News from the Executive Director

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Public Art in Watsonville

Watsonville is developing a Public Art Master Plan. There are going to be many engagement opportunities, please follow the link for a very short survey and get on the list to have your voice and opinion heard about public art in Watsonville. Link

Special Project

We are working on a very special short-term project to support Farmworker families in the Pajaro Valley. During the month of September, we are fabricating beautiful small mosaics that will be available for sale. A preview show and sale will happen on the weekend of October 11th and 12th during Open Studios at the Muzzio. 

What’s Next?

Through community meetings, Priscilla Martinez has gathered input for her designs for the new Nature Center in Rasay Park. Her designs will be shared with the public in late September at the Farmers Markets and brought to the Arts Commission on October 3rd for approval. We will begin fabricating these mosaics on October 7th.

Please come join us in the studio and share in the fun!

Kathleen

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Second Sunday Walking Tour

The second Sunday this month is August 11th. Meet us in front of the Watsonville Public Library, 275 Main St., at noon for a 40-minute bilingual walking tour of “Watsonville Brillante,” the garage project mosaics.

Watsonville Ramsay Park Nature Center

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Nature Center Artwork survey. Priscilla Martinez was awarded the design contract for our next project, fabricating mosaics for the new Nature Center in Rasay Park. 

We will begin fabricating these mosaics in the fall when Watsonville Brillante is completed.

Watsonville Brillante

We will finish fabricating the mosaics for Watsonville Brillante this summer! There are 4 weeks left for you to be part of this international award-winning monumental public artwork. The last few boards left to complete are all very special:

1. “Tobera Project,” a mosaic panel honoring the legacy of the Filipino community of Watsonville by remembering Fermin Tobera  
2. “Delux” a mosaic panel honoring lowrider culture
3. “Slow Pitch,” a mosaic panel commissioned to thank Rick Rinaldi
4. “We Are the Makers That Support the Dreamers,” a mosaic thanking Fireclay or all the tiles donated to the project
5. Our last cultural panel is for the country of Jordan

Save the Date! Watsonville Brillante Ribbon Cutting Steet Party

Saturday, October 26th 

11 am to 5 pm

Rodriguez Steet and the Post Office Alley

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at 3 pm

We are partnering with the City of Watsonville to produce an all-day extravaganza of cultural celebrations. There will be performances all day on the center stage, tours in English on the hour every hour, and tours in Spanish starting every half hour on the half-hour food trucks offering cultural cuisine. Booths will feature local art and non-profit community service outreach.

If you are an organization, performer, or artist who would like to participate, please let us know.  

Happy Summer!

Kathleen

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Second Sunday Walking Tour

The second Sunday this month is July 14th. Meet us in front of the Watsonville Public Library; 275 Main St., at noon for a 40-minute bilingual walking tour of  Watsonville Brillante, the garage project mosaics.

Watsonville Ramsay Park Nature Center

Our next project will be fabricating mosaics for the new Nature Center in Ramsay Park. Earlier in the Spring we had 26 artists submit their work for consideration. We selected three of them to create designs for the Nature Center.  We are now taking public feedback to help us choose which of the three artists we will hire to make the final designs. Follow this link to see the work of our three artist finalists and help us choose! The survey closes at 5 pm on Sunday afternoon.

Watsonville Brillante 

We will finish fabricating the mosaics for Watsonville Brillante this summer!  You’ve got 8 weeks left to be part of this international award-winning monumental public artwork.

Capitola Mall Satellite Mosaic Arts Center

We finished and closed up the satellite mosaic art studio space in the Capitola Mall. The donor wall mosaics should be installed by July 11th, but the large kelp mosaics will be stored for a few months until the Capitola Wharf where the mosaics will eventually be installed is completed. We’ll let you know when they are in public and ready to be viewed. Thank you, everyone, it was a fun adventure!

Happy July!

Kathleen

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Boards already completed for Phase 9/10 represent people from Armenia, India, Iraq, Israel, Korea, Lebanon, Mongolia, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Suni India, Syria, Taiwan, Turkey, and Vietnam

Currently on the tables and waiting for you to come place tiles with us are Afghanistan, Morocco, and some mixed cultures: France/UK, Germany/Japan, Germany/France, Croatia/Mexico, and Peru/Mexico.

Second Sunday Walking Tour

The second Sunday this month is June 9th. Meet us in front of the Watsonville Public Library; 275 Main St, on Sunday, at noon for a 40-minute bilingual walking tour of the garage project mosaics. 

Capitola Mall Satelite Mosaic Arts Center

The mosaics we are creating for the new Capitola Wharf are beautiful! Thank you to Maha Taitano, our studio manager, Heidi Alonzo our designer, and all those who have worked on the piece-over 100 of you so far!  

You still have about 3 weeks to see or to help us finish our work. We are located in a satellite mosaic art studio space in the Capitola Mall, in the former Christopher Banks space, unit E09, directly next to Ulta, on Mondays and Thursdays from 3:30-7:30 and Saturdays from 10-2. We anticipate our last work day to be June 22nd.

Mosaics in the Park

We love being out in the community, making mosaics in the sun and fresh air. Come see us at the Art on Wheels Festival in the Watsonville Plaza on June 8th from noon to 5 pm.

Happy Summer!

Kathleen 

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Work on Phase 9 has begun. Boards completed represent people from Armenia, Korea, Mongolia, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, and Vietnam.  Currently on the tables and waiting for you to come place tiles with us are India, Israel, Suni India, and Taiwan.

The Muzzio will be closed on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 12th.

May Watsonville Brillante Walking Tour Postponed 

The second Sunday this month is Mother’s Day. The walking tour will take place on the third Sunday of this month instead. Meet us in front of the Watsonville Public Library; 275 Main St, on Sunday, May 19th, at noon for a 40-minute bilingual walking tour of the garage project mosaics. 

Capitola Mall Satellite Mosaic Arts Center

Our current side project is for the new Capitola Wharf.  The satellite mosaic art studio in the Capitola Mall, located in the former Christopher Banks space, unit E09, directly next to Ulta is open Mondays and Thursdays from 3:30-7:30 and Saturdays from 10-2 until we finish the mosaics, likely sometime in late June.

