The job that everyone thought that she would want to have , but talks about it being chaotic , abusive , male dominated work culture. And she was often the only woman , and also the only Asian person in any of those rooms. The fourth one is a San Diego legend , Judy Reeves , who's been doing memoir and teaching in San Diego since the beginning 20 , 30 years. And she's writing about , um , her journey when her husband died after 50 years of marriage and she traveled a year by herself. What , a one way ticket around the world. And it's just gorgeous. Literally poetic. Every every paragraph. It's they're beautiful reads. And , um , I want to ask them how they got so courageous to be vulnerable and the creativity that they use to bring their pages alive.
S1: Are there any other panels that you want to highlight that the two of you won't actually be part of , but that I have to highlight.
S2: A couple of our headliners because they're kind of amazing. And then there's a couple of more diverse ones that I'd love to talk about too. But we've got Ed Zwick and he's talking about his memoir , hits , Flops and Other Illusions my 40 something Years in Hollywood , and he's the 2024 biography of the year award from the festival. And this guy's done Reacher with Tom cruise , Legends of Fall , Brad Pitt , glory with Denzel Washington , Shakespeare in Love , 30 something , my So-called life. It's this really dishy , behind the scenes , amazing look back at his career. And another headliner that I want to talk about is the thriller of the year , and that's Matthew Kirk , and he wrote The Night Agent , and if you've got Netflix and you haven't watched that yet , it's amazing. So we're actually going to have him , uh , do a screening of The Night Agent of a Little Bit of the Night agent and talk about his next book , The Inside Threat. And then if you are interested in inspiration or inspiration , book of the year is Judith Orloff , a New York Times bestselling author , legendary psychiatrist , empath. And her newest book is called The Genius of Empathy , with a foreword by the Dalai Lama and the first hundred people that show up to her talk. Get the free book. And it's just out now , and our lifetime Achievement award is for Anita mirchandani , the New York Times bestselling author and another inspirational speaker. And her new book is Sensitive Is the New Strong The Power of Impasse in an Increasingly Harsh World.
S1: Everything sounds so relevant and like something you definitely don't want to miss. Laura , do you have anything else that you want to highlight ? I actually I keep getting.
S3: So caught up when Tracy talks like , really ? We have that. I know all that , but it sounds so good when you say it. I want to go to everything. I did just want to mention the the women that are on the Quetelet panel because they are , like I said , powerhouse authors. We also have Stephanie Wilder Taylor , who not only wrote drunk ish , but she wrote the New York Times bestseller , Sippy cups aren't for Chardonnay years and years and years ago , and kind of started the mommy wine culture with that book. And now she's sober and she's talking about being a sober mom , which is really , really cool. And we have Emily Lynn Paulson. Her book , Haven , was named Empress Book of the year. It's about multi-level marketing , but it's also about her sobriety , and she's written about sobriety. Before we have Amanda Cuda , who's kind of the youngster on our panel talking about unbridled potential and her journey going alcohol free. And then doctor Alisa Halderman , who wrote Soul Variety and Doctor Salomon is an. Amazing clinician. She treats people with alcohol , alcohol use disorder and substance use disorder. But she's also written about her own journey very , very vulnerably in her book. So I did want to mention them. Wow.
S1: Oh my goodness. And before I let you go , Tracy , this festival brings authors from all over to San Diego.
S3:
S2: More diverse. It's just not connected together. So you learn about one group and that leads to another group. So I think it's that there is diversity in San Diego. We are in the shadow of Los Angeles , of course , but we're creating our own community here. And I think the words to uplift really is what we're trying to do is uplift different sort of voices and give them a platform , along with the big names that bring people in. We're hoping people spend the day with us , but food trucks , live music and there's a tent vendor crawl. So if you go to all the vendors and get a stamp , you are entered into win books from the authors. A two day vacation in Coronado. So there's things to do all day. You couldn't. We'll keep you busy , I promise.
S1: I'm sure there will be a lot of interest in this. I've been speaking with Tracy J. Jones , president of the International Memoir Writers Association here in San Diego. Tracy , thank you very much.
S2: It was my pleasure. Thank you so much for your time.
