How Does the City Keep the Show Going On?

In Modesto, Music Is By the People and For the People

How do you engage a community in the arts—especially when resources, attention spans, and time are all limited? A panel of local musicians addressed this question and others at a “Living the Arts” event co-presented by the James Irvine Foundation in front of a full house at the McHenry Museum in Modesto.

Every Thursday night in the summer, Modesto’s MoBand plays for thousands of people, free of charge. There are community bands all over the country. Modesto Bee editor Joseph Kieta, the evening’s moderator, asked MoBand director George Gardner: “What’s the …

by Sarah Rothbard | July 11, 2014

Can Art Heal Our Minds—and Our Communities?

I Founded Modesto’s Peer Recovery Art Project to Keep Mental Health Consumers From Being Isolated. In the Process, I’m Helping Revitalize My City.

by John Black | July 9, 2014

I don’t care for labels, but I’m a Californian who went around the country working carnivals before schizophrenia dug its hooks into me. After 10 years, some of them wandering …

Arts Organizations Walk the Tightrope

You’re on a Budget. You Can Be Excellent. Or You Can Welcome Everyone. But Can You Do Both?

July 9, 2014

California spends about 18.5 cents on the arts for each of its 38 million residents. That’s not much—in fact, last year marked the first time in a decade the …

Where the Rock Stars of the Marching Band World Come Out to Play

Riverside Was and Is Southern California’s Drum Corps Hotspot

by Sean Vega | June 27, 2014

A futuristic scrapyard setting. Three 60-inch TV screens showing black-and-white static. A lookout tower. Then: a steady beat from a player on a drum set, cymbals crashing, and marimbas rolling …

Making Mom a Movie Star

Creating a Documentary About My Mother’s Work in the Fields Helped Me See Her in a New Light

by Janelly Martinez | April 23, 2014

On a typical morning, my mother, Camelia Maribel Sanchez, drives 15 minutes from our house in Coachella, a small city in the Southern California desert, to the bell pepper fields …

Painting Portraits in a Bankrupt City

I Moved to San Bernardino to Pursue My Ambitions. I Found a Place That Had Lost All Ambition of Its Own.

by Ruben Chavez | March 31, 2014

Early in 2013, I moved to San Bernardino with my girlfriend at the time and our 1-month-old daughter. I had family there but hadn’t lived in San Bernardino since I …

Modesto’s Marvelous MoBand

For More Than 90 Years, A Band That Is Open to All Binds Together a California City

How to Infect an Entire City with Art

Rather Than Building a Museum, We Turn Neighborhoods into Galleries

Can Engaging with Art Turn a Bunch of Selfie-Takers into Citizens?

Changing Audiences Are Making Creators and Institutions Rethink Art Itself

Bankrupt San Bernardino is Rich in the Arts

To Advance Its Revival and Change the Narrative, the City Should Invest in Creativity

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