Come Celebrate!

We have another ribbon-cutting ceremony this month, for “Bienestar Plaza” a housing project at 1500 Capitola Rd. in Live Oak. May 29h, from 11 to noon. All are welcome, whether you worked on the mosaic or not.  

Where Are They?

With so many community-generated mosaic projects in Santa Cruz County, it can be a challenge to find them. The following link is a Google Map that will take you on a mosaic journey through Santa Cruz County: Google Map Link 

Looking Forward

We love being out in the community, making mosaics in the sun and fresh air. Come see us at the Art on Wheels Festival in the Plaza on June 8th from noon to 5 pm.

Happy Mother’s Day,

Kathleen 

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Phase 8 of the 10 phases of Watsonville Brillante is just 3 panels away from being ready for installation. If you are in Watsonville you will probably notice the scaffolding going up next week. Lots of activity is hidden behind the black screen, first, the wall is pressure washed, then any cracks in the structure are repaired in preparation for installation. Tile installation is donated by Rinaldi Tile and Marble and materials are donated by Laticrete. Tile installation begins with the application of a water barrier membrane, next thin-set is applied to the surface, and then tiles are pressed into the thin-set. Once the thin-set cures, the face tape that holds the mosaics together is removed and the work is grouted. The final step includes sealing and a nice hand-done rub down of the whole surface. The entire process takes between five and eight weeks.  

Would you like to place a few tiles for Phase 8? There is still time! The last panels in process are a Baja Sur and the Federal State of Mexico panel, a panel for the mixed cultures of Mexican/Irish, and one for Mexican/Guatemalan cultures.  

Watsonville Brillante Walking Tours 

Second Sunday walking tours continue. Meet us in front of the Watsonville Public Library; 275 Main St, on Sunday, April 14th, at noon for a 40-minute bilingual walking tour of the garage project mosaics. We don’t mind a drizzle but will cancel if umbrellas are required.  

Capitola Wharf 

Tonight!, Tuesday, April 9th the Capitola Community Arts Commission will consider for approval the designs for the mosaics they commissioned us to fabricate for the Capitola Wharf. These mosaics will be fabricated out of glass. The designs have been created by Heidi Alonzo.  

We will soon move into and open a satellite mosaic art studio in the Capitola Mall, located in the former Christopher Banks space, unit E09, directly next to Ulta. This studio, to be run by Maja Taitano. We will open on Monday, April 29th, hours of operation will be Mondays and Thursdays from 3:30-7:30 and Saturdays from 10-2 until we finish the mosaics, likely sometime in late May.

Mosaic Tourism 

In 2016, when I was still just dreaming about Watsonville Brillante, I had the idea that Santa Cruz County could become the Barcelona of the West. That is, we would become a destination for people who wanted to see mosaics on a grand scale. Watsonville Brillante is not yet complete, and it has already won an international award. We expect to install the last tile for Watsonville Brillante in April of 2025. You have just one year to come be part of this historic project!  

Watsonville Brillante will be a draw on its own, but we need a depth of work to make our county a mosaic tourism destination. This is why we continue to fit side projects into our schedule. 

Come Celebrate! 

Please join us for a ribbon cutting ceremony for the “Tabasa Gardens” housing project and mural on Freedom Blvd. at the Corner of Atkins Lane in Watsonville on May 3rd, from noon to 2 p.m. All are welcome, whether you worked on the mosaic or not. The developer, Eden Housing has produced a nice aerial video of the project which has some great shots of the mosaic. 

Do you have out-of-town guests you want to show around? The following link is a Google Map that will take you on a journey through Santa Cruz County highlighting many community-generated mosaics: Google Map Link 

I look forward to seeing you soon…maybe even this Sunday from 10-2 for some tile work or at noon for the tour! 

Kathleen

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Pajaro Valley Arts & Watsonville Film Festival

Opening Reception on March 10th

More Than Cars: Celebrating Lowrider Culture

PVA Porter Building – 280 Main Street, Watsonville

Exhibit Dates: March 10-June 30

Opening Reception is March 10, 1-4 pm at PVA Porter Building at 280 Main Street.

Join us for the walking tour of the mosaics and then cross the street for this fabulous opening reception.  Explore the creativity, culture, and ingenuity of lowriding while shifting stereotypes to empowering narratives. Pajaro Valley Arts Link

The Watsonville Film Festival is showing films at the Green Valley Cinema. Opening night is Thursday, March 7th at 6 pm. Follow the link for tickets and show times. Watsonville Film Festival Link

Capitola Wharf

Monday, March 11 from 6-8 pm at the Capitola Community Room we will be presenting final designs for the mosaics we have been commissioned to fabricate for the Capitola Wharf. These mosaics will be fabricated out of glass. The designs have been created by Heidi Alonzo.  In mid-April, we will open a satellite mosaic art studio in the Capitola Mall which will be run by Maja Taitano.

Side Projects

In addition to Watsonville Brillante, we have completed eight side projects in the past four years: Our most recent installation was last week in Live Oak. The Capitola Wharf project will be our 8th side project when it is completed sometime in late 2024.  The following link is a Google Map that will take you on a journey through Santa Cruz County highlighting many of the community-generated mosaics: Google Map Link

The Community Arts & Empowerment side projects include:

•  a 10’ x 13” mosaic on the 2nd floor of the Watsonville Library 
• “Community is the Heart” Designed by Jaime Sanchez, Ramsay Park
• “Allison Endert Memorial Bench” in Twin Lakes Park   
• “Empower Watsonville” for PVPSA on Beach St.
• COVID Memorial in Struve Slough behind Body Zone
• “Dancing Waters” designed by Maja Taitano, Front St. garage in Santa Cruz
• “Tabasa Gardens” designed by Caitlin Bayaca, Freedom Blvd. in Watsonville
• Mosaics for the “Bienestar” housing project in Live Oak 

Recognizing our Volunteers:

Since opening in June of 2019, nearly 600 individuals have donated their time with us. Currently, we have a vinyl banner hanging up on-site thanking our volunteers, eventually, it will be replaced with stone engraved tiles. Please check this list to see if we have included you and spelled your name correctly!  Link to Volunteer List

Watsonville Brillante Progress

Phase 8 of Watsonville Brillante is coming soon! We will be ready for installation in 6-8 weeks.  Recently finished panels include Brazil, El Salvador, Queretaro, Tlaxcala, and Sonora Mexico. Currently, the panels being worked on are for Honduras, Baja Sur Mexico, Ecuador, and Quintana Roo Mexico.

