LOS ANGELES–Reception: Welcome to the Covid Hotel
2024-03-09 | Los Angeles Poverty Department, 250 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
Caption: Photos courtesy of Dr. Sudarsky.
LOS ANGELES—Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD) is pleased to announce the opening of its new Skid Row History Museum & Archive exhibition, Welcome to the Covid Hotel.
Welcome to the Covid Hotel reveals the exceptional innovations and successes of a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals who ran LA County Health Department’s emergency Quarantine and Isolation sites for houseless Covid patients and people exposed to the virus in shelters.
Exhibit
March 9-December 14, 2024
Thursdays-Saturdays, 2-5pm
Public Reception
March 9, 2024 @ 4:00-7:00pm
S. Broadway, Los Angeles 90012
The opening event will feature a 15-minute preview of a work-in-progress theatrical performance by LAPD at 5 pm, as well as an opportunity to meet some of the frontline heroes who staffed the QI sites.
Panel Discussion
March 27 at 6:30pm
Panel with Adversity Generates Innovations, featuring Dr. Sudarsky with Marissa Axelrod, RN and AlternaGve Healing PracGGoner, who was one of the first staff at the original QI site; and Soma Snakeoil, Co-Founder and ExecuGve Director of The Sidewalk Project, which improvised responses to help people living on the streets during the pandemic; moderated by Clancey Cornell, a clinical social worker and member of LAPD’s archive staff whose interviews are featured in the exhibition.
For information, contact info@lapovertydept.org or visit the website.
Los Angeles Poverty Department is a multi-disciplinary arts organization that produces and presents artworks and events that instaniate the existence of the Skid Row community—affirming its assets, advocating for its rights, and supporting its aspirations.
This project is supported by a Humanities for All Project Grant.

SAN DIEGO–Exhibit Opening and Panel: Octavia E. Butler: Seeding Futures
2024-03-09 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | New Children’s Museum, 200 W. Island Avenue, San Diego, California, 92101, United States
SAN DIEGO—The New Children’s Museum’s upcoming exhibition, Octavia E. Butler: Seeding Futures, opens to the public on Saturday, March 9! This exhibit will honor the life and legacy of award-winning science fiction writer, Octavia Estelle Butler, while offering Museum visitors the first of its kind long-term youth focused exhibit on her inspirations and early life. Make your plans to visit NCM to be among the first to experience this innovative installation. Throughout the research, dreaming, and development process of this exhibit the museum has remained grounded in Butler’s vision of community; from this their Seeding Futures Collective blossomed, creating a space of deep collaboration within a community of various field experts and creatives who, like Butler, are telling stories of alternative futures that are fairer, more just and hopeful.
To celebrate the launch of this groundbreaking exhibit, the museum is hosting an Octavia E. Butler: Seeding Futures Panel conversation to discuss the life, legacy, and global influence of Octavia E. Butler on Saturday, March 9 from 2-3 pm. They will explore how Butler’s work shapes our understanding of community and the future.
Where: The panel will take place at the beautiful UC San Diego Park & Market, located Downtown in East Village.
Who: Panelists include American Artist (they/them), a contemporary artist who makes thought experiments that mine the history of technology, race, and knowledge production, beginning with their legal name change in 2013, Lynell George (she/her), a journalist, writer and author of A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia Butler, and Advising Curator and founder of the Octavia E. Butler Legacy Network, Dr. Ayana Jamieson (she/her), will moderate the discussion.
The event is free and open to the public but registration is required to attend.
Learn more at on the museum’s website.
This project is supported by a Humanities for All Project Grant.

SACRAMENTO–Program: Take Me to the Water: Black Histories of the Pacific
2024-03-16 13:00 - 14:00 | Sacramento Central Library, 828 I Street, Sacramento, CA, 95814, United States
Caption: Black seamen onboard ship [073]. Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection, African American Museum and Library at Oakland.
SACRAMENTO—Visit the Central Library in Sacramento from January 23 to March 16 for Take Me to the Water, a multimedia exhibit curated by Dr. Caroline Collins that captures the historic panorama of the Black experience with the Pacific Ocean.
The exhibit seeks to recenter the relationship between African Americans, water, and ships, moving beyond the entrenched narrative of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and towards the understanding that Black people have not only existed in the Pacific region for centuries, but played an integral role in the development of Pacific economy and society.
The exhibit will be accompanied by the following series of free public programs:
February 8, 6:30 pm on Zoom: Join us as Dr. Caroline Collins has a Q&A about her exhibit Take Me to the Water: Black Histories of the Pacific with SPL archivist and historian James Scott. The talk will focus on the relationship between African Americans and the Pacific. This zoom-based program encourages audience participation.
Zoom Link
February 15, 7 pm on Zoom: Join Sacramento Public Library archivist James Scott and Marcquarie University (Sydney, Australia) Professor of History Chris Dixon as they discuss his recent book, “African Americans and the Pacific War, 1941-1945: Race, Nationality and the Fight for Freedom,” (Cambridge University Press, 2018). This zoom-based program encourages audience participation.
Zoom Link
February 24, 1:00 pm at Central Library: Join us in the Sacramento Room at Central Library as Sacramento historian and Emmy-nomiated documentarian Chris Lango discusses a lesser known but vital chapter in the life of Sacramento attorney and civil rights champion Nathaniel S. Colley – his experience in the South Pacific during World War II and how it shaped the course of his life. Lango will use rarely seen archival materials, both in paper and audio-visual, in an effort to bring clarity to this defining period in the life and career of Mr. Colley.
March 16: 1:00 pm at Central Library: Born to a Danish-Jewish father and Afro Caribbean mother in the Virgin Islands at the beginning of the nineteenth-century, William Alexander Leidesdorff sailed both the Atlantic and Pacific, forged fresh trade routes, built influential relationships, and eventually settled in California where he became one of the nation’s first African American millionaires. American River College professor of humanities Michael Harlan shares his research on this figure who – transitioning from mariner to landholder – became one of the most influential figures in the early development of California.
Tickets: Facilitated by the Sacramento Room, the exhibit and all accompanying programs are free and no registration is required. For questions or comments about the series, please contact archivist James Scott at jscott@saclibrary.org or 916-264-2795.
Take Me to the Water is toured by Exhibit Envoy, and supported by California Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Exhibit Runs: January 23, 2023 – March 16, 2024
Learn more at on the library’s website.
This project is supported by a Humanities for All Project Grant.