S1: And also , Laura Cathcart Robbins , writer and host of the podcast , The Only One in the Room. Laura , thank you for being here.
S3: Oh , it's been a pleasure. Thank you so much for having us.
S1: You can catch them both at the San Diego Writers Festival this Saturday at Coronado Public Library. It's free and open to the public from 9 to 6. Coming up , DJ cotton Candy is inducted into the San Diego Women's Hall of Fame. They'll join us to talk about what drives their activism.
S4: Well , growing up in Queens , you know , in flushing. Being around a diverse community of black and brown communities , it really taught me what solidarity looked like.
S1: You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition , I'm Jade Hindman. Next Saturday , April 13th , various trailblazing women will be inducted into the San Diego Women's Hall of Fame. It's an opportunity to formally recognize those who've made significant contributions to our community , from politics to activism and education. DJ cotton Candy is one of the honorees this year. They're a Filipino American artist and organizer. They also co-founded the Asian Solidarity Collective , a grassroots movement based here in San Diego. You're listening to Kandi's track Turntable Bongo Bop right now. They're with me. Candi , it is so great to have you here.
S4: Thank you for having me join you all. I'm really honored to be on the show.
S1: So glad to have you here. So you have a long and storied DJ career. I mean , you've even toured with the founder of hip hop himself , DJ Kool Herc.
S4: He was a record collector. I was really just surrounded by music with him listening every morning and every afternoon on Saturdays. Just falling in love with music. That's really what it was. And I loved records. I loved vinyl and just loved getting on his record player and playing his records and just being surrounded by that. Also , a lot of people around me loved music growing up and there wasn't a way to get around it. You just really grew up in immersed in music , and I really it was kind of like a historical journey for me to really learn about music growing up throughout my life.
S1: Yeah , you , as you just mentioned , you grew up in Queens , New York.
S4: You know , the experiences of me as an Asian and Asian American , as an Asian American growing up as a young kid , and the differences of what I experienced and what other and other kids were facing were different than my own. And what me that I may have experienced was definitely , of course , you know , as an Asian American on my block was different. Um , but it was definitely different than what , um , a black child was facing. And I could feel the difference , even though I couldn't articulate it at that time. I could recognize even though I couldn't articulate a privilege at the time , what that meant , I knew that what I was experiencing was different. What that what racism anti-Black racism person was experiencing. So I knew that big difference , but I just didn't know how to name it at 16 years old or 15 years old at the time , as that wasn't a language that wasn't named at the time until years years later. Microaggressions wasn't a term that was named at that time , but I knew in my feelings , in my body what microaggressions felt like and witnessing what other people were experiencing , so that those things taught me , uh , witnessing what other people were feeling or seeing and witnessing. As a young child growing up in the schools of Queens , New York , and the streets of Queens , New York , and going through , you know , a high school that had metal detectors and what it was like to go through high schools that had metal detectors every single day in a very diverse black and brown high school of Queens , New York. And what that experience was like for me.
S1: And so that experience growing up moved you to start the Asian Solidarity Collective , uh , back in 2016 with other organizers. It's grown a lot since then.
S4: We're here to really , you know , activate our our consciousness and to really activate Asian American to move into action , right , to really build solidarity across. So we do that through through organizing. We do a lot of political education in our own communities. We do workshops. We talk about what is the model minority myth , what is our own Asian-American identity. We started off doing that in like , you know , 2016 , 2017. We did a lot of workshops. We utilized a toolkit called called the Asian American Racial Justice Toolkit , which was created by 16 organizations across the United States. You know , even though we had like 3 to 4. Um , uh , professors in our organization that co-founded this. We were like , why reinvented a new tool when there's already something that's been created by phenomenal organizations across the United States. And so we utilize that to our advantage. And we went to all the libraries , a good majority of libraries across San Diego County , and started holding these really great dialogues and conversations , like , what is the model minority myth ? What is , you know , what is our identities ? And how did , um , the Asian American formation and , um , started ? What is that ? You know , what did that entail ? What did that look like ? And from the 1970s and 1960s , what what was the reason for that term to even come about ? And then from there we talked about like , what is anti-Black racism ? What what what does that mean ? What does that look like ? And how do we embody that ? How do we enact that. And so these were really tough conversations and bringing everyone together and bringing it to date. We really try to move that into action. How do we move our Asian American communities into action , and what does that look like when we do civic engagement ? What does that look like when we do leadership development ? What does that look like when we talk about like confronting issues in our communities that are happening in our communities through different areas , um , that are happening through through different things that are happening currently in our communities and globally. Indeed.