I look forward to seeing you soon, maybe this Sunday!

Kathleen

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February 10th, 2024

Dear Friends and Supporters,

We’ve signed a contract and will be part of a large creative team enhancing the Capitola Wharf.

Join us this month for community input meetings (details above) and later this spring at a new satellite studio at the Capitola Mall.

Walking Tour: TOMORROW!

Second Sunday walking tours continue. Meet us in front of the Watsonville Public Library, on Sunday, at 275 Main St, on Sunday, February 11th, at noon for a 30-minute bilingual tour of the garage project mosaics. We don’t mind a drizzle but will cancel if umbrellas are required. 

Fondly,

Kathleen

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Fun Press:

Are you interested in finding out how our non-profit got started, how I met my studio partner Susanne, or who the community heroes are that made Watsonville Brillante possible? Thanks to a referral from the fabulous Leah DeWit I was interviewed by Canvas Rebel, an online news site for creative business leaders. Follow the link to read the article: Canvasrebel Interview

Uplifting Public Artists:

During the month of November, we hosted a Public Art Academy. This month, thanks to the generosity of our Board of Directors, we are announcing our support for murals in Watsonville with a “We’ll Pay the Fee!” initiative for qualifying mural applications for the City of Watsonville. 

In the City of Watsonville, there is a $250 fee for murals on private property to cover the cost of processing applications. The City expected this small fee would not be a barrier to public art projects, but, added to the cost of materials, it has made it cost-prohibitive for small businesses to support local artists who want to paint on their walls.  

For details on the program follow this link: “We’ll Pay the Fee”

Public Art Opportunity

Emerging public artists may also be interested in a new Call for Artists from Santa Cruz County:

Santa Cruz County will select an artist to create a site-specific public art component for the Janus Recovery Center in Santa Cruz, located at 265 Water Street. Janus will operate and staff the center, providing a safe environment for non-violent intoxicated individuals to rest and recover until they are sober. Additionally, the Recovery Center will provide assistance and treatment options, as well as links to other services in the community such as case managers, health care physicians, and more. The budget for the public artwork, which includes all costs associated with but not limited to design, materials, travel, insurance, fabrication, installation, and documentation of the artwork, is $6,300. A “Call to Artists” (which includes detailed information about the RFP process), images of installation location(s), and a sample contract are available on the County Parks website: https://www.scparks.com/…/WorkWithUs/CalltoArtists.aspx. The deadline for submitting a proposal is March 1, 2024.

National Wetlands Day  

In Watsonville, National Wetlands Day is celebrated with a free family-friendly morning of activities in the slough. There will be weed pulling, native plant planting, a scavenger hunt, and Mosiac Making! Join us near the COVID Memorial Butterfly behind Body Zone on Saturday, February 3rd at 11:00 am. We won’t be there if it’s raining, but you can still participate in the weeding and planting activities if it is wet outside. Link for more information: Watsonville Wetlands Day

Walking Tours

Second Sunday walking tours continue. Meet us in front of the Watsonville Public Library, on Sunday, at 275 Main St, on Sunday, February 11th, at noon for a 30-minute bilingual tour of the garage project mosaics. We don’t mind a bit of drizzle but will cancel if umbrellas are required. 

I hope to see you sometime soon,

Kathleen

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Walking Tours

This week is the second Sunday of December, which means it’s Watsonville Brillante walking tour time. Meet us in front of the Watsonville Public Library, on Sunday, December 10th, 275 Main St, at noon for a 30-minute bilingual tour of the garage project mosaics. We don’t mind a bit of drizzle but will cancel if umbrellas are required.

Pageantry and Performance

Our Cultural Convenings are finished and I’ve made models of the sculptures that will be placed in the Plaza in Watsonville. Our last meeting for community input on the models will take place on Thursday the 14th in the community room of the public library, 275 Main St. in Watsonville. Please drop-in between the hours of 5:30-7:30 pm, view the models, and provide feedback on the forms available, or you can just talk to me about them.

Watsonville Brillante – Join Us!

Phase 8 of Watsonville Brillante, comprised of 35 panels, will be installed in late February. Twenty panels are finished and we are now working on the Afro/Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Thai panels.

Congratulations to Jessica our newest intern! We still have two intern positions available.

Our schedule follows the PVUSD school holiday calendar, therefore we take a long winter break. Our last volunteer day is December 21st, and we will re-open on January 16th.

We will also be closed on December 17th for documentary filming.

Happy holidays,

Kathleen

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Monday, November 6th: Asian American and Pacific Islanders

Monday, November 13th: Indigenous People

Monday, November 20th: Europeans

Monday, November 27th: Mexicans and South Americans

Please send us emails with ideas and photos if you cannot attend one of the meetings.

Watsonville Brillante – Join Us!

Phase 8 of Watsonville Brillante will be comprised of 35 panels. Sixteen are finished and will be installed in late February. Panels in production are for Canada, Hawaii, Bolivia, and Polynesia.

We are hiring three interns. Interns must be at least 16 years old and still in high school. Our interns work on mosaics, teach new volunteers how to judge shapes and spaces, and cut tiles.  Students are welcome to listen to music with earbuds, or to the music we have playing in the background, we always have snacks available and are happy to help with homework if needed. During Spring and Summer, we attend festivals to engage the public and introduce people to our project and process. We also offer a matching savings program for post-high school education. If engagement with the public is daunting, shy students who just want to work on mosaics and not interact with others can also be accommodated.