UCR ARTS at Riverside—Partner Screening of DOROTHEA LANGE: GRAB A HUNK OF LIGHTNING
2024-03-16 15:00 - 17:30 | UCR Arts, 3824 Main St, Riverside, CA, 92501
Caption: Photographer Dorothea Lange pictured in Texas, circa 1934.
UCR ARTS—On March 16, join UCR ARTS in Riverside for an afternoon screening of DOROTHEA LANGE: GRAB A HUNK OF LIGHTNING (2014). This free event includes a post-film Q&A with filmmaker Dyanna Taylor.
Synopsis: Explore, through her granddaughter’s eyes, the life story of Dorothea Lange, the photographer who captured the iconic image ‘Migrant Mother’. Never-seen-before photos, film footage, interviews, family memories, and journals reveal the artist who challenged America to know itself.
Lange’s enduring images document five turbulent decades of American history, including the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, World War II Japanese American Internment camps, and early environmentalism. Yet few know the story, struggles, and profound body of work of the woman behind the camera. Award winning cinematographer Dyanna Taylor, Lange’s granddaughter, directs and narrates this intimate documentary as it explores Lange’s life, probes the nature of her muses – two great men and the camera itself – and her uncompromising vision. Taylor, who learned to see the visual world at her grandmother’s feet, weaves Lange’s preparations for her career retrospective at New York’s MoMA into a universal story of a woman’s struggle to live a creative life.
Saturday, March 16, 2024 | 3 pm
3824 + 3834 Main Street
Riverside, CA 92501
Free admission! Reserve your free ticket here.
*A film admission ticket gives you access to the film screening and complimentary admission to all UCR ARTS exhibitions during your visit. Please note: most galleries close at 5 PM. For a list of current exhibitions, please click here.
This event is presented in partnership with California Humanities, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
This film is supported by a California Documentary Project grant.

UCR ARTS at Riverside—Partner Screening of EXPOSING MUYBRIDGE
2024-03-23 15:00 - 16:50 | UCR Arts, 3824 Main St, Riverside, CA, 92501
Caption: Actor Gary Oldman in a still from EXPOSING MUYBRIDGE.
UCR ARTS—On March 23, join UCR ARTS in Riverside for an afternoon screening of EXPOSING MUYBRIDGE (2021). This free event includes a post-film Q&A with filmmaker Marc Shaffer.
Synopsis: Few figures have played so seminal a role in our moving picture storytelling culture as the revolutionary 19th-century photographer Eadweard Muybridge. At the behest of his patron, the railroad baron Leland Stanford, Muybridge produced unprecedented images of running horses, instantly transforming the camera into a machine of unmatched powers of perception and persuasion and setting the course for the development of cinema.
Before his motion photography breakthrough, Muybridge produced one of the most celebrated early landscape catalogues of the American West. He made the first photographs of winemaking in Northern California, produced the first photographs of native Tlingit people and of Southeast Alaska, was the fourth to photograph Yosemite, the first to be hired by the US government to photograph an Indian War (The Modoc War in Northern California), and his photographs of Central America are widely considered the most important early images of the region.
Mischievous, resilient, deceitful, proud — Muybridge was a complicated man, and his personal story is as melodramatic as his professional one is distinguished, imbued with ambition and success, loss and betrayal, even the cold-blooded killing of a romantic rival.
“The machine cannot lie,” Leland Stanford declared of Muybridge’s horse-in-motion images. But what about the photographer?
Exposing Muybridge reveals long-buried secrets hiding in Muybridge’s photographs that force us to ask, can we truly believe what we see in a photograph?
Far from a relic of the past, then, Muybridge marks a beginning of “now,” his work catalyzing much of our modern culture, inspiring cutting-edge artists, scientists, and innovators, people who continue to reshape how we interpret and experience our world.
Saturday, March 23, 2024 | 3 pm
3824 + 3834 Main Street
Riverside, CA 92501
Free admission! Reserve your free ticket here.
*A film admission ticket gives you access to the film screening and complimentary admission to all UCR ARTS exhibitions during your visit. Please note: most galleries close at 5 PM. For a list of current exhibitions, please click here.
This event is presented in partnership with California Humanities, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
This film is supported by a California Documentary Project grant.

MENDOCINO—Nathaniel Smith and the History of African Americans in California
2024-03-23 16:00 - 17:30 | Kelley House Museum, 45007 Albion Street, Mendocino, 95460, United States
Caption: Nathaniel Smith, circa 1880-1900. Photograph courtesy of Open UCLA Collections
MENDOCINO—Join the Kelley House Museum and two special guest speakers for an in-depth discussion of the life of Nathaniel Smith, the first African American to settle on the Mendocino Coast in the 1850s. Susan Anderson, History Curator at the California African American Museum will offer insight into the history of California’s treatment of people of color, and Guest Curator Alexander Wood shares his research on Smith’s life.
When: Saturday, March 23, 4-5:30 PM