S1: You know , I feel like also like the word solidarity , it gets thrown around a lot.
S4: And in order to build trust , you need to build relationships. And in order to build relationships , you really need to have those one on ones get to know one or another , you know , really authentically authentic relationships. And that takes time. You know , it really takes a lot of care , community care. That's a that's also a thing. You know , a lot of people talking about community care these days. And what does that look like ? It it takes real , real building and real real time. And that's something that we do a lot in our organization is really getting to know one another , because you need to build that trust because at any moment , especially in a time when we talk about cancel culture , we can just throw someone away. And if and we just don't want to just throw people away , that's not what we believe in. We really want to hold each other and embrace each other in a time when people just want to throw each other away and we go through things personally in our lives , and that's that is definitely to be honored. We've all gone. Not all , but many of us have gone through trauma , have gone through pain , have gone through conflict. And that's to be honored. That's why relationships is also a privilege. Not many of us have that opportunity or have had that privilege to hold , to have had relationships in my life. I've had many broken relationships and that have brought pain to. So it really takes a lot to just bring solidarity. It's not this like really surface thing. You know , a lot of times people think , oh , let's just have solidarity. It's way deeper than that , much more intense , much more nuanced than that. It takes a lot of time and a lot of care , a lot of holding , a lot of like digging deep into things. And it takes a lot of time which which is hard for people to do. Um , it's not just some one day thing. It's a , it's a lifetime thing. That's why movement building is life work. It's it's commitment. It really , truly is.
S1: Speaking of building relationships and movements , you're involved with a lot of other organizations. That includes mutual aid.
S4: You know , having gone through a lot of things in my life and that has taught me just to show up for people. I think there's been times where I felt alone and abandoned things that I still , you know , wrestle with things that I still am healing from till this day , like how many years later and I work through those things every day. It's such a practice to work through those things. And for me , when I think about those things , I think about people that I wish would have shown up for me , you know ? And I think about the people that need people showing up for them. And that's what solidarity looks like. You know , it also looks like that co-conspirator ship , that allyship have you , that people are looking for , you know , and no , not on some savior ism kind of thing. I just think people just wanting or needing people to just go alongside them. And had I had people that were alongside. Of me , that would have meant all the world. So that's really where it stems from for me. I think about those moments in my life where I wish that there was someone that was , you know , walking alongside me a lot of times.
S1: I mean , it's , you know , healing is definitely a journey. And , you know , grief is something that we we all learn to live with. The interesting thing in what you say , though , is , is that sort of your , your own personal , um , journey to healing is , is so much reflected in the work that you're doing with solidarity and organizing and bringing these organizations together , wouldn't you say ? Yes.
S4: Yes , definitely. Um , it's definitely something that that brings , like the gathering together. There's always something that said be said about gathering because it's a collective ness. Right ? And hence , you know , Asian solidarity is a collective right. It's like the gathering of people and it's like an an embrace , really , like.
S1: A healing , a collective trauma. But , you know , one of the tools that you use to do that is music. So I got to ask , I mean , how does music and activism intersect in your everyday life ? Yes.
S4: You know , I think for me at least back then , to like when I first started , I didn't even realize as a young kid , when I first started learning how to deejay as a teenager , that it was my form of healing. I am creative all the time , even in my activism. It's it's the way that I'm creative and it's the way that I connect the pieces. Because no matter what I do , it brings the element of activism within it , because it's always talking about the content , about what's going on in the world , and then it brings the healing element because it's uplifting me. It's it's healing me and it's uplifting me , and it's speaking to what's in my soul. Excellent.
S1: Excellent. I've been speaking with DJ cut and Candy , executive director of the Asian Solidarity Collective. The San Diego Women's Hall of Fame ceremony will take place on April 13th at the Joan B Kroc Theater. Candy , thank you so much for joining us , and congratulations to you.