Department heads and HR professionals: are you looking for a cool team-building activity? We offer a relationship-strengthening community service project in a super friendly and engaging environment where hands are busy, and hearts are open. Please send me an email to begin a conversation about how we can help each other.

Ciao!

Kathleen

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Good public art always considers the site in which it is located and whenever possible engages the community in which it will be sited to ensure the community will embrace the work. So even when I am doing a public art project on my own, separate from Community Arts & Empowerment I seek community input.

On October 24th the Watsonville City Council has on their consent agenda, a motion to award me (Kathleen Crocetti) the largest publicly funded public art commission in the history of our county. I will be making 4 large sculptures representing the four major cultural groups who have called Watsonville home for the Civic Plaza in downtown Watsonville. I need community input for the appropriate cultural dress each of these figures will be wearing so I’ll be holding 6-10 Cultural Convenings starting November 6th. Please see the flyer below for dates, times, and specific group gatherings.

I’m currently in Italy, soaking in my personal cultural background and researching mosaics.

Watsonville Brillante:

Work on Phase 8 of “Watsonville Brillante” at the Muzzio continues in my absence. While I have been away Community Arts & Empowerment staff and volunteers have completed panels for Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, and Fiji. I understand that on the tables right now are Argentina, Columbia, Nicaragua, and Peru.

The “Watsonville Brillante” project aims to represent all people who have lived or do live in Watsonville. We are working on South American countries and the only ones we do not have are Cuba, Panama, and Paraguay. If you know of anyone living in Watsonville with any of these three heritages please let us know, we don’t want to leave anyone out. 

Artists! We need images for Ecuador and Honduras! We are accepting submissions that are in a 1 (h) x 3 (w) ratio (Actual dimensions are 41” x 96”). Submitting artists should have some significant ties to either Ecuador or Honduras or have done extensive research to inform the work they submit. A small stipend will be paid for the work chosen to be translated into mosaics. If you need more information send your inquiries to watsonvillebrillante@gmail.com

Ciao!

Kathleen

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In our mission, when we say “by” the community we do this by showcasing and elevating the artwork of others. To this end we have paid a stipend to 120 different artists for their creative contributions to “Watsonville Brillante”.  In addition to “Watsonville Brillante”, we partnered with Monica Galvan, Maha Taitano, Caitlyn Bayaca to create Watsonville’s “COVID Memorial”, “Dancing Waters” for the City of Santa Cruz, and the “Rosie Tabasa Mural” for the Eden housing project on Freedom Blvd. in Watsonville.

New Initiative:

These partnerships are an important part of our work, however, we would also like to see more Watsonville artists winning public art commissions on their own. To assist our fellow artists we are partnering with the City of Watsonville to create a free Public Art Academy. This Academy will run for three weeks starting in late October. Please see the flyer below and forward it to all of your artist friends who are interested in breaking into the field of public art. 

Watsonville Brillante:

Sunday, October 8th will be our third-month offering “Second Sunday Art Tours”. Meet Melissa for a bilingual tour of “Watsonville Brillante” at noon in front of the Library. You will learn not only about the history of our project but a great deal about the history of migration to Watsonville. Melissa is a delightful person with youthful energy, catch her while you have the opportunity, I will resume giving the tours in November.

We are hiring 5 intern positions to replace those who left for college this fall. Please see our intern spotlight below to meet one of our recent graduates.

Yours truly,

Kathleen

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The Rosie Tabasa Gardens mural designed by Caitlyn Bayaca was installed this week. The scaffolding will not be taken down for another 3-4 weeks, but in the meantime, both Shmuel Thaler and Tarmo Hannula, local award-winning photographers took great process photos for their respective papers. (Links here: Pajaronian, Sentinel )

We still have 3 other side projects in the works and have begun working on phase 8 of “Watsonville Brillante”. Currently on the tables are panels representing New Zealand, the Dominican Republic, and Costa Rica. Please join us at the Muzzio, but NOT this weekend! We are closed both this Sunday and Monday, September 3rd and 4th in observance of Labor Day.

Our Second Sunday of the month art tour will happen at noon on September 10th. Meet us in front of the library at 275 Main St. in Watsonville. A bilingual intern will be present to run a concurrent tour in Spanish.

Please see our first intern spotlight below.

Take care, everyone, we’d love to see you soon.

Kathleen

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Finally, we’re installing Dancing Waters! Join us for the grand reveal party on the 16th at 3:15  at 24 River St. in Santa Cruz.

Let’s meet in person soon,

Kathleen 

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The grand reveal will take place on August 1st for those who want to see the scaffolding come down. We will be revealing 19 cultural heritages, 18 mixed cultural heritages, and 5 sponsor panels.  

Cultural Heritages:

Austrian, Bavarian, Czechoslovakian, Estonian, Finland, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Norwegian, Russian, Scottish, Serbian, Slovenian, Slovakian, Swedish, United Kingdom, Ukrainian, Welch

Mexican, and the following states of Mexico:

Aguascalientes, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacan, Morelos, Narayit,  Nueve Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Sinaloa, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Yucatan, Zacatecas.

Mixed Cultures:

African American/Caribbean

Amah Mutsun (Ohlone)/Caribbean

Austrian/Yomi

Bolivian/Guatemalan

Chilean/Mexican (Baja)

Chinese/French

Croatian/Mexican

German/Irish

German/Mexican

Greek/Italian

Hawaiian/Norwegian

Irish/Macedonian

Italian/Swiss

Japanese/Mexican (Jalisco)

Jewish/Russian

Filipino/Irish

Polish/Portuguese

Spanish/Mexican (Yucatan)

Sponsor Panels:

“Vegetable Garden” Rowland and Pat Rebele

“Tikkun Olam” a group of Temple Beth El Friends 

“Peace in Our Town” Santa Cruz County Bank

“Peace and Unity” Alan Hicks

“Main Street” City of Watsonville 

In case you were wondering, we have five sponsor panel spots available for Phase 8. Give me a call if you are interested in having us design something special for you. 