Where: Kelley House Museum | 45007 Albion Street, Mendocino, CA 95460
Tickets: $7-$10, students free. No one turned away due to lack of funds. Advance tickets recommended.
Exhibit Run: March 1–May 27, 2024
Nathaniel Smith arrived in Mendocino County in the 1850s and is believed to be the first African American to settle on the coast. His life story is revealed through photos, clippings, and artifacts in the Kelley House Museum’s newest exhibit. Smith was at one time “known to every man, woman and child on the coast.” He was known for his wit, good nature, and essential work as a hunter, fisherman, farmer, and ferry operator. When Smith arrived in Mendocino, California passed laws and instituted policies discriminating against African Americans and Native Americans. As his popularity in the region grew, he also endured the racism of some of his neighbors, including the frequent use of a derogatory nickname. Despite the challenges, Smith succeeded in many professions, owned a home and land, and raised a family. This exhibition presents details of Nathaniel Smith’s life set against the history of California’s treatment of people of color. Follow the path of Smith’s life as he moved from his hometown of Baltimore, traveled the world on a ship, and eventually settled and made his life in Mendocino County. We are grateful to guest curator Alexander Wood for his thorough research and to Arlene Zornes, Nathaniel Smith’s descendant, for all the information and assistance.

Visit the exhibit website for more information.
This project is supported by a Humanities for All Quick Grant.

PBS—HOME COURT National Broadcast Premiere on Independent Lens
2024-03-24 08:00 - 21:00 | Virtual
PBS—HOME COURT, a film from director Erica Tanamachi, chronicles Cambodian American basketball prodigy Ashley Chea’s life amid college recruitment, injury, and triumph airs nationally on the PBS series Independent Lens. Filmed over three years, HOME COURT is a coming-of-age story that relays the highs and lows of her immigrant family, surmounting racial and class differences, as well as personal trials that include a devastating knee injury. Despite the intensity of basketball recruiting, Ashley’s humor shines through and her natural talent inspires the support of those around her.
Website: https://www.homecourtfilm.com/
Where: PBS’ Independent Lens
When: March 24, 2025, check your local listings
For details, see: https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/home-court/

LOS ANGELES AND VIRTUAL–Can a Football Stadium Be a Black History Museum?
2024-03-28 18:00 - 21:00 | SoFi Stadium, 1001 S. Stadium Drive, Inglewood, California, 90301
Presented in partnership with The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection at SoFi Stadium Hollywood Park
LOS ANGELES AND VIRTUAL—In February 2022, SoFi Stadium marked two milestones. The first was hosting the Los Angeles Rams’ home field victory in Super Bowl LVI. The second was opening an exhibition of the Kinsey African American Art & History Collection. En route to the bathroom or on a beer run, visitors to the stadium’s second level may find themselves taken off guard by letters from Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, photographs of LA’s early-20th-century Black firefighters, formal portraits of 19th-century Black men and women, and works by major Black artists.

What does it mean to juxtapose this experience with watching professional football players—over 50% of whom are Black—go to battle on the turf below? What have the Kinseys chosen to display, and why at SoFi? And how are other people and organizations, in fields from fine art to poetry, using Black narratives to inform and enrich our understanding of history and contemporary life in unexpected ways?
A panel of artists and athletes visit Zócalo and Kinsey Collection at SoFi Stadium to discuss what one of the world’s largest private collections of Black art and historical objects is doing at one of the world’s grandest football stadiums, why it matters, and where similar efforts are scoring big.

REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT

6 PM: In-person audience members are invited for a last, best chance to join a guided tour of the Kinsey exhibition, which leaves SoFi at the end of March
7 PM: Conversation, in-person and online
8 PM: In-person audience members are invited to join us for a reception with a DJ and complimentary food and beverages

When: Thursday, March 28, 2024 | 6-9 pm PT
Where: SoFi Stadium Hollywood Park, 1001 S. Stadium Drive, Inglewood CA 90301 | with livestream
Free and open to the public
Learn more at on the project’s website.
This project is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and California Humanities through United We Stand: Connecting Through Culture.

UCR ARTS at Riverside—Partner Screening of DELANO MANONGS
2024-03-30 15:00 - 16:00 | UCR Arts, 3824 Main St, Riverside, CA, 92501
Caption: Still of Filipino farm labor organizer Larry Itliong from film The Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the United Farmworkers Union.
UCR ARTS—On March 30, join UCR ARTS in Riverside for an afternoon screening of DELANO MANONGS (2014). This free event includes an introduction from filmmaker Marissa Aroy.
Synopsis: THE DELANO MANONGS tells the story of farm labor organizer Larry Itliong and a group of Filipino farm workers who instigated one of the American farm labor movement’s finest hours – The Delano Grape Strike of 1965 that brought about the creation of the United Farm Workers Union (UFW). While the movement is known for Cesar Chavez’s leadership and considered a Chicano movement, Filipinos played a pivotal role. Filipino labor organizer, Larry Itliong, a cigar-chomping union veteran, organized a group of 1500 Filipinos to strike against the grape growers of Delano, California, beginning a collaboration between Filipinos, Chicanos and other ethnic workers that would go on for years.
Saturday, March 30, 2024 | 3 pm
3824 + 3834 Main Street
Riverside, CA 92501
Free admission! Reserve your free ticket here.
*A film admission ticket gives you access to the film screening and complimentary admission to all UCR ARTS exhibitions during your visit. Please note: most galleries close at 5 PM. For a list of current exhibitions, please click here.
This event is presented in partnership with California Humanities, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
This film is supported by a California Documentary Project grant.

