Page 34 - Sonoma County Gazette July 2018

Nowadays we tend to think wars have been fought primarily over beliefs, but maybe beliefs were just a cover-up for the deeper drive of church and state to conquer and acquire land.
Art Escape Provides A New World of Creativity And Learning
“Art Escape,” founded by Springs residents Thena Trygstad and Kate Ortolano provides art education and creative experiences to young people throughout the Sonoma Valley. Art Escape is located at 17474 Highway 12. Children of varying ages are taught how to sketch, paint, and create in various media.
Ah the land. How we adore you. For land is wealth, and wealth is power, and “it’s still the same old story/A fight for blood and glory/ A case of do or die.”
The Native peoples did not own land. Why should they? There was plenty of land, and until the advent of agriculture, tribes wandered with the harvest. Who needs leases?
Sonoma Valley Artists Volunteer Time And Knowledge
But then the Westerners arrived, and they carried a piece of paper that was
to change the map of the world. It was called the Doctrine of Discovery, and it stated, among other things, that Christians had the right, indeed the God-given mandate, to take the lands in the name of the Church and “make the people subservient.” The people were strange, anyway, to Christian eyes, performing their war dances half-naked with feathers in their hair, whooping and chanting; they needed to be converted to the ways of the more advanced white culture. So it was, and we have all borne the consequences.
Art Escapes has five regular volunteer artists who work with the children. In addition, another eight to ten local artists provide periodic assistance. Art Escapes has two part-time employees.
Now the supply of good land is getting tight. Right here at home, in prosperous Sonoma County, thousands of people are unable to find land or houses they can afford, to say nothing of land to farm.
Students walk-in from nearby schools (Flowery and El Verano). Others call
in or contact Art Escapes on line (707-938-5551 or artescapessonoma.com).
Art Escapes visits Sonoma Valley Schools in the art van. For example, the van visited El Verano School on Cinco de Mayo. It also participated in the City Party in the Plaza as well as the farmer’s market events in Larson Park. Have an artistic need? Will travel.
In the 1960s, an idealistic young man named Robert Swann in the civil rights movement back East became aware that black farmers in the South were being driven off the land when they joined the NAACP and registered to vote.
An interesting student activity is introducing them to plein air sketching and painting. As the name indicates students are taken outdoors and asked to sketch or paint what they see. This is often on the sidewalk on Highway 12.
Working with Slater King (MLK’s brother), Charles Sherrod, and Faye Bennett they chose a model they discovered in Israel and managed to establish an all-black farming community in Georgia called New Communities.
Interaction with Sonoma Unified
This model, which they called the Community Land Trust, is a nonprofit entity that holds the land in permanent trust, leasing out spaces for houses, small businesses and farms. The houses and any other improvements on the individual’s land belong to him, are inheritable, and can be sold for its fair valuation; but the land can never be sold. Trusts are thus a hedge against inflated land prices.
Art Escapes travels to schools upon request. They have conducted over one hundred after school classes., especially on Wednesdays when schools have “short days.” The El Verano School orchestra performed one time when Art
For Young People Across The Communities!
How may students join Art Escapes?
Escapes conducted classes there.
The concept caught on. There are now more than 250 CLT communities
in the US. Equity Trust, sprung out of this movement and guided by John Emmeus Davis, has the mission of “Changing the way we think about and hold property.” New York City is building CLTs with funding from Citibank!
“Art Sprout” is a special program for parents and pre-school children funded through a grant. The free program meets two hours in the morning where parents and children learn the basics of color and design. The
Wouldn’t it be nice to put that concept into application at SDC? And it could happen, but the obstacles are significant. As I wrote in May, the obvious challenge is money. Since then I’ve learned more about raising money; and it can be done.
program runs three weeks and concludes the fourth week with a trip to the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art.
A much bigger question is whether the community can come together in sufficient numbers and put in the hours of work to create a design plan that the County can support, and the State approve.
Summer Camp runs in two week segments. There is a cost of $150 per week, but no one is turned away. Scholarships are available.
It’s going to test the limits of our spiritual practice, the generosity of our enlighted consciousness, and indeed everything we have learned and espoused about the sacredness of the land and our interconnectedness with each other, to make this dream come true. It’s not the State, nor even the developers waiting in the wings, that are the greatest obstacle to progress. It’s ourselves.
There is a free teen art program on Fridays in the lounge. There are always two to three projects taking place in addition to social interaction among boys, girls, and pizza.
As you may have noticed during the many battles over EIRs all over the county, when it comes to land use, people revert to a kind of colonial mentality of mine, yours, and the other guys, and our divine right to keep growth at bay. We attach our identities to the land, and pretty soon people get in fights and the community is divided. Then the big developers move in and the party’s over.
Shows in the art gallery display the work of local artists and students alike. Shows remain in place for a two month period. Visitors are encouraged to come to the gallery at 17474 Highway 12.
Until that happens, we have an unprecedented opportunity. The State has urged us to come up with a plan. The Presidio Trust in San Francisco has set a precedent. After 8 years, it’s financially self-sufficient!
Generous Sonomans help fund Art Escapes. According to Ms. Trystad they have received fifteen grants. Impact 100 provided the funds to purchase the Art van. The Rose Marie Pieper Foundation supports funded classes where students work in glass.
The government just doesn’t want to be responsible for the place anymore. It will cover the costs of “warm closure”—a million a month—for one year while we try to come up with a convincing plan.
The Springs and the Sonoma Valley as a whole are fortunate to have this creative organization here to serve the needs of children and adults alike.
Said Daniel Kim, the head of State’s Department of General Services: “We’ve never done it this way before.”
Handmade Hamburger Looks To Be Readying To Open!
They’ve thrown down the gauntlet. Can we come together and do something gorgeous at Eldridge? Something for the community, not for distant corporate oligarchs? Or do we prefer to sit back in our chairs and complain later?
After many months in the doldrums Hamburger West (Highway 12 and Hawthorne Avenue) next to the Beauty Salon across from Williams Auto is preparing to open. The signs of life at Hamburger West are the workers tearing out old fixtures preparing for reconstruction. When quizzed about an opening date Sebastian Hernandez of Kingdom Minded Electric said he didn’t know. The intense work being performed suggests the answer is likely late summer or early fall. Can’t wait for a handmade juicy burger.....
Contact me if you want to help!
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Generous Support
Thanks to all who make this endeavor a grand success.
New Gourmet Sites Expand In The Springs
Other activities....