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Scroll down to read or go directly to: California Celebrates Asian Lunar New Year Governor Appoints Muriel Johnson Director of the California Arts Council Six California Traditional Artists Awarded Grants by the Fund for Folk Culture PBS Website, Circle of Stories, Highlights Native American Storytelling
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WHAT'S NEWSubscribe to The New Moon, ACTA's Monthly E-Newsletter. See the latest edition of The New Moon New Guidelines Available for ACTA's Apprenticeship Program
Shong Keng Her (right) with his apprentice and brother Boua Sou Her during a lesson in Hmong qeej (bamboo reeded mouth organ) music. Photo by Vungping Yang This month ACTA announces the availability of applications for the sixth round of the Apprenticeship Program, which provides contracts of $2,500 to master traditional artist and apprentice teams to support intensive one-on-one learning over the course of six months to one year. The deadline for submission is April 15, 2005. The guidelines and applications are now available online. The ACTA staff is available to discuss the program and guide applicants through the process and is happy to work with first time proposal writers. The program was launched in 1998 and has since provided support to 78 artist pairs in art forms representing the wealth of California’s cultural landscape. Some folk and traditional arts have been brought to California from other countries or regions and have taken root here to become interwoven with the state’s cultural landscape and identity, while others have prospered on the more than 130 tribal reservations and rancherias in this state. Cowboy poetry; Hmong reverse appliqué embroidery; Mexican corridos (ballads) and mariachi music; African American quilts; Japanese bonsai; Native American basketry, ceremonial regalia construction and ritual music/dance; South Indian bharata natyam dance; Western saddlemaking; Chinese qin instrumental music; Portuguese fado singing; Native Hawaiian kahiko hula chant and dance; and Pilipino rondalla music ensembles are but a few of the many hundreds of distinctive expressions found in this tremendously diverse and culturally rich state. Information about each of the former apprenticeship pairs is available on ACTA’s website. In addition to the contract amount supporting the master artist’s time, supplies, and travel, ACTA staff conducts fieldwork with each of the grantees during the project cycle resulting in videotaped interviews and photographic documentation of both artist’s work. ACTA also supports the travel and lodging costs for masters and apprentices in this program for attendance at its biennial gathering of traditional artists, in addition to other types of specialized assistance to foster the growth of both artists during the project cycle. ACTA’s goals involve providing both the monetary and programmatic assistance that will foster the transference of traditional skills, standards, and knowledge so that the traditional art forms, as expressed by master practitioners will continue in the future. ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the James Irvine Foundation, and the San Francisco Foundation. ACTA is the statewide partner to the California Arts Council in serving the folk and traditional arts field. California Celebrates Asian Lunar New Year
St. Mary’s Drum Corps., San Francisco, c. 1956 Photo Courtesy of Chinese Chamber of Commerce Mari Pongkhamsing, ACTA Archivist/Special Projects Coordinator The Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco, held this year on February 19th, is the largest event of its kind outside of Asia. This month the Chinese Historical Society of America Museum and Learning Center celebrates the year of the rooster with Parade in the New Year, an exhibit of rare photographs, documents, and artifacts illuminating the history of this popular San Francisco event as well as other Chinese celebrations throughout California. As early as the 1860s members of the Chinese community combined an American tradition, the parade, with traditional Chinese New Year festivities when they marched down what is now Grant Avenue and Kearny Street displaying colorful flags, lanterns, drums, and firecrackers to drive away evil spirits. In 1953, American-born businessmen H.K.Wong came up with the idea of the modern Chinese New Year Festival. Wong wanted to present a positive image of the Chinese American community and draw tourists to Chinatown. The community was eager to use the celebration as an opportunity to demonstrate patriotism and anti-communist convictions in the oppressive climate of the early Cold War era. This first modern festival, which featured art shows, street dancing, martial arts, music, a fashion show, and a grand parade was a success, drawing a crowd of over one-hundred-thousand spectators. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce took over leadership of the Festival in 1958, adding the “Miss Chinatown USA” pageant, a popular nation-wide event drawing more tourists to the festivities. The St. Mary’s Chinese Girl’s Drum Corps along with dragon and lion dancers became favorite performers in the annual parade.