Currently, at the Muzzio, we are working on a special side project for the Tabasa Gardens. This 10’x 30’ mural honors the Filipino community and depicts Roise Tabasa and her son Jess Tabasa on the steps of their house. This panel was designed by Caitlin Bayaca.

“Dancing Waters” is completed, and still waiting on the building permits so we can install it. Fingers crossed this will happen in August.

Time flies when you are having fun, come have fun with us!

Kathleen 

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We will reach our next Watsonville Brillante milestone in mid-July with the installation of Phase 7. We will start work on a special panel for the City of Watsonville this week, and finish six more cultural heritage boards. Artist designers, please watch for an invitation to a photo opportunity with your art. 

Our first new start is more street medallions. CalTrans is upgrading the north end of Main St. in Watsonville and has hired us to create 5 more mosaic medallions for the new sidewalks. On July 16th we will begin working with slip-resistant porcelain tiles for these mosaics at the Muzzio in Watsonville.   

Our second new start is a 30’ x 10’ mosaic mural for the Eden Housing Project on Freedom Blvd. This mosaic represents the Filipino community. It was designed by Caitlin Bayaca, one of our interns and a recent graduate of Aptos High School, who is headed off to college this fall with dreams of becoming an art teacher! Come to the Muzzio starting July 16th to be part of this project. 

Public art projects often have slow and lengthy starts as they await an application process which may or may not be won. We await applications for 3 more projects. It’s a juggling act trying to decide which to apply for and which to let go. It would be just our luck to land all three and have them all due at the same time. If that happens we’ll be hiring! 

The Museo will be closed on July 3 and 4 for the Holiday. 

Happy Summer, 

Kathleen 

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Dancing Waters

Monday-Wednesday 3:30-7:30 Saturdays 10-2

333 Front St. (NIAC Building)

Santa Cruz

Text (831) 498-6048 for entry into the building

Watsonville Brillante

The work we are doing in Watsonville continues! The cultural heritage panels currently being worked on are: Michochan, Lithuania, and mixed cultural heritages from Greek/Italian, Japanese/Mexican, Swiss/Italian, Norwegian/Hawaiian, Mexican/German, Croatian/Mexican, and Spanish/Mexican.

Please let us know if you want to work on one of these panels. We can set it aside so that you are not disappointed to find the one you wanted to work on has been finished. 

The Muzzio is a teen center, and most of our hours are for teenagers only. The community at large is invited to help us out on Sundays from 10-2. 

Internships

We love our 5 interns in Watsonville! We now need one in Santa Cruz. Do you know a high school teenager who would like a paid internship with us? We are hiring a teen for our Santa Cruz location who is able to commit 12 hours a week for the next 10 weeks. 

Hope to dance with you soon,

Kathleen

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We finished the panels for Sinaloa, Jalisco, Chihuahua, Hungary, and a panel for one of our sponsors Santa Cruz County Bank called “Peace in our Town”. Coming up soon: Durango, Lithuania,  Michochan, Zacatecas, and several mixed heritage panels. 

Growing:

“Dancing Waters”, a new project for the Riverfront Street garage in Santa Cruz received Art Commission approval to move forward last week. We will open a Satellite Mosaic Arts Center at 333 Front St. (The NIAC building next to the transit center) in April to complete that work with the Santa Cruz community. The week of April 3rd I will set up the space by building new work benches, enlarging the designs and organizing the glass colors and cutting the glass into manageable pieces. Send me a personal message if you have time that week and want to help. 

Mosaic fabrication in the NIAC will begin on April 10th. We will be open to the community at large M-W from 3:30-7:30 and Saturdays from 10-2. Just like at the Muzzio, the hours are drop-in, come when you are able and stay as long as you like. Our mosaic making processes are not suitable for people under the age of 11, and youth between the ages of 11-13 need an adult partner to work with them. Community Service credit is available for High School Youth. 

The flier embedded here in the newsletter is available for those who want to post it. Let me know and I’ll send you a PDF or hard copies if that is better for you.

Helping:

Rinaldi Tile and Marble is an essential partner of ours. Our project would not be possible without them. Their business offices are in Pajaro and they have been closed since the levee broke. The Rinaldi company will survive. There is a lot of clean up work ahead, the water issues have not yet been resolved. Also, of concern their installation calendar was completely upset. Thankfully Rinaldi is insured and they will be up and running again. This is personal because some of Rinaldi’s employees lived in Pajaro.

As you well know, there are many ways to help through local charitable organizations,  Community Action Board, Second Harvest Food and the Santa Cruz Community Foundation come to mind. 

We have been able to offer direct assistance to an member of the Rinaldi community and through him we have connections to others in need in Pajaro. If you don’t need or care about a tax write-off and you have a room to let someone live in or gift cards you are not using or an extra car, we have connections for making a direct gift that will make an immediate difference in someone’s life. 

Lastly, the Muzzio will be closed for spring break April 3-8.

Much love to all of you,

Kathleen

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What do the  MAH, Santa Cruz Redevelopment Agency, Arts Council Santa Cruz, PVA, Community Arts & Empowerment, and Watsonville Film Festival all have in common?  All six organizations love building community through the arts! Even better, we love doing our work together.

Did you miss the MAH’s Masquerade Party last night? You still have time to bid on some exciting community arts events. You know you can always visit us for free, but we offered a private party in support of the MAH on March 26th from 2-5 pm.  Support both organizations here: Link

Watsonville Film Festival opens this week with a fantastic lineup, including the ”Strawberry Picker”, a film by Inspira Studios (a local Watsonville studio) about Juan Fuentes and the murals we have made for his images. The “Strawberry Picker” screening will take place on Saturday, March 4th at 7:00 pm at the Mello Center. All films are free this year, please follow the link for the full lineup of events: Link

Speaking of events, on Sunday, March 5th there will be an opening reception for Juan Fuentes at the PVA’s new gallery in the Porter Building on Main Street in Watsonville from 1-3 pm. At 2 pm Juan and I will be leading a tour of our mosaics depicting his images. See the link for more details: Link

We’ve started the Mexican boards! Currently on the tables in the Muzzio waiting for you to come work on them is The Czech Republic, Hungary, “Peace in our Town” (a sponsor panel that includes a depiction of St. Patrick’s church), Sinaloa, and Guanajuato!  Coming soon will be Jalisco, Michochan, Lithuania and Oaxaca.

