Have you had a chance to see our new public art project at the YMCA? We Are Pajaro Valley is a collaborative public art project produced by PVA in conjunction with our exhibit Immigration: Borders, Boundaries, Beginnings, and at the invitation of the San Jose Museum of Art.
Project leaders Judy Stabile, Karen Lemon, and Chris Miroyan started work in 2015 to bring this fabulous wall of photographs and essays to the community. This project took hundreds of volunteer hours to create, and four hours for 20 volunteers to install.
In Karen’s words: “Our public photo exhibit is a reflection of the stories, personalities, and responses to our question: “How did you and your family come to live in the Pajaro Valley?”
Students from Edward A. Hall Middle School and Watsonville High School (Echo Academy) wrote personal and family histories of their migration to the Pajaro Valley. These rich histories were then randomly selected to be the background to photographs of Pajaro Valley youth, taken by students and teachers from Watsonville High School, Renaissance High School, and Edward A. Hall Middle School. These vibrant and energetic images of our future population symbolize the vast melting pot of immigrants that have infused our local community with its culture and vitality. We hope that this blended artistry of text and photography conveys to the viewer the fact that we are all immigrants here and that “Together, we are Pajaro Valley!”
Our thanks go to:
- The students of Watsonville High School, Renaissance High School, and Edward A. Hall Middle School
- Karen Lemon, Project Leader: Renaissance High, ROP and Watsonville High ECHO Academy
- Daniel Levy, Digital Wizard: Edward A. Hall Middle School
- Dawn Krenz, Madison Gipe and Justin Silva: Watsonville High School, ECHO Academy
- Robert Wollenzein: Watsonville YMCA
- John Vinsky: Vinsky’s Quality Paint
- The PVA Board and Gallery Committee
And community members who helped with the installation.