S4: Thank you so much for having me here.
S1: Coming up the confluence of San Diego and Tijuana arts communities. There's two very.
S5: Different cultures , very different countries. And then we have a border that both separates us , but also we have a fluidity because we have people that grew up in both sides of the border , and they come and go.
S1: You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman , so it's time for our weekend preview. And this week we have a special guest leading us through what's happening on the arts and culture scene. Alessandro Moctezuma is professor of fine art and museum studies at San Diego Mesa College , where she also runs the Mesa College Art Gallery. Alessandra , it's so great to have you back on Midday Edition.
S5: Yes , thank you so much. I'm really glad to be back. Yes.
S1: Yes. Glad you're here. Okay , so , um , one theme we wanted to really explore this week is art and our community colleges and universities. So tell us about why you think our region's college campuses are a great way to experience that.
S5: I think that a lot of people are not aware of the fact that a lot of the community colleges show contemporary artists of the San Diego region and beyond , and there's so many great opportunities to go see works by emerging and established artists and the people who are in the know here in San Diego. They mark it on their calendars and they follow all of the college galleries. And so that's the place to go if you want to see the activities and the talent of artists here working in the city.
S1: Well , that sounds great. All right. Well , I want to get into some of what what's happening at local colleges here. Grossmont College's Hyde Gallery has a new group exhibition titled trauma. Tell us about that.
S5: So yes , Grossman Hyde Gallery has this exhibition , um , that was curated by Ted Mayer , who is an artist that we invited to our gallery years ago. And it deals with trauma in different ways , both physical but also emotional. And the artworks in the exhibit reflect on the idea of art and creating beauty as a way to heal. I know one of the artists in this show , for example , Alexandra Carter , has done works that deal with her struggles with infertility. And eventually , you know , she she became a mother. So a lot of her work deals with with that. So I think there's these are topics that everybody can connect to. And we know that there's a mental health crisis right now. A lot of our young people are having to deal with difficult things. So I think this is a really wonderful way to show students how art can take them through , through this difficult stages and show them our way through. Wow.
S1: Wow. Well , it sounds like it's healing for the artist and hopefully healing for those who go see it as well. Palomar College is featuring an animal themed exhibition.
S5: Uh , the title of the exhibit is Bestiary , animals , myth and Something in between. And the artists created this large paintings where they present mythical creatures sometimes based a little bit in reality , but in many cases surreal interpretations that are symbolic. So this is an exhibit that invites us to imagine and dream and and see our connections to animals , whether it be our pets or , uh , creatures that we might be fearful of.
S1: And we shouldn't forget. Two exhibits at Mesa College where your professor , We Are Women is paired with beautiful , brilliant and brave. A celebration of black Women. Um , can you tell me about those ? Yes.
S5: This is a kind of dual exhibit that we have in our gallery space. Beautiful , brilliant and brave is a compendium , uh , celebrating black female leaders here in San Diego. And it's made up of , um , panels with beautiful photographs and biographies and inspirational quotes from many of the amazing activists , um , and leaders that we have here in San Diego. And then we have We Are Women , which is an exhibit featuring two artists. Jean Carmel White is an icon. She's lived in San Diego since the 1970s. She is a painter whose work is kind of cubist. And you are looking at a landscape , or you're looking at a shell almost through a prism of colors and beautiful , intricate shapes. She has a large portrait of Toni Morrison , which which I love , and Tyson really well with the other. Men that are celebrated in this exhibit. And then we also have Elizabeth Salom , who is an artist who uses an unusual material. She actually used artificial hair to create a series of sculptures throughout the gallery space. And the hair symbolizes her connection to her own culture. As an African American woman , she actually was adopted by a white family and grew up in the Midwest and so very much kind of isolated from other black women. And as she she grew and went to college , she actually started to get interested in this whole , um , tradition that's passed on of , of braiding. And she has a daughter who's 15 years old who also participated. And we created a series of workshops where we invited students and the community to actually braid , um , some of the , the works. And so it's a very beautiful , poetic way of approaching identity and family and connections and , and definitely also relates to the idea of motherhood and , and nurturing. And so it's , it has a lot for , for everybody. So , so , you know , we hope people can come and visit. And we have the artist will be speaking at the gallery on Wednesday , April 17th at 6 p.m..
