Upstate California Creative Corps in Trinity 2023-2024
Trinity County welcomes Upstate CA Creative Corps grantee projects for 2023-2024!
Trinity County Arts Council is celebrating 10 grantees who have been awarded over $675,000 in funding to work under the Upstate California Creative Corps program in Trinity County. Randolph Sanchez, Brady McKay, Jesi Naomi, Kalah and Kacey Collins, Rita Hosking, Jess Riegel, Associated Hayfork Artists, Water Climate Trust, Save California Salmon, and The Watershed Research and Training Center partnered with the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival, are among 27 partner agencies, 54 lead creative partners, and a total of 1,010 artists and culture bearerssupporting initiatives serving California’s least represented peoples, and most vulnerable communities and environments. Trinity County Arts Council and peer agencies across California’s Upstate Region, led by Nevada County Arts Council, announce $3.38 million in grant awards across Northern California.
Announcing Upstate California Creative Corps grantees follows over seven months of outreach, listening and support before and during the program’s application window. Karla Avila, Executive Director of Trinity County Arts Council stated, “We first gathered our community together in November of 2022 for a Listening Session at Up North Confectionery in Weaverville, to present key information and invite a conversation on how artists can help our local communities tackle issues most critical to them, as part of an Upstate-wide Listening Tour across 19 counties, and today we see the fruits of months of labor and planning, with the exciting announcement of 10 extraordinary projects that will bring great benefit to our county.”
Some examples of projects being awarded include: A Signpost for Future Generations, in which local woodcrafter Randolph Sanchez will create a handmade sign for the new Nor-Rel-Muk Wintu Cultural Center in Cox Bar; The Fire and Music Project, in which the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival will collaborate with the Watershed Research and Training Center in an innovative participatory and performance experience that brings awareness to prescribed burning and traditional fire practices, and the Wintu We Are Still Here (WWASH) Project, focused on the preservation and teaching of the
Wintu language and traditional arts practices. In addition, music educator Brady McKay has been awarded funding to create a found object drum ensemble throughout Trinity County, and two major projects have been awarded in the underserved community of Hayfork, including Associated Hayfork Artists, who will bring 6 free multi-disciplinary arts and theater events and workshops to the community in the next year, and the “Flight of the Bee” mural project to be created by local artists Kalah and Kacey Collins, Angel McMorrow, Casey McWilliams, and Jennika Flinck, at the new Hayfork Cooperative Grocery downtown location in Hayfork on Highway 3.
“We feel privileged to contribute to the positive transformation of our community through the power of art. Trinity County, California, encounters numerous challenges ranging from invasive species that degrade our land and deplete our water to a lack of social cohesion. Through the creation of the "Flight of the Bee" mural, we aim to enlighten our community, enabling them to perceive the world through the lens of the indigenous peoples who first inhabited this land. With this unique opportunity granted by Upstate California Creative Corps, we are committed to continuously improving our community with each brushstroke. This grant is the beginning of our journey, and we are honored to be a part of this endeavour,” said grantee Kalah Collins of Hayfork.
Grantees are collectively part of a media, outreach, and engagement campaign designed to increase awareness for issues such as public health, water and energy conservation, climate mitigation, and emergency preparedness, relief and recovery. California Arts Council views the California Creative Corps program as a job creation and human infrastructure development opportunity. Region by region, the program is increasing the ways in which artists are engaged in public work, so that they can continue to build upon intersectional public interest goals beyond its pilot funding timeline. A complete list of grantees can be found at https://www.upstatecreativecorps.org/grantees.
Trinity County Arts Council is celebrating 10 grantees who have been awarded over $675,000 in funding to work under the Upstate California Creative Corps program in Trinity County. Randolph Sanchez, Brady McKay, Jesi Naomi, Kalah and Kacey Collins, Rita Hosking, Jess Riegel, Associated Hayfork Artists, Water Climate Trust, Save California Salmon, and The Watershed Research and Training Center partnered with the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival, are among 27 partner agencies, 54 lead creative partners, and a total of 1,010 artists and culture bearerssupporting initiatives serving California’s least represented peoples, and most vulnerable communities and environments. Trinity County Arts Council and peer agencies across California’s Upstate Region, led by Nevada County Arts Council, announce $3.38 million in grant awards across Northern California.
Announcing Upstate California Creative Corps grantees follows over seven months of outreach, listening and support before and during the program’s application window. Karla Avila, Executive Director of Trinity County Arts Council stated, “We first gathered our community together in November of 2022 for a Listening Session at Up North Confectionery in Weaverville, to present key information and invite a conversation on how artists can help our local communities tackle issues most critical to them, as part of an Upstate-wide Listening Tour across 19 counties, and today we see the fruits of months of labor and planning, with the exciting announcement of 10 extraordinary projects that will bring great benefit to our county.”
Some examples of projects being awarded include: A Signpost for Future Generations, in which local woodcrafter Randolph Sanchez will create a handmade sign for the new Nor-Rel-Muk Wintu Cultural Center in Cox Bar; The Fire and Music Project, in which the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival will collaborate with the Watershed Research and Training Center in an innovative participatory and performance experience that brings awareness to prescribed burning and traditional fire practices, and the Wintu We Are Still Here (WWASH) Project, focused on the preservation and teaching of the
Wintu language and traditional arts practices. In addition, music educator Brady McKay has been awarded funding to create a found object drum ensemble throughout Trinity County, and two major projects have been awarded in the underserved community of Hayfork, including Associated Hayfork Artists, who will bring 6 free multi-disciplinary arts and theater events and workshops to the community in the next year, and the “Flight of the Bee” mural project to be created by local artists Kalah and Kacey Collins, Angel McMorrow, Casey McWilliams, and Jennika Flinck, at the new Hayfork Cooperative Grocery downtown location in Hayfork on Highway 3.
“We feel privileged to contribute to the positive transformation of our community through the power of art. Trinity County, California, encounters numerous challenges ranging from invasive species that degrade our land and deplete our water to a lack of social cohesion. Through the creation of the "Flight of the Bee" mural, we aim to enlighten our community, enabling them to perceive the world through the lens of the indigenous peoples who first inhabited this land. With this unique opportunity granted by Upstate California Creative Corps, we are committed to continuously improving our community with each brushstroke. This grant is the beginning of our journey, and we are honored to be a part of this endeavour,” said grantee Kalah Collins of Hayfork.
Grantees are collectively part of a media, outreach, and engagement campaign designed to increase awareness for issues such as public health, water and energy conservation, climate mitigation, and emergency preparedness, relief and recovery. California Arts Council views the California Creative Corps program as a job creation and human infrastructure development opportunity. Region by region, the program is increasing the ways in which artists are engaged in public work, so that they can continue to build upon intersectional public interest goals beyond its pilot funding timeline. A complete list of grantees can be found at https://www.upstatecreativecorps.org/grantees.