SAN JOSE—First Friday: Hip Hop(e), Jazz & Storytelling—Part 2
2024-04-05 18:00 - 21:00 | San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, United States
Caption: The Francis Experience at Part 1 (Yellow) of the First Friday: Hip Hop(e) residency in November 2023. Photo by Frederick Liang
SAN JOSE—Join the San Jose Museum of Art for the second part of the Francis Experience’s residency with featured guest poet Rosanna Alvarez.
First Friday: Hip Hop(e), Jazz & Storytelling is a three-part series that will offer community members new ways to engage with exhibition themes of migration, identity, self-love, and inclusion through written and spoken word. The series will feature Francis Experience, with Jonathan Borca and co-founder Gabby Horlick (drums), and include standout musicians Bennett Roth (keys and vocals), and Miguel “Frunkyman” Levya (bass). Together, the quartet blends rap, poetry, and storytelling, which will be augmented with projected digital art by Illuminate SJ Now! and a series of featured poets.
The residency will be offered on SJMA’s late-night “First Fridays” with open galleries, held from 6–9pm on November 3, 2023 (with Mighty Mike McGee), April 5, 2024 (with Rosanna Alvarez), and May 3, 2024 (with Tshaka Campbell).
The museum store will be open late.
Visit the First Fridays program page for more information.
This project is supported with a Humanities for All Quick Grant.

CORONADO—Poetry Reading and Open Mic at the San Diego Writer’s Festival
2024-04-06 12:45 - 15:15 | Coronado Library and Performance Arts Complex, 650 D Avenue, Coronado, 92118, United States
CORONADO—Join current and former San Diego Poetry Annual authors and editors as we celebrate local poets! Featured SDPA readers will be followed by a community open mic. Bring a poem to share and/or grab a seat to hear work by renowned poets Kazim Ali, Carly DeMento, Reg E Gaines, Katie Manning, Margarita Pintado, Leonora Simonovis, Ted Washington, SDPA bilingual edition editor Olga García, and inaugural San Diego Poet Laureate Ron Salisbury. Hosted by SDPA execs Michael Klam and Jane Muschenetz, this event highlights SDPA authors and is open to all.
When: April 6, 12:45 pm-3:15 pm PT
Where: Coronado Library and Performance Arts Complex | Coronado Island, 650 D Avenue, Multipurpose Room, Building 400
Free and open to the public
Visit the San Diego Poetry Annual’s website for more information.
This project is supported with a Humanities for All Quick Grant.

LOS ANGELES–Lanterns in the Dark: Afrolatine LA in Verse
2024-04-06 14:00 - 16:30 | LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, 501 N Main Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
LOS ANGELES—Join Lanterns in the Dark: Afrolatine LA In Verse, a poetry and open mic event featuring poets Lucas Rivera, Reggie Myles, Sean Hill, Cameron Mouton, and Jenise Miller and co-sponsored by LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes. This program is free and part of the public programming for the Afróntalo exhibit, led by the CSU San Bernardino Anthropology Museum.
Where: LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes | 501 N Main Street | Los Angeles, CA 90012
When: 2-4:30 PM
Admission is free!
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About Afróntalo
Afróntalo introduces you to four communities in Mexico and twenty-one Californians, all in their own words, to explore the depth and breadth of Afrolatiné histories, cultures and identities. “Afróntalo” in Spanish means “Face It.” This reflects the intention of our exhibition to recognize the erasure of Afro-descendants and the prevalence of anti-blackness in the Americas. Additional meaning can be found in breaking the title into two separate phrases, “Afro” and “Ntalo.” The first phrase, “Afro,” reflects the Afro-descendant focus of the exhibition. The second phrase “Ntalo,” has at least three meanings in African languages. In Xitsonga, spoken in parts of Zimbabwe and Eswatini, ntalo means “abundance.” In Lingala, a language spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo, ntalo means “value.” Finally in Ganda, the primary language spoken in Uganda, ntalo means “war.” Collectively, these three words reflect the impetus of Afróntalo to make clear the widespread and deep roots of Afro-descendants in the Americas, the incredible importance of Afro-descendant contributions and populations historically and today, and the need for action to bring attention to these matters and the contemporary needs of Afro-descendant communities.
Where: California State University, San Bernardino | Anthropology Museum (SB-306) 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407
Exhibit Runs September 21, 2023 – June 19, 2024
Free and open to the public
Learn more at on the project’s website.
This project is supported by a Humanities for All Project Grant.

SAN DIEGO—Poetry to the People
2024-04-08 18:30 - 20:30 | Point Loma Public Library, 3701 Voltaire Street, San Diego, CA, 92107, United States
SAN DIEGO—Join San Diego Poetry Annual for the  Poetry to the People  event, featuring 2023-24 SDPA authors, community readers, and community leaders at the Point Loma Library, celebrates our biggest community poetry volume to date! Come hear inspiring, heart lifting voices from all across our fair city, including San Diego Poet Laureate, Jason Magabo Perez.
SDPA authors can email sdpoetryannual@gmail.com to sign up to read early or sign up in the library at the event. Check out the PDFs of the new SPDA editions here. Hosted by SDPA execs and award-winning authors, Michael Klam and Jane Muschenetz, this event highlights SDPA authors and is open to all.
When: April 8, 6:30 pm-8:30 pm PT
Where: Point Loma Public Library | San Diego | 3701 Voltaire Street
Free and open to the public
Visit the San Diego Poetry Annual’s website for more information.
This project is supported with a Humanities for All Quick Grant.

