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Can Art Heal Our Minds—and Our Communities?
I don’t care for labels, but I’m a Californian who went around the country working carnivals before schizophrenia dug its hooks into me. After 10 years, some of them wandering the streets of Modesto, I...
View ArticleAlphabet for a Mid-Sized City
Arable The land around coaxes out almonds, apricots, walnuts. At 3 a.m., the call to irrigate. Bone We work our fingers to the bone. We are bone-tired. C’mon, throw the dog a … . Coonhounds When sirens...
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I Did Not Want to End Up in Modesto
Arable The land around coaxes out almonds, apricots, walnuts. At 3 a.m., the call to irrigate. —from “An Alphabet for a Mid-Sized City”I am not from here, not from the Central Valley with its coded...
View ArticleSinger-Guitarist Patty Castillo Davis
Patty Castillo Davis is a singer-guitarist who is involved in a number of Modesto arts organizations. Before participating in a panel on balancing access and excellence in the arts, she talked about...
View ArticleSinger Dellanora Green
Dellanora Green is a street performer who sings in Modesto, California. Before participating in a panel on how music reaches people in her city, she talked about Ringo Starr, God, and her grandmother...
View ArticleMoBand Director George Gardner
George Gardner began playing in MoBand—a community orchestra in Modesto, California, that performs free concerts every Thursday in the summer—in high school. He is the band’s longtime director and...
View Article‘Modesto Bee’ Editor Joseph Kieta
Joseph Kieta is editor of the Modesto Bee. Before moderating a panel on the state of the arts in Modesto, he talked about why he loves the city’s people, his ideal Sunday morning, and why thinking...
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How to Infect an Entire City with Art
The reception for the Modesto Art Museum’s 2014 architecture movie night was well underway and about 200 people were mingling in the lobby of Modesto’s art deco State Theatre. Everyone was sampling...
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The Modesto Girls are a Family Miracle
California changes too fast. The new so quickly replaces the old. People come and go with a blur. I often feel like you can’t count on anything staying here anymore. But you can count on the Modesto...
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Take the ACE Train
As the ACE Train pulls into the Santa Clara station, the conductor pops out—and begins apologizing for his train. “I’m sorry, but this is not the Amtrak!” he bellows, loud enough to be heard by all...
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