WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville Parks and Recreation Commission at its Monday night meeting unanimously approved three $1,000 Public Art Grants for a pair of ballet folklorico performances, and for a local artist hoping to add to the city’s Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festivities.
Esperanza del Valle, Activities for All and Priscilla Martinez will use the grant to fund different art projects that will be free to the public.
Esperanza del Valle, a nonprofit, will use the grant to support its 40th anniversary performance in the Henry J. Mello Center, which is set for late September. The two-hour show will feature six regions of Mexican folkloric dancing and live music from Cuatro con Tres and Mariachi California de Javier Vargas.
Activities For All, another local nonprofit, will use the money to prepare for its Ballet Folklorico, Danza and Music Performance Festival, which will gather youth ballet folklorico groups from the Monterey Bay to perform in the City Plaza during the City of Watsonville’s Summer Concert Series or the weekly Friday farmer’s market.
Martinez, meanwhile, submitted plans to create a series of decorative wood cutouts for the Day of the Dead celebration in the City Plaza that has blossomed since the Watsonville Film Festival two years ago started a local festival for the Mexican holiday.
Martinez will create four 8-foot, color-rich cutouts of varying design, including a catrina and a mariachi with a guitar in hand. Those cutouts will be placed in the City Plaza from Oct. 25 to Nov. 2.
Martinez, a Watsonville native, has designed several posters and logos for various organizations and events over years, including the Strawberry Festival, Evening of Wine and Roses and Watsonville International Women’s Day.
A handful of people talked in favor of approving the grants, including young members of Activities For All’s folklorico group who said the dancing made them feel “special” and that it helped them learn about their culture.
“As a fellow artist, definitely a public artist, I feel very proud right now to hear your stories, especially the kids—their feelings and what they love about it,” said Commissioner Paul De Worken. “That’s how we all get into it—at a young age, especially for me. When I do art it makes me feel good. No matter what it is.”
Funding for the grants comes from the City’s Social and Community Service Grants, a yearly allotment for nonprofit organizations that serve the community. More specifically, it was taken from the Special Events Sponsorships portion of the program, which helps yearly events not organized by the city run smoothly by paying for various costs.
The City used that money to fund the Public Art Grant Program after it was heavily criticized by local artists over a $200 fee for community-initiated public art on privately owned commercial property passed by the City Council.
The City offered four $1,000 grants but only received three applications. The remaining $1,000 will be returned to the Special Events Sponsorships fund, according to Parks and Community Services Director Nick Calubaquib.