SAN BERNARDINO–Undocublack: Migration Experiences of Undocumented Afrolatines
2024-04-11 14:30 - 15:45 | Cal State San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, 92407
SAN BERNARDINO—Join a guest lecture by Danyeli Rodriguez Del Orbe from the Undocublack Network and a film screening of MEJOR ALLÁ. This program is free and part of the public programming for the Afróntalo exhibit, led by the CSU San Bernardino Anthropology Museum.
with Rosario Rizzo Lara, SOC 4510, Sociology of Migration
Where: Cal State San Bernardino, SB-129, San Bernardino, California
When: Thursday, April 11 | 2:30-3:45 PM
Admission is free!
Seating is limited, but you can also join the program online.
——————————
About Afróntalo
Afróntalo introduces you to four communities in Mexico and twenty-one Californians, all in their own words, to explore the depth and breadth of Afrolatiné histories, cultures and identities. “Afróntalo” in Spanish means “Face It.” This reflects the intention of our exhibition to recognize the erasure of Afro-descendants and the prevalence of anti-blackness in the Americas. Additional meaning can be found in breaking the title into two separate phrases, “Afro” and “Ntalo.” The first phrase, “Afro,” reflects the Afro-descendant focus of the exhibition. The second phrase “Ntalo,” has at least three meanings in African languages. In Xitsonga, spoken in parts of Zimbabwe and Eswatini, ntalo means “abundance.” In Lingala, a language spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo, ntalo means “value.” Finally in Ganda, the primary language spoken in Uganda, ntalo means “war.” Collectively, these three words reflect the impetus of Afróntalo to make clear the widespread and deep roots of Afro-descendants in the Americas, the incredible importance of Afro-descendant contributions and populations historically and today, and the need for action to bring attention to these matters and the contemporary needs of Afro-descendant communities.
Where: California State University, San Bernardino | Anthropology Museum (SB-306)5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407
Exhibit Runs September 21, 2023 – June 19, 2024
Free and open to the public
Learn more at on the project’s website.
This project is supported by a Humanities for All Project Grant.

LOS ANGELES–Exhibit: Housing is Healthcare, Part 1
2024-04-11 18:00 - 20:00 | Los Angeles Poverty Department, 250 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Poverty Department
LOS ANGELES—Part of the exhibit, Welcome to the Covid Hotel, The Los Angeles Poverty Department is hosting several panel discussions exploring housing as a human right. Join the panel on Thursday, April 11, Housing is Healthcare, Part 1.
The conversation is intended to highlight the experiences of frontline workers involved with LA County’s Quarantine and Isolation (QI) sites during the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore lessons learned about how to expeditiously place and maintain homeless individuals successfully in housing. Key topics will include housing placement and retention strategies, Housing First successes and failures, anticipating post-placement challenges, the role of permanent supportive housing on the housing continuum, best practices for ongoing support, and markers of successful transition, including measurement criteria and anticipatory strategies.
Panelists are: Heidi Behforouz, MD Chief Medical Officer, Housing For Health, LA County Department of Health Services, Angi Enriquez, RN, PHN, Permanent Supportive Housing Supervisor, Housing For Health LA County Department of Health Services, and Steve Diaz, Skid Row activist. Moderated by Clancey Cornell, a clinical social worker and member of LAPD’s archive staff whose interviews are featured in the exhibition.
When: Thursday, April 11, 6-8 pm
Where: Skid Row History Museum & Archive, Los Angeles, CA
About the exhibit:
Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD) is pleased to announce the opening of its new Skid Row History Museum & Archive exhibition, Welcome to the Covid Hotel.
Welcome to the Covid Hotel reveals the exceptional innovations and successes of a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals who ran LA County Health Department’s emergency Quarantine and Isolation sites for houseless Covid patients and people exposed to the virus in shelters.
Exhibit
March 9-December 14, 2024
Thursdays-Saturdays, 2-5pm
For information, contact info@lapovertydept.org or visit the website.
Los Angeles Poverty Department is a multi-disciplinary arts organization that produces and presents artworks and events that instaniate the existence of the Skid Row community—affirming its assets, advocating for its rights, and supporting its aspirations.
This project is supported by a Humanities for All Project Grant.

SANTA CRUZ—Exhibit: Sowing Seeds
2024-04-12 - 2024-08-04 | Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, 705 Front Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060, United States
Caption: Alice Wiggins, “The Beginning,” c. 1942, Photograph, 3.5″ x 5″, Collection of Mariano Family, https://wiith.ucsc.edu/items/show/929
SANTA CRUZ—Sowing Seeds: Filipino American Stories from the Pajaro Valley explores Filipino labor and migration to the Pajaro Valley from the 1930s to the present. The exhibition brings together oral history, archival materials, and contemporary works of art to feature multidimensional narratives across four themes: labor, gender, conflict, and memory. Brought to the public by the Watsonville is in the Heart research initiative at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Sowing Seeds celebrates the perseverance of a Filipino American community to transform the Pajaro Valley into a home in the face of racism and exclusion.
Opening: Friday, April 12, 2024
Exhibit Run: April 12, 2024–August 4, 2024

Where: Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History | 705 Front Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Tickets: This event is free and open to the public
Visit the exhibit website for more information.
This project is supported by a Humanities for All Project Grant.

YUBA CITY—Stories of Our Community with Randy Deas
2024-04-18 17:30 - 19:00 | Sutter County Museum, 1333 Butte House Road, Yuba City, CA, 95993, United States
YUBA CITY—Join the Sutter County Museum for a special presentation to learn more about local Black history in Yuba-Sutter. Randy Deas, Funeral Director and retired Air Force Veteran, has worked at Ullrey Memorial Chapel for 50 years. He will share stories and information about Mr. George’s barbershop in Marysville and Black community activities. Doors open at 5:30 pm; talk begins at 5:45 pm.
Thursday, April 18, 2024, 5:30-7 pm
Sutter County Museum
1333 Butte House Road
Yuba City, CA 95993
Admission is free.
For more information, visit suttercountymuseum.org, call 530-822-7141, or email info@suttercountymuseum.org.
About Yuba-Sutter Black History:
Working in collaboration with community members, culture bearers, and local historians, staff at the Sutter County Museum will research, develop, design, and install a permanent interpretive exhibit about Black history within Yuba and Sutter counties, which will open summer 2024. Drawing on findings, stories, and artifacts that have already been uncovered through an extensive research process, the Sutter County Museum will develop a series of public programs to complement the new exhibit, including lectures, panel discussions, an opening reception, educational tours for elementary school students, and curriculum guides for educators. “Yuba-Sutter Black History” will highlight the long-standing but little-known history of African Americans within the Yuba-Sutter region, provide an opportunity for Black residents to share their stories and experiences with other community members, and present a more inclusive and accurate representation of regional history to benefit everyone.
This project is supported by a Humanities for All Project Grant.