New Year Parade, Los Angeles, c. 1800s Photo Courtesy of Chinese Historical Society of America Parade in the New Year also displays photographs of Chinese American celebrations in other parts of California. An interesting group of historic photos feature the Bok Kai Festival in Marysville, CA. Marysville, a small town in the Northern Sacramento Valley had a relatively large Chinese population between 1850 and 1900. The Marysville Chinatown was a place where businessmen, miners, and laborers gathered to shop, socialize, and worship. The Bok Kai temple, located on the banks of the Yuba River, was built by the Marysville Chinese community in1880 and dedicated to Bok Eye, the Chinese god of water. Today the temple is listed as one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The 125th Annual Bok Kai Festival, held this year on March 12th and 13th in downtown Marysville, celebrates Bomb Day, Bok Eye’s birthday. To celebrate, one hundred ceremonial “bombs” containing lucky rings will be tossed into the air and a parade will feature a 150 foot golden dragon, lion dancers, and floats.
Chinese New Year Dragon, San Francisco, c. 1948 Photo Courtesy of Benjamin Chinn In Chinese, Vietnamese, Lao Iu Mien, Tibetan and Korean communities the Lunar New Year will be celebrated this month starting February 9th, both at home among families and in public festivities throughout California. The Chinese New Year lasts fifteen days. To prepare for the New Year families clean their homes, purchase new clothes, and settle their debts. People decorate their homes with festive red banners and kumquat trees and unmarried family members receive money in festive red envelopes. Loud noises are thought to keep evil spirits away so the sounds of firecrackers and drums fill the air during Chinese New Year celebrations. Chinese New Year Events in California Scholarly Arts of China at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco Vietnamese New Year, or Tet, lasts three days. Like the Chinese, Vietnamese prepare for the holiday by cleaning their houses, buying new clothes and shoes and settling their debts. Families decorate their homes with Hoi Mai, a yellow blossom that represents spring. Some people create altars in their homes, or visit their temple, church, or cemetery to honor their ancestors. People may exchange gifts and young people receive money in red envelopes. It is thought that the first person to visit one’s home on New Year’s Day brings good or bad luck for the rest of the year. Vietnamese New Year Events in California Tet Festival in Garden Grove Korean New Year, or Solnal, is traditionally a more private celebration spent with family. On New Year’s Eve children ceremonially bow to their elders to show respect. That evening they keep all of the lights on in their home and stay awake to greet the New Year with open eyes. They burn bamboo to keep evil spirits away. At dawn they take a bath and put on new clothes. On New Year’s Day families may visit ancestral tombs, exchange gifts, and play traditional New Year games. Children receive money, which they keep in silk purses. Korean New Year events in CaliforniaJi-Shin-Bal-ki Celebration with the Korean Youth Cultural Center To prepare for the Lao Iu Mien New Year, people wash their homes and clothes and make symbolic paper money to offer to their ancestors. A few days before the New Year begins a family elder or priest communicates with the ancestors and burns the paper offerings. When the New Year arrives people gather for feasts and parties. They exchange dyed red eggs, which may be worn around the neck. The eggs symbolize good luck in the coming year. Traditionally, this holiday signals the time when young people meet and begin romantic courtships. Iu Mien New Year Events in CaliforniaLao Iu Mien Culture Association New Year Party People prepare for Tibetan New Year, known as Losar, by cleaning their homes, bringing gifts to the monks, and setting off firecrackers to get rid of evil spirits. On New Year’s Day they place offerings called tormas (hand-carved sculptures traditionally made from butter or dough) on household shrines. Families celebrate together by exchanging gifts and enjoying traditional food and drink. Tibetan New Year Events in CaliforniaLosar at the Berkeley Jewish Community Center Governor Appoints Muriel Johnson Director of the California Arts Council
Throughout her career, Johnson has served the public as a volunteer, an elected official, and a member of many community organizations including the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, the Sacramento Public Library Authority, the Stanford Mansion Foundation, the Community Advisory Committee for California State University, Sacramento School of the Arts, and the Crocker Art Museum Architecture Committee. In 2003, Johnson received the 2003 American Society for Public Administration's "Excellence in Public Arts." "I have always been passionate about promoting and supporting the arts because of the positive impact it has on our community," said Johnson. "I am honored Governor Schwarzenegger has asked me to continue my public service in this new and important role and I look forward to working with him and our many gifted California artists and supporters of community to broaden public awareness and exposure to the arts." Johnson succeeds Juan Carrillo, who