carol's kitchen

Saturday, October 22, 2016

SOMA: ART IN THE CITY



 Driving down Georgia Street this bright sunny morning I got an eyeful of something that filled my heart with joy.  There stood SOMA, the Flaming Lotus Girls’ fabulous sculpture, perched on a platform beside the JFK Library, in all its shining bleepy-bloopy-synapsonical confounding glory, proclaiming that this is indeed a place that holds art in high esteem and has something special to tell the world.  


Like New York, Paris & Rome, where great public art gives the city its unique identity, Vallejo steps up to show the best we have, demonstrating a recognition of the past and belief in the future.  SOMA confirms that we who live here value ourselves, care about our image, believe we are worthy, appreciate art and recognize how it elevates our daily lives.  


It makes me proud to live in Vallejo.  We are a good city, getting better, and beginning to think of ourselves deserving of world-class public art.  SOMA gives a solid sense of place to Vallejo that we didn’t have before, and it’s only going to get better.  We have reason to be proud.



Sunday, October 09, 2016

CANDIDATES FORUM IN VALLEJO



I enjoy the city forums because they’re an opportunity to experience democracy in action -- a great privilege and one of the reasons my ancestors came to America.  I get to hear & see the candidates in person, real people speaking for themselves, giving me the opportunity to think for myself and make up my own mind. 

At the same time, it’s hard to ignore the fiery blog gossip and word-of-mouth rumors that slither through our city like a sweet-talking serpent.  Easily recognizable, the language of gossip is loaded with clichés and platitudes; its slogans arouse fear and demand conformity; it’s antithetical to thinking for oneself.  Certain journalists promote & thrive on it.  No wonder Trump does so well in this country.

I’ve attended two forums so far, the latest run by Vallejo’s White Chamber of Commerce, and held in the gorgeous Empress Theater in beautiful downtown Vallejo, which has become more beautiful lately with the installation of a fine sculpture called SOMA, in front of the library.  

Proud of my city, I gazed with joy at the diverse ethnicity of the candidates who sat side by side at a table on the stage.  I watched them as they spoke, listened carefully to their words, and considered what I’d heard.  I still believe Landis Graden will make a great mayor for Vallejo.

Hssssssssss….  I’m warned to “follow the money,” insinuating Landis’s JumpStart endorsement means he’s sold out to the Orcem Ogres.  It makes me wonder what exactly it takes to sell out your own city.   I try to imagine how much money & power Landis could garner from JumpStart to sway his vote.  My conclusion: I'm not buying it; Landis has a far-better destiny than to become the mayor responsible for bringing a cement factory to the shores of Vallejo.
 
I’m not excited about candidates who need notes to recite their thoughts and visions for the city.  I’m excited about candidates who can think and talk at the same time, and are able to speak from the heart.  Nothing excited me more than the two council candidates with the least experience – including the youngest of all – who spoke with such passion and exuberance about what they want to do for Vallejo that they were jumping out of their seats. 

Too bad we can only elect three this year.  We need fresh blood down at city hall.   With the exception of Robert McConnell (who, incidentally, was the only Caucasian on the roster of council candidates), I’d like to replace every single one of them who sit on the dais now.
 
Let’s look and listen and think about what is offered.  Do we want a mayor who needs notes to tell us what he’s done, or a mayor of strong character; a businessman with fresh ideas, who speaks well, thinks on his feet, & can guide our emerging 21st  century city.





Wednesday, October 05, 2016

LET'S CALL A SPADE A SPADE



     Early last summer The City Council invited applications for the newly created Arts & Culture Commission.  Fifteen people applied for seven seats, submitted lengthy, detailed applications and underwent personal interviews with the Mayor & City Council.  Appointments, we were told, would come in the end of Sept.  
     Now, we learn: “City Council directed staff to reopen the application recruitment process for the Commission on Culture & the Arts to garner specific interest from members of the City’s diverse cultural institutions.”
     What is the meaning of those words? What is a cultural Institution?  My synagogue?  Will city staff approach the congregation of B’nai Israel up on Nebraska Street to garner interest for the Arts & Culture Commission? Or, is it something else they’re looking for?
     Let’s speak plain English.  It seems to me what city council really wants is black people, Filipino people, Latino people, Asian People – people who represent the true demographics of Vallejo. Where are those diverse cultural institutional members when the city needs them?  And why doesn’t the city say what it really wants?
     I think it’s for reasons we all know only too well.   They want to be politically correct; but how can our city staff deal with a problem they call by another name? 
     Ever since I arrived in Vallejo I’ve been asking people why it is I see only white people at arts & cultural events?  (Food & Music are exceptions.) Why is the downtown arts group primarily, if not completely, white?  Where’s the diverse city I’m told Vallejo is?
     To my question, the same answer always comes back, “We’ve been dealing with this for a long time; they are invited; everyone is welcome; if they don’t come it’s not our fault.”
     Really?  Not our fault?  Maybe, in another world where everything is perfect, worked as it should, and everybody just got along, that response might hold water, but not in my world.  The world I live in is fraught with racism & bigotry that runs rampant through society on every level. 
     Here’s my proposal for dealing with this very real important problem.

  1. Be fair; respect the democratic process: choose seven from among the fifteen original applicants regardless of race, religion, color, or creed (whatever that is). Instruct them on the demographics of Vallejo and explain why you’re not satisfied with the commission being comprised of only white people.   
  2. Charge them with the task of correcting this problem within the ranks of the Commission, in its committees & sub-committees, among all participants.  Set a deadline by which time they must demonstrate how they are solving the problem, the results of their efforts, and the effects thereof.  If the council is satisfied, so be it.  If not, the city council reserves the right to close down the commission, and Vallejo will live again in the chaos that comes without an Arts Commission. 

We must learn to live together.  If we won’t do it ourselves, we must be made to do it.