MERCED—No-No Boy Workshop
2024-04-27 11:00 - 13:00 | The MAC Black Box Theater, 645 W. Main Street, Merced, CA
MERCED—Come join a methodology/general approaches workshop with Dr. Julian Saporiti of No-No Boy, an ethnomusicologist who, across multiple albums, has shared the untold histories of the many and varied “Asian-American” experiences on stages such as the Lincoln Center, NPR’s World Cafe, Weekend Edition, and schools and campuses across the USA.Called a “Master Storyteller” by All Music, Saporiti will share his process for finding and incorporating history, place, culture, and sound into good old fashioned, singable, and danceable rock and roll.
Share this with the songwriter/Storyteller in your life.
WHEN: at 11:00am-1:00 pm
WHERE: The MAC Black Box Theater | 645 W. Main Street, Merced
COST: FREE!
For more info: https://www.artsmerced.org/events-list/no-no-boy

This project is supported with a Humanities for All Quick Grant.

MERCED—No-No Boy in Concert
2024-04-27 19:00 - 22:00 | The MAC Black Box Theater, 645 W. Main Street, Merced, CA
MERCED—Coming on the heels of his 2023 album release Empire Electric, No-No Boy, the media project of Ethnomusicologist and Smithsonian Folkways recording artist Julian Saporiti and co-producer Emilia Halvorsen Saporiti, is coming to Merced for an evening performance. Called a “Master Storyteller” by All Music, Saporiti’s songwriting examines narratives of imperialism, identity, and spirituality. It tells stories rooted in years of research and relationship-building, made vibrant and profound through a rich congregation of instrumental, environmental, and electronically manipulated sounds from Asia and America. His performances have been called “remarkably powerful and moving,” by Folk Alley and “with gentle, catchy and accessible folk songs that feel instantly familiar,” by NPR – a contrast that gets to the heart of Saporiti’s songwriting.
Along with the concerrt there will be an 11 A.M. workshop at the MAC on Saporiti’s approach to turning history into modern media.
WHEN: Saturday, April 27 at 7:00 pm
WHERE: The MAC Black Box Theater | 645 W. Main Street, Merced
COST: FREE!
For more info: https://www.artsmerced.org/events-list/no-no-boy

This project is supported with a Humanities for All Quick Grant.

OXNARD—Red Dress Day Community Event
2024-04-28 10:00 - 15:00 | Oxnard Performing Arts Center, 800 Hobson Way, Oxnard, CA, 93030, United States
OXNARD—Hosted by Daughters of Mother Earth, Melissa Ann Skeet (Diné [Navajo]) will be sharing her story as a keynote speaker at a community event raising awareness, education, and support of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW).
The event includes a free lunch, culture bearers, and a panel discussion. Fundraiser raffle tickets, MMIP t-shirts, plants, and books will be available for sale.
WHEN: Sunday, April 28 | 10 am-3pm PT
WHERE: Oxnard Performing Arts Center | 800 Hobson Way, Oxnard, CA 93030
COST: FREE, RSVP at 805-280-5129
This project is supported with a Humanities for All Quick Grant.

UKIAH—The 22nd Annual ukiaHaiku Festival
2024-04-28 14:00 - 16:00 | City of Ukiah Civic Center, 300 Seminary Ave, Ukiah, CA 95482
UKIAH—The Ukiah Poet Laureate Committee is thrilled to announce the 22nd Annual ukiaHaiku Festival, a celebration and contest devoted to the haiku form of poetry. Prizes will be awarded for the 10 categories, K-12th grades and adult, including the International Jane Reichhold Award. Winners are invited to attend the ukiaHaiku Festival to read their haiku.
In recognition that the Pomo people are the original inhabitants of this area and that the word Ukiah itself is from the Pomo languages, this year, we made an open call to our Pomo neighbors to share haiku that are in Pomo languages or express a Pomo perspective. Four poems have been selected to be read at the festival.
The festival will feature two returning performances: shakuhachi music by Karl Young and classic covers by the Uketones with their trusty ukuleles.

When: Sunday, April 28th, 2024 from 2-4pm
Where: City of Ukiah Civic Center, 300 Seminary Ave, Ukiah, CA 95482
Free and open to the public. ADA accessible. For more information go to: ukiahaiku.org
Contact: Colter Jacobsen (Ukiah Poet Laureate Committee Member)- 415-832-0978
ukiahaikufestival@gmail.com
This project is supported with a Humanities for All Quick Grant.

SAN FRANCISCO—How the Development of Treasure Island Addresses Sea Level Rise
2024-04-30 - 2024-07-30 | One Avenue of the Palms, One Avenue of the Palms, San Francisco, CA, 93041, United States
SAN FRANCISCO TREASURE ISLAND—Do you have questions about how the current redevelopment of the island has anticipated and prepared for climate change, earthquakes, and sea level rise? Our current exhibition has answers.
Where: One Avenue of the Palms, San Francisco, 93041
When: Open daily. 10am to 7pm.
For details, see: https://www.treasureislandmuseum.org/single-post/our-new-exhibition

OAKLAND—FOR OUR CHILDREN Film Screening
2024-05-01 19:00 - 21:00 | Grand Lake Theatre, 3200 Grand Ave, Oakland, CA, 94610, United States
OAKLAND—Join a special screening of FOR OUR CHILDREN (formerly Black Mothers Love & Resist), followed by a Q&A with the filmmaking team and our protagonist Wanda Johnson, the mother of Oscar Grant. The film follows a group of mothers behind the Black Lives Matter, rooted in Oakland, and highlights the legacy of community organizing here in the Bay area. This will be a special night with the mothers, the filmmaking team, and the broader community.
When: Wednesday, May 1 | 7 pm
Where: The Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA 94610
Purchase tickets here.