had served as Interim Director for eight months since May 2004. Carrillo, former Deputy Director and Chief of Grant Programs, will remain with the Arts Council. Six California Traditional Artists Awarded Grants by the Fund for Folk CultureLast month the Fund for Folk Culture announced the grant recipients of its new Artist Support Program’s Creative Opportunities for Traditional Artists. Among the thirteen grantees selected from California, Washington, and Oregon, six are California traditional artists. The award winners include: Rubén Guzmán, cartonería (paper mâché sculpture) artist; Bharata Natyam dancer Ramya Harishankar; Jorge Mihangos, son jarocho instrument maker; Juan Morales, mariachi musician; Cambodian classical dancer Sophiline Cheam Shapiro; and Hungarian bagpiper and bagpipe maker Ferenc Tobak. Guzmán, Harishankar, Morales, Shapiro, and Tobak have all served as master artists in ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program. ACTA congratulates all 13 artists selected from the West Coast states and the Fund for Folk Culture on their new program. Funded by the Ford Foundation’s New Works Program, the Fund For Folk Culture’s Artists Support Program’s Creative Opportunities for Traditional Artists offers folk and traditional artists at various stages in their work the opportunity to pursue activities that will help them to grow artistically and professionally, to better connect with their cultural communities or to develop new audiences for their work. Rubén Guzmán, Oakland, California - $5,000 Ramya Harishankar, Irvine, California - $5,000 Jorge Mihangos, Santa Barbara, California - $5,000 Juan A. Morales, Wasco, California - $5,000 Sophiline Cheam Shapiro, Long Beach, California - $5,000 Ferenc Tobak, Fort Bragg, California - $2,000 The grant recipients in Oregon and Washington include:Obo Addy, Ghanian Drummer, Portland, Oregon PBS Website, Circle of Stories, Highlights Native American StorytellingPBS’s website “Circle of Stories” brings the art of Native American storytelling to life. Quoting the renowned Kiowa poet N. Scott Momaday, the website emphasizes the importance of the role of storytelling in Native American tradition: “The storyteller is one whose spirit is indispensable to the people. He is magician, artist and creator. And, above all, he is a holy man. His is a sacred business.” Visitors to the website can participate in an interactive storytelling experience. One can listen to an audio recording of a story while viewing pictures and reading a biography of the storyteller. If inspired you can add your story to the community page or just browse the gallery of stories and photos. The website was co-produced by The Cultural Conservancy, a Native American non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and revitalization of cultural heritage and ancestral lands. The Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center Announces The September 11, 2001 Documentary ProjectThe Library of Congress's American Folklife Center recently announced a new presentation: The September 11, 2001, Documentary Project, available on the Library's American Memory Website. The presentation captures the heartfelt reactions, eyewitness accounts, and diverse opinions of Americans and others in the months that followed the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93. The day after the attacks, the American Folklife Center called upon the nation's folklorists and ethnographers to collect, record and document America's reaction. This project is modeled on a similar initiative, conducted sixty years earlier, when folklorist Alan Lomax was serving as "assistant in charge" of the Archive of American Folk Song. On December 8, 1941, Lomax sent a telegram urging folklorists around the United States to collect and record man-on-the-street reactions to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the subsequent declaration of war by the United States. These field recordings were sent to the Library of Congress where they were used in a series of radio programs that were distributed to schools and radio stations around the country. This unique documentary collection is still housed at the American Folklife Center and is featured in the American Memory collection: After the Day of Infamy: "Man-on-the-Street" Interviews Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor. The online presentation includes almost 170 audio and video interviews, 41 graphic materials (photographs and drawings), and 21 written narratives and poems. The complete collection, available at the American Folklife Center Reading Room, comprises about 800 audio and video interviews, 421 graphic materials, as well as news clippings, written narratives, and artifacts. The voices of men and women from many cultural, occupational, and ethnic backgrounds are represented. The American Folklife Center was created by Congress in 1976 and placed at the Library of Congress to "preserve and present American folklife." The Center includes the Archive of Folk Culture, which was established in 1928 and is now one of the largest collections of ethnographic material from the United States and around the world.
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On January 10, 2005 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the appointment of Muriel Johnson as the new director of