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Schedule:
10am: Land recognition, Shelly Covert, Tribal Secretary, Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe
10:05 am : Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow Molly Fisk
10:20am -10:35 am : Cynthia Huerta leads a drawing lesson
10:35 - 10:50 am : Miss Tee leads a dance lesson
10:50am: Thank you and join us on 11am panel: Get to know your Statewide Advocacy Organizations
Panel Moderator: Julie Baker, Executive Director, Californians for the Arts
Land Recognition with Shelly Covert
Shelly Covert is the Spokesperson for the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe. She sits on the Tribal Council and is a community outreach liaison. She is also the Executive Director of the non-profit, C.H.I.R.P. (the California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project), whose mission is to preserve, protect and perpetuate Nisenan Culture. The Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribal members are the direct, lineal descendants of the original indigenous people who were here before the Gold Rush. Their homelands lay within the Bear and Yuba River watersheds and all Tribal members remain in their ancestral homelands today. The Nevada City Rancheria was terminated in 1964 and their reservation was sold. The Tribe has started a campaign for Federal restoration - learn how you can help!
Shelly Covert will talk about the history of the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe, their customs and what life was like before the Gold Rush. Shelly will share songs in the Nisenan language and talk about the Tribe's ongoing fight to get their Federal Recognition restored.
SHELLY COVERT
Secretary, Community Outreach and Spokesperson
Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribal Council, Nisenan Exhibit Coordinator
Firehouse No. 1 Museum, Executive Director
California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project (CHIRP)
ShellyCovert.Net
Poetry with Molly Fisk
Molly Fisk is an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow and editor of the new book by poets of all ages: California Fire & Water, a Climate Crisis Anthology. She lives in the Sierra foothills.
Poetry prompt description:
The art of poetry provides inspiration and solace, amusement, revelation, and even saves lives. When you make a poem specific and personal, it's more powerful than when you try to be general so readers can relate. Here's a prompt to show you what I mean.
Humans relate through our senses, especially our eyes, so images are a key to attracting our attention. Any image works, not just one we've seen already. If you say "car," people might pause and think "yeah? so?" But if you say "blue Camaro up on blocks in the driveway," people see that in their minds, and they want to know more, whether or not they can ID a Camaro.
Dance class with Tamaira Sandifer, aka Ms. Tee
President, Studio T Urban Dance Academy; Vice-Chair, Arts Education Council
Tamaira Sandifer, or “Miss Tee” as her students call her, is a walking testament to the transformative power of dance. She knows what it’s like to grow up with scarcity and how self-expression through movement is a survival skill.
Today, she is not only a teacher but a soup-to-nuts entrepreneur and advocate who has created a career path for hundreds of young people to dance professionally. Through Miss Tee’s efforts, thousands of elementary and high school kids are able to channel their energies into dance, find a sense of community, and envision a life where their art is their livelihood. Miss Tee is the President of Studio T Urban Dance Academy and vice-chair of the Arts Education Council for Americans for the Arts.
Cynthia Huerta is a mixed media community artist, art curator and Arts Advocate that has been showing, collaborating, and servicing the many Inland Empire communities for over 16 years. She explores and works in diverse mediums including painting, watercolor, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, and wood-burning. In 2005, she began her love affair with art at Division 9 Gallery, where she was mentored by the director/owner Cosme Cordova. In October 2016 to January 2017, she was the first Latina artist-in-residence for the Community Altar project at Riverside Art Museum that was funded by the James Irvine Foundation. She also served as the coordinator of La Catrina pageant and The Community Stage for Riverside’s annual Day of the Dead. She is a member and cofounder of the Elemental Sisterhood Collective and Cofounder and Gallery Art Curator of the recently dismantled Inland Mujeres Collective. Cynthia’s work can be viewed at Retro Taco Restaurant, where she created a 45 ft by 9 ft mural with her business partner Allen Morton. In July of 2019 she was presented with the Arts and Innovation Honoree Award from the City of Riverside for her many years as a Community Arts Advocate. Cynthia is a working and teaching artist from Riverside that continues to uplift and represent for her community.