SANTA CRUZ—The Educators Mixer
2024-05-03 | Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, 705 Front Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060, United States
Caption: Sandra Lucille, Dear Watsonville, 2023, Video, Collection of Sandra Lucille
SANTA CRUZ—To kick off Asian American and Pacific Islander History Month, the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (MAH) and Watsonville is in the Heart (WIITH) will co-host an Educators Mixer on Friday, May 3, 2024. The event provides educators with a chance to meet with WIITH team members who are working to produce educational resources about Filipino American history in Santa Cruz county. It will feature free lesson plans, demonstrations of digital teaching tools, and access to MAH exhibits, including Sowing Seeds: Filipino American Stories from the Pajaro Valley, which will be on view starting April 12, 2024.
When: Friday, May 3, 2024
Where: Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History | 705 Front Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Tickets: This event is free and open to the public
About the exhibit: Sowing Seeds: Filipino American Stories from the Pajaro Valley explores Filipino labor and migration to the Pajaro Valley from the 1930s to the present. The exhibition brings together oral history, archival materials, and contemporary works of art to feature multidimensional narratives across four themes: labor, gender, conflict, and memory. Brought to the public by the Watsonville is in the Heart research initiative at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Sowing Seeds celebrates the perseverance of a Filipino American community to transform the Pajaro Valley into a home in the face of racism and exclusion.
On view: April 12, 2024–August 4, 2024

Visit the exhibit website for more information.
This project is supported by a Humanities for All Project Grant.

SAN JOSE—FIRST FRIDAY: HIP HOP(E), JAZZ & STORYTELLING—PART 3 (BLUE) | DR. JERRY HIURA AWARD RECEPTION
2024-05-03 18:00 - 21:00 | San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, United States
SAN JOSE—Join the San Jose Museum of Art for the finale of their three-part residency with Francis Experience Quintet. Blending rap, poetry and storytelling, this unique performance series is broken into distinct hues and themes to use various artistic mediums and storytelling as a vehicle to engage and bring together disparate audiences with one shared experience. Projected digital imagery from Illuminate SJ Now! provides an immersive visual backdrop to the performance.
The Francis Experience Quintet includes Jonathan Borca and co-founder Gabby Horlick (drums), and standout musicians Bennett Roth (keys and vocals), Miguel “Frunkyman” Leyva (bass), and Mark Arroyo (guitar) with a special guest appearance by cellist Jill Hirsh.
Featured poet: Tshaka Campbell
Where: San Jose Museum of Art, Wendel Education Center
When: Friday, May 3, 2024 | 6-9 pm | Doors for performance open at 6:45 pm
FREE ADMISSION
For details, see: sjmusart.org/blue

WATSONVILLE—Cinco De Lowrider Film Program
2024-05-04 - 2024-05-05 | Pajaro Valley Arts, 37 Sudden Street, Watsonville, CA, 94076, United States
Watsonville—The Watsonville Film Festival (WFF) is reclaiming the Cinco de Mayo holiday with five days of films and festivities honoring Mexican and Chicano heritage and pride. The celebration is part of a prestigious California Humanities grant awarded to WFF to create the More than Cars: Celebrating Lowrider Culture and a series of cultural events in partnership with Pajaro Valley Arts and local car clubs.
Humanities advisor, Dr. Alberto Lopez Pulido, Chair of the University of San Diego Ethnic Studies Dept., and a renowned Lowrider author and filmmaker, will bring the iconic 38-foot mural-covered “Barrio Bus,” aka classroom on wheels, from San Diego to visit PVUSD schools. From May 1-3, students will have the opportunity to tour the Barrio Bus and engage with Professor Pulido, who is also Vice-Chair of Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center, to learn about the 8 Principles of Lowriding and the significance of 5 de Mayo.
“Since the 1940s, lowriding has been a source of pride and a symbol of Chicano ingenuity,” says Dr. Pulido, “Yet for decades, many cities passed laws banning Lowriders from gathering and cruising. They were targeted with negative stereotypes when in fact they represent a unique form of “art on wheels.” In 2024, California finally repealed the bans after a grassroots campaign organized by Lowrider clubs across the state.
On Saturday, May 4 at 6 pm, the Watsonville Film Festival will present Dr. Pulido’s award-winning documentary, EVERYTHING COMES FROM THE STREETS, about the history of Lowriding. UCSC graduate Gloria Morán will present her film, THE UNIQUE LADIES, about women Lowriders in a culture traditionally dominated by men. There will be a Q&A after the films with the directors and Dr. Pulido’s co-producers Rigoberto Reyes and Kelly Whalen at Cinelux Green Valley Cinema, 1125 S. Green Valley Rd. Starting at 9 pm, DJ XXIII will be spinning Lowrider tunes at a free after-party at Fruition Brewing, 918 E. Lake Ave in Watsonville.
On Sunday, May 5, there will be free ‘Cinco de Lowrider’ festivities at Pajaro Valley Arts, where the More Than Cars: Celebrating Lowrider Culture exhibit will be open to the public. The Watsonville Riders will host their club’s showcase and talk from 1-2 pm. There will be music, food vendors, and lots of beautiful Lowrider cars outside of the Porter Building at 280 Main Street between 11 am–4 pm.
About WFF:
The Watsonville Film Festival, now in its 12th year, provides a platform for talented Latine and Indigenous artists and filmmakers who are often overlooked by mainstream culture. The California Humanities grant has provided support for WFF to explore the creative legacy of Lowriding through films, an oral history project in collaboration with CSUMB Professor Kristen La Follette, school visits with the Barrio Bus, and the exhibit that features artwork by more than 50 local and prominent artists and five car clubs.
For more information, visit: watsonvillefilmfest.org and pvarts.org.

