OVERVIEW
The De Colores Community Story Project began in 2011, when artist team, Michelle Glass and Hataya Tubtim, were invited by the Arts Council of Kern to engage community members through the arts to support the California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities Initiative. The project encompasses a series of art works created in partnership with community members of Arvin that address the i
ssues of immigration, labor, health and the environment. The inaugural work resulted in a sculptural installation that highlighted the history of the community. This was followed by The 1,000 Wildflowers and the Women of Arvin project which referenced the dwindling wildflower populations and women’s labor. Since 2016 Michelle Glass has been serving as the lead artist working with local seniors to produce, The Nomadic Mural Project: A Tapestry of Woven Cultures and Customs. This work represents the topography of the Arvin landscape, preserves the color palette of native plants, and documents the histories of community members in Arvin. Most recently she and members of the community produced The Arvin Quilt Project where seniors learned the art of quilt making and will designed panels that were exhibited at the Access Gallery in Bakersfield and are currently on display in the new Art Studio for seniors located in the Arvin Community Center. The Senior Art Collective now named, Arte de La Tercera Edad or Art of the Third Age, are currently partnering with the Arts Council of Kern, Dr. Rosanna Esparza, Artist Michelle Glass, The Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment, The Central California Environmental Justice Network, The Central Valley Air Quality Coalition, UCSB Professor Julie Maldonado, UCSC Professor Laurie Palmer are collaborating on the Art & Environment Capacity Building Initiative of the Mural Arts Institute, a program of Mural Arts Philadelphia in California’s Central Valley. The Collective is also working to create quilts for children in local foster care facilities.