So many ways to support the creatives in our community, and we hope to see you soon!

Kathleen

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Kanyon CoyoteWoman Sayer-Roods of Mutsun-Ohlone Of Indian Canyon Nation and Ian Masterson The Surf Professor will tell stories from their cultures about water.

Afterwards, you, the community of listeners will explore with each other the intersections of the two stories. 

Thank you Wallace Baine for the nice write up about our event in Lookout Santa Cruz: Link

Thank you Tarmo for the super photo in the Pajaronian of our latest installation: Link

The Muzzio will be closed tonight.

Cultural heritage panels currently on the tables at the Muzzio in Watsonville are: Hungary, Macedonia and Czechoslovakia.

Public Art for the People!

Kathleen

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Our Kick off event is an Evening of Storytelling on Monday February 20, 5:30-7:30.

Kanyon CoyoteWoman Sayer-Roods of Mutsun-Ohlone Of Indian Canyon Nation and Ian Masterson The Surf Professor will tell stories from their cultures about water.

Afterwards, you, the community of listeners will explore with each other the intersections of the two stories. 

The next week is Visual Storytelling,  Monday February 27, 5:30-7:30.  

Maha Taitano will reveal her visual recordings and interpretations of the stories and their intersections. The community is invited to comment on and make suggestions for additions or changes to Maha’s Story Map.  

Once this initial community engagement piece is in place we will begin making mosaics with the community in the same space (The NIAC Building 33 Front St. in Santa Cruz), we expect this to take place in April, May and June.

Maha’s Story Map will become the 90’ long mosaic mural for the Front St. Garage.  

The Muzzio hours follow the PVUSD calendar and will be closed on Monday February 20th.

Cultural heritage panels currently on the tables at the Muzzio in Watsonville are: Finland, Slovakia, Macedonia and Czechoslovakia.

Public Art for the People!

Kathleen

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We are grateful to all the skilled crafts people who are contributing to our project: the clay mixers, tile makers, tile glazers, kiln operators and all support staff at Fireclay; the tiles setters, grouters, and coordinators from Rinaldi who install for us; the chemical engineers, quality control specialists, researchers and the rest of the team at Laticrete who supply us with the highest quality installation materials; and finally, all the workers at Elite Scaffold who cheerfully set up and take down scaffolding for us. The work each and every one of you do is valuable and meaningful, it is an honor that you are sharing your hard-earned professional experience with us! 

Eighteen mixed cultural heritage panels are going to be revealed on Tuesday along with cultural panels celebrating some of the earliest arrivals to Watsonville. We are looking for stories from families about their mixed cultural heritage or their immigration to Watsonville. If you have a story to tell we have a volunteer writer who would be happy to craft a short essay for you. Or you can write your own! Please keep these under 500 words. When you send us an email about this opportunity please include the word “Story” in your subject line.

The eighteen cultural heritages we will reveal are these:

African/Mexican

Anmautson/Swedish

Baja Californian/Michoacan

British/Irish

Filipino/Mexican

French/Fijian

Irish/Mayan

Italian/Mexican (Puebla)

Japanese/Guatemalan

Korean/African American

Mexican (Chihuahua)/Comanche

Mexican (Chihuahua)/Yaki (Yoeme)

Mexican (Jalisoco)/Spanish

Oklahoma Seminole/Portuguese

Portuguese/Mexican (Guanajuato)

Scottish/Anamutsun

Scottish/Estonian

Scottish/Swedish

We will create an additional sixteen mixed cultural heritage panels for our next installation. If you want to see us represent your family’s unique heritage please send us an email and use the words “Include us” in your subject line. 

A quick reminder, we are open late (4 pm) on Mondays and Thursdays through the month of January.

Yours truly, 

Kathleen

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January 9th, 2023

Dear Friends and Supporters,

The Muzzio Mosaic Arts Center is in the Watsonville flood zone. We have not seen any damage or high water in our neighborhood; however we are exercising caution and will delay reopening.

Our new plan is to reopen the Muzzio from our winter holiday on January 15th.

Stay dry and stay safe,

Kathleen 

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The grand reveal is going to happen on Wednesday morning the 4th of January. Arrive by 8:30 a.m. if you want to see the curtain drop. There will still be hours left to wathen the crew dismantle the scaffolding, but the first thing they do is drop the black protective screening material.

Inspira Studios is finishing up a documentary on the life of Juan Fuentes. Please follow the link for a preview. Link

We have four staff members and five interns now, all of us are enjoying a break and are looking forward to seeing you again on January 9th. For the rest of January we will be opening at 4 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays as some of our staff are enjoying an extended stay in Mexico.

Yours,

Kathleen

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Thank you to everyone who either volunteered or came to visit us during Open Studios. We met a lot of new people who expressed interest in coming to help us fabricate mosaics. We are open to visitors of all ages on Sundays from 10-2. Please see our holiday schedule below, we’d hate to have you come out when we are closed.

There are no idle hands at the Muzzio, fabrication work on Phase 7 has already begun. This phase will finish up the wave of Europeans and begin the States of Mexico. Currently being worked on are the Norwegian, Sweden, Wales, and Belgium panels.

We’ve entered the Fall 2022 NIA Photo Contest, and your vote can help us win cash prizes and publicity!

Voting is easy – our photo is located here: Voting Link

Cast your vote between Nov. 7-20, 2022. Each person may vote once during the contest period.

This photo contest is organized by Nonprofits Insurance Alliance.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families next week.

Kathleen

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For the month of September, we had a special guest mosaic artist, Gertrude Muller. Gertrude is a world traveler, installing mosaics in cities across the globe from Ankara to Beijing. She’s getting ready to open a studio in Germany and while with us she was picking our brains about large scale projects and writing really nice stories. To read her blog follow the link: Gertrude’s Blog

Time is flying by. It has been almost six months since our last installation. Scaffolding is up again. The walls need to be prepped before Rinaldi Tile and Marble install our next 1200 square feet of tile. Look for Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Irish, Portuguese, Basque, Greek, Croatian, Italian, German, French, Danish, Denmark and several mixed cultural panels to be revealed at the beginning of November.