S1: There's so much to take in from those exhibits.
S5: So. So when you're looking at Elizabeth Salome's work and her search , in a sense , for for her mother , for her biological mother and trying to find it , we can it resonates with all of us. It resonates with our own , you know , kind of search for belonging and feeling that we're part of a family or a part of a larger community.
S6: Um , and.
S1: Also , San Diego City College is featuring an exhibit as part of the World Design Capital , uh , called practice or Practica.
S5: So World Design Capital is highlighting design as a way to make our world , you know , better. Uh , and so in this particular exhibit , there's architects from Tijuana and architects from San Diego , and they are looking at domestic spaces at homes , but they're also looking at public spaces and how we can approach design and architecture in a way that is more sustainable. Uh , also in a way that kind of bridges maybe the divides that exists between , you know , different communities. And they also are focusing on people who research and look at the ways that also we design , you know , the kind of vernacular and the the person as manipulating their , their environment and , and the landscape around them. So , so this is made up of , you know , models and , and research. And it should be a very exciting , um , way to understand our region's approach to design and architecture.
S1: That is part of the World Design Capital Program , which is bringing several design centered events to the San Diego Tijuana region this year.
S5: It's a it's a series of programs. And this is the first time that a combination of , of two cities has been selected , um , to be a design capital. It's usually a single city. And I think we were competing with Moscow , so. So that was exciting that the , this international organization recognized San Diego and Tijuana and the synergy between these two cities as an important way to to approach solutions to sustainable and more socially minded design. And there are many organizations , big and small , that submitted proposals to be part of this world design capital. And the approach was to encourage , um , you know , not only design but also this idea of bringing the. Two cities closer together. So one of the proposals was the City College proposal. But there are others that actually are taking place in institutions in both cities.
S1:
S5: So one of them is an exhibition that is at the front Casa Familia , and it's part of their um , Dia de la mujer exhibit. And this one actually was curated by a designer from Tijuana and a designer from San Diego. And it takes place not only at the front , but also across the border at the Casa de la Cultura in Tijuana. And this is focusing on women and women's issues. So most of the artists , if not all in the exhibition , are women. And there's a variety of approaches. Some of them are connecting to nature , some of them are playing with the ideas or stereotypes of beauty. But what's really interesting is that you will see some of the US artists are showing in Tijuana , and many of the Tijuana artists are actually showing here in San Ysidro at the front. Wow.
S1: Wow.
S5: I think that there's a history of collaboration in this region. If you go back to the Border Arts Workshop , where you had artists on both sides of the border , and then you think of insight , which was also a really important way of connecting artists and creating projects on both sides of the border. And then , you know , MCA , ISD , as part of its mission , also was to bring in artists from Tijuana. So I think historically , we have been ahead of , you know , of many other places in recognizing that it's very important to have this , um , collaboration and , and dialogue between the two. And , you know , there's two very different cultures , very different countries. And then we have a border that both separates us , but also we have a fluidity because we have people that grew up in both sides of the border , and they come and go and , and so I think that's , you know , that's what's really exciting about this living here in this region. And I think that this world design capital kind of recognizes that. But it's something that has been a part of the the cultural fabric of this region for many , many decades.
S6: Well , well , there are certainly a lot.
S1: To look at and a lot to see. Alessandra Moctezuma is professor of.
S6: Fine art.
S1: And museum studies at San Diego Mesa College. Alessandra , thank you so much for being here.
S5: Thank you so much for inviting me.
S1: That's our show for today. Don't forget to watch Evening Edition tonight at five for in-depth reporting on San Diego issues. The roundtable is here tomorrow at noon. Before we go , I'd like to thank our Midday Edition team producers Ashley Rush , Giuliana Domingo , Andrew Bracken and Brooke Ruth , art segment contributors Julia Dixon Evans and Beth Accomando , technical producers Brandon Truffaut , Rebecca Chacon and Ben Read. Lorsque the midday edition theme music you hear is from San Diego's own The Surefire Soul Ensemble. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for listening and have a great rest of your week on purpose , everyone.