SAN BERNARDINO–Celebrate Pio Pico's Birthday with Afróntalo
2024-05-06 11:00 - 13:00 | The CSUSB Anthropology Museum, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA, 92407, United States
SAN BERNARDINO—Join the CSUSB Anthropology Museum for conchas and cake to celebrate the May 5 birthday of Alta California’s last governor, Pio Pico! Part of the ongoing exhibit Afróntalo.
When: Monday, May 6 | 11 am-1 pm
Where: CSUSB Anthropology Museum, San Bernardino, SB-306
Tickets: This event is FREE to the public
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Why is the exhibit called Afróntalo?
“Afróntalo” in Spanish means “Face It.” This reflects the intention of our exhibition to recognize the erasure of Afro-descendants and the prevalence of anti-blackness in the Americas. Additional meaning can be found in breaking the title into two separate phrases, “Afro” and “Ntalo.” The first phrase, “Afro,” reflects the Afro-descendant focus of the exhibition. The second phrase “Ntalo,” has at least three meanings in African languages. In Xitsonga, spoken in parts of Zimbabwe and Eswatini, ntalo means “abundance.” In Lingala, a language spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo, ntalo means “value.” Finally in Ganda, the primary language spoken in Uganda, ntalo means “war.” Collectively, these three words reflect the impetus of Afróntalo to make clear the widespread and deep roots of Afro-descendants in the Americas, the incredible importance of Afro-descendant contributions and populations historically and today, and the need for action to bring attention to these matters and the contemporary needs of Afro-descendant communities.
Where: California State University, San Bernardino | Anthropology Museum (SB-306)5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407
Exhibit Runs September 21, 2023 – June 19, 2024
Free and open to the public
Learn more at on the project’s website.
This project is supported by a Humanities for All Project Grant.

WEBINAR—California Humanities Grantseeker Workshop
2024-05-10 11:00 - 12:00 | CA
WEBINAR—California Humanities invites you to attend a free informational session about funding opportunities for humanities programming in California. Join us Friday, May 10 at 11 am PT on Zoom; to attend, register here. Program staff will give an overview of our current grant programs: Humanities For All Grants (Quick Grants and Project Grants), California Documentary Project Grants, Civics + Humanities Middle Grades Grants and the Library Innovation Lab Grants Program. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and connect with program officers.

Grant
Next Deadline
Information

California Documentary Project
November 1, 2024
Here

Civics + Humanities Middle Grades Grants
TBA
Here

Humanities for All Quick Grants
Starting May 1, applications will be accepted at any time.
Here

Humanities for All Project Grants
July 15 2024
Here

Library Innovation Lab
February 2025
Here

CDP NextGen
On hold for 2024
Here

If you have questions or need help accessing the webinar, contact Kirsten Vega at kvega@calhum.org.
California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, promotes the humanities as relevant, meaningful ways to understand the human condition and connect us to each other in order to help strengthen California. For more than 40 years, California Humanities has awarded over $30 million in grants across the state, reaching every Congressional district. To learn more follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

RIVERSIDE—FOREVER, CHINATOWN Screening
2024-05-10 19:00 | UCR Arts, 3824 Main St, Riverside, CA, 92501
RIVERSIDE—Join director James Q. Chan for a free screening of FOREVER, CHINATOWN, a documentary about unknown, self-taught 81-year-old artist Frank Wong who has spent the past four decades recreating his fading memories by building romantic, extraordinarily detailed miniature models of the San Francisco Chinatown rooms of his youth.
This film takes the journey of one individual and maps it to a rapidly changing urban neighborhood from 1940s to present day. A meditation on memory, community, and preserving one’s own legacy, Frank‘s three-dimensional miniature dioramas become rare portals into a historic neighborhood and a window to the artist’s filtered and romanticized memories and emotional struggles.
Free admission and Q&A with filmmaker James Q. Chan!
Where: UCR ARTS, 3824 & 3834 Main Street, Riverside, CA 92501
When: Friday, May 10, 2024 at 7 PM (PT)
For details, see: ucrarts.ucr.edu/films/forever-chinatown/

LANCASTER—This Valley is Sacred: The Ancestors are Speaking
2024-05-11 - 2024-08-11 | Lancaster Museum of History & Art, 665 W. Lancaster Blvd, Lancaster, 93534, United States
LANCASTER—The Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH) is pleased to announce This Valley is Sacred: The Ancestors are Speaking, a multi-faceted exhibition and community engagement project that seeks to expose audiences to the harsh realities and beauty of Native existence as dictated by the Tribal groups that surround the Antelope Valley. This project brings together professionals and community members from across the region to weigh in on the importance of discussions surrounding the portrayal of Native people in museums, intersecting with the visions that Tribal members want conveyed. In this exhibition, visitors will be transported through time to visit a series of curated spaces portraying the dawn of Creation and following life through the period of abundance, the mission period, and today.
Where: Museum of History & Art | 665 W. Lancaster Blvd., Lancaster, CA 93534
Exhibit Runs May 11, 2024-August 11, 2024

Tuesday and Wednesday | 11 am – 4 pm
Thursday and Friday | 11 am – 8 pm
Saturday and Sunday | 11 am – 4 pm
Closed Mondays, Holidays, and during periods of installation
Free and open to the public
Learn more at on the project’s website.
This project is supported by a Humanities for All Project Grant.