Currently being worked on are the Irish, Danish, and Basque panels. Come by, we’d love to see you at the Muzzio.

Kathleen

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Please join us and Watsonville’s new City Manager Rene Mendez for a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, September 14th at 4 pm. 

Big hugs, 

Kathleen

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August is a busy event month for us in Watsonville, come see us at both the Strawberry Festival and the Art & Wine Walk:

Strawberry Festival, August 6th and 7th Festival Link

(The Muzzio will be closed on August 7th as we will be at the festival)

Art & Wine Walk, August 20th Event Link

The Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance (PVPSA) mural was completed in late July, it was such a joy to work with these talented youth. See pictures below.

The COVID Memorial is coming together and will be installed at the end of this month. You are invited to place a marigold in honor of a loved one on August 27th from 2-6 or August 28th from noon-6. The memorial will be located on the slough trail head behind Body Zone on Main Street. We are also building a remembrance web site to hold stories of those we have lost to COVID. Due to privacy issues it is not possible for us to reach out to members of our community who have lost loved ones to the pandemic, please pass our information on to anyone in our County who has suffered the loss of a loved one in case they would like to have a remembrance included.

Big hugs, 

Kathleen

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I feel like Chicken Little: “The scaffolding is coming down, the scaffolding is coming down!” I really do have something to shout about! We are but half-way through our 5-year promise to install 12,500 square feet of mosaics on the Watsonville Civic Parking Garage. The current installation includes our last image by Juan Fuentes and seventeen of the 120 horizontal heritage panels. We’re planning a Community Celebration, Volunteer, and Donor Appreciation party for June 7th. Save the date. Party details below.

Volunteers and donors will receive a ticket by mail to redeem a T-shirt at the Community Celebration Party. If you have volunteered for us, or donated online and do not receive a ticket in the mail by June 1st, it is because we do not have an address for you! Please email us at watsonvillebrillante@gmail.com

My parents, Sharon and Ferruccio, were the first fund to our project. I am pleased they will be in town not just for our Community Party, but also for the opening reception of my mom’s retrospective art exhibit at the Radius Gallery on Friday, June 3rd. If you’d like to hear how her art practice influenced my path, please join us for a curator’s talk on Sunday afternoon, June 5th. Details for both events are below.

Would you like another excuse to party with me in June? How about attending the opening reception for “Sculpture Is”, the annual sculpture garden show is a project of Pajaro Valley Arts, and hosted by Sierra Azul Nursery and Gardens. Thursday evening, June 9th from 5-7 p.m.

The Youth Empowerment mural for PVPSA is expected to be installed on June 11th. There is still time to join us and be part of the fabrication for this beautiful community collaboration.

Please join us at the Muzzio to place a few tiles on the COVID Memorial for the City of Watsonville starting June 16th.

We’ve hired an administrative assistant to replace Brianna. Please come by and say hello to Dafne. Her profile is below.

We also have room for 2 more youth interns! Here is the Link for the pre screening application.

Summer Vacation! Yes, we are going to take a break, we will be closed June 2nd through June 12th. As you can see from above, the Muzzio will be closed, but we will still be busy.

Wishing you all joy and good health, 

Kathleen

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Lastly, Brianna Flores our Administrative Assistant and Youth Engagement Officer is leaving us to persue some educational aspirations. We are looking for a bilingual person, familiar with computer programs for social media and Google office suite, who can both engage and manage young people. Please see our Job Announcement link.

We also have room for 2 more youth interns! Link for prescreening application.

Wishing you all joy and good health, 

Kathleen

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to the Arts Council and the Community Foundation, to our Internship Sponsors, to Juan for his images, to Brianna and our interns, to Christine, Kate, Jovita, Bob and all the other adult volunteers we see weekly or sporadically, to the youth who keep coming back and to the youth we only see once, each one of you is precious, and to everyone who has participated or donated, Thank you.

There is a genuine feeling of excitement in the air around the arts in Watsonville these days. The combined efforts of older, more established groups like PVA, The White Hawk Dancers, Senderos, The Watsonville Film Festival and the newcomers such as Arte del Coronzon, and ourselves, in partnership with the City and the Arts Council are making a difference in the lives of young people. The Watsonville Stewardship committee has been formed this past year with at least one member from each of the above mentioned groups, our mission is to establish a permanent home for the arts and to help shape an arts district in Watsonville.

In the spirit of giving, I want to encourage you to donate to the Arts Council’s Watsonville Movement for Arts and Culture campaign as part of Santa Cruz Gives this year.

Link

A quick reminder, the Muzzio is closed through January 10th, we’re all enjoying a little break.

Happy Holidays everyone, we look forward to seeing you in 2022!

Kathleen

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Our sponsor highlight this month is Fireclay. Based out of Aromas, Fireclay makes all of their green certified award winning tiles here in the Pajaro Valley.  They were our second major donors (after Rinaldi Tile and Marble) and we would never have gotten out of the dream state without them. Thank you for supporting Watsonville Brillante with thousands of square feet of beautiful tile! Please see the link in the newsletter for a really nice article about Eric Edelson, the CEO of Fireclay.

We’re taking a break from Farmer’s Market for a few months as it gets too dark too early for us to work in the winter.

Speaking of breaks, we follow the PVUSD school calendar for holidays. We will be closed from December 17th through January 11th.

Lastly, Susanne and I have finally finished and installed the memorial bench for Allison Endert at Twin Lakes park in Santa Cruz. We will begin working on a COVID memorial for the City of Watsonville in January.

Happy Holidays everyone, if we don’t see you next week we look forward to seeing you in 2022!

Kathleen

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Next up! The first Annual Art Festival “Cultivating Culture” October 15th 2-7 p.m. 335 Main Street (across from the Plaza). We will be there with our trailer along with lots of other artists including live music and Baile folklorico. Presented by Arte del Corazón.

“Mi Casa es Tu Casa- History, Loss, and Healing” the annual exhibit at Pajaro Valley Arts opens on October 27th. The opening reception is on Sunday, November 7th from 1-3 p.m. Community Arts and Empowerment does not have an altar, but my students from Mission Hill MIddle School will have work in the show. If you are coming to Watsonville for the opening, consider coming by the Muzzio for our Sunday community hours starting at 10 a.m. before heading over to PVA.

In conjunction with the show a candlelight vigil will be held at the Plaza from 5-6 p.m. on October 30th. I will speak for a few minutes about the COVID memorial that the City of Watsonville is commissioning myself and Monica Galvan to make. 

End the month with “Coco in the Park” a family fun free event. We will be creating a new “Carmina” mosaic again this year along with several other Watsonville based arts groups offering free arts activities. The evening ends with a viewing of the Pixar film “Coco”. Presented by the Watsonville Film Festival.

Watsonville has a lot to offer, come visit us soon!

Kathleen

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We are running a 10 x $25K campaign. The ten donors who donate $25K are getting naming rights on a specially designed horizontal section of the mural. Their donations are allowing us to hire interns! Meet our first intern, Freddy below. We are ready to hire two more, do you know a Watsonville Youth who would like a paid position with a community service organization? Send them our way!

COVID Safe?

Yes! All our staff are vacinated, everyone who enters must take thier temperature and wear a mask while indoors. Our large space can comfortably accommodate up to 20 people at a time, allowing for 3 feet of space between individuals at work tables. Please see our schedule below for our hours.

Would you like to help, but don’t have the time to come place tiles? Every donation large or small makes a difference to us and the community we serve. Here’s the link for all of you community art motivated donors out there. If you are not comfortable with electronic transactions we are happy to take checks too.

With love and gratitude,

Kathleen 

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August 6th, 2021

Dear Friends and Supporters,

We will be at this year’s Strawberry Festival in downtown Watsonville, this Sunday, August 8th. The annual event is back for one day only this year. We are very excited to be a part of the re-opening, it is shaping up to be more of a local art faire rather than the state fair big rides carnival feel it has had in the past. It is going to be a wonderful opportunity to see Watsonville at its best, eat our iconic fruit and meet the artists that help make this town so special.

Have you volunteered with us in the past? We are looking for a couple of ambassadors to volunteer with us on Sunday at the Strawberry Festival. If you are interested in helping us out, email us at watsonvillebrillante@gmail.com to sign up for a slot:

Speaking of volunteers, we will be returning to our regular pre-COVID hours on September 1st. Please see the schedule below in the body of this email.

The Watsonville City Arts Commission unanimously approved our images for the garage at their meeting on July 19th. Curious about the 120 approved images? See the link to the slide show below and the meeting:

Link to slideshow: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Rvxw7sx3ljSGnlW3jVwFegoJdVLtIB6DO76pUkRH61s/edit

Parks & Rec Commission update/approval Recorded mtg link: https://pub-cityofwatsonville.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=6a882fa0-5bf2-48bf-8e0c-94da1b8c975f&Agenda=Agenda&lang=English

We are grateful to all of the artists who submitted images, and want to give a special shout out to all the artists who submitted testimonials for the Arts Commissioners. You can see all of the testimonials in the slide show, and I’ve included three of them in this newsletter as well.

COVID Considerations:

Are we back to normal? Yes, if you understand the new normal to be masks for everyone. We have returned to drop in volunteering, no more appointments needed. Our large space can comfortably accommodate up to 20 people at a time, allowing for 3 feet of space between individuals at work tables.

Thank you Ann S., Andy S. and Susan L. for making donations through our updated website! Your donations are helping us further build community connections in our neighborhood. The Muzzio Mosaic Arts Center is located in Muzzio Park, which is often full of kids too young to participate in mosaic making with us. Daily during warm weather we give out popsicles, and on cooler days we provide hotdogs. We’re hoping to have all of these bright beautiful faces join us to make mosaics when they are old enough. Here’s the link for all of you community art motivated donors out there. If you are uncomfortable with electronic transactions we are happy to take checks too.

With love and gratitude,

Kathleen 

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Our mobile mosaic making studio has been out and about in the community, loof for us weekly at the Watsonville Farmers Market and at special events like the upcoming Strawberry Festival! We can come to your event too, call or email to get on our schedule. (831) 724-5981 or watsonvillebrillante@gmail.com

COVID Considerations:

Are we back to normal? Almost! We are returning to drop in volunteering, no more appointments needed. Our large space can comfortably accommodate up to 20 people at a time, allowing for 3 feet of space between individuals at work tables.

When you sign-in we will ask you to circle a yes/no question about your vaccination status. It is on the honor system. Fully vaccinated people can choose to wear a mask or not. Folks who are not vaccinated will need to comply with state and local guidelines and continue to wear masks.

We have updated our website and are able to take smaller community donations and finally have a donate button on our web page. Here’s the link for any eager donors out there. If you are uncomfortable with electronic transactions we are happy to take checks too.

With love and gratitude,

Kathleen 

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The Muzzio is NOW OPEN for volunteers to come and place tiles for Phase 4. We are still limiting the number of people who can be in the Muzzio at any point in time so please see this link or the one below to sign-up for your time slot.

The good weather and our County moving into the red tier means we will be returning to the Watsonville Farmer’s Market. Look for us in the Cabrillo College breezeway Friday nights starting April 2nd.

Lastly we have found our last angel donor! Hooray! We are now able to take smaller community donations and finally have a donate button on our web page. Here’s the link for any eager donors out there.

With love and gratitude,

Kathleen 

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Susanne, Brianna and I have so enjoyed spending social, community building, and creative time with a few of you at a time.

Local artists- please send us your designs for the horizontal sections!

Lastly, I’m presenting a webinar for TCAP. All are welcome. See below for registration information

Hope to see you soon!

With love and gratitude,

Kathleen 

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We hope to see you soon!

With love and gratitude,

Kathleen

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