Taiko drummer and former ACTA Apprenticeship Program master artist PJ Hirabayashi will be one of the artists to perform and dialogue with us at the upcoming Roundtable Series in San Jose. Photo courtesy of San Jose Taiko

Please Join Us This Wednesday :: ACTA's Roundtable Series comes to San Jose

Join ACTA board and staff and Silicon Valley traditional artists and arts organizations at a session of our Roundtable Series. Introducing ACTA's Sounds of California initiative, this event will feature performances and conversation to explore the rich textures of music and sound that portray the many narratives of California's diverse cultural communities.

Master saddle maker Garry McClintock at the grand opening of ACTA's Southern California office in 2012. Photo: Abel Gutierrez

In Memoriam of Garry McClintock - Un Vaquero Del Alma

By Russell Rodríguez, Program Manager

ACTA would like to remember Garry McClintock, who passed at his home on August 14th, 2015. A master saddle maker and leather worker, Garry was a master artist in ACTA's Apprenticeship Program in 2010. This sad occurrence has had a ripple effect on the community of ranchers and rancheros, saddle makers, leather workers, and the field of traditional arts on both sides of the border that McClintock would often cross. Our experience with McClintock was always one of sharing, which always came off as a kind way of explaining process of his work and of telling stories.

Sahra Abdi (left), executive director of United Women of East Africa Support Team, with another mother and participant of their intergenerational cooking program. Photo: Lily Kharrazi

Women Cooking Together is Good for the Hayat (Soul): The United Women of East Africa Support Team

By Lily Kharrazi, Program Manager

Several years ago, a group of East African refugee mothers felt that they were losing an important link to their daughters because they were not eating the Somali, Ethiopian, or Eritrean cuisine that is traditionally passed on orally through the generations. Instead, their American-raised teenage daughters were eating at the fast food restaurants located around their schools. To bridge this gap, the United Women of South Africa Support Team, a a nonprofit organization based in San Diego and Living Cultures Grants Program grantee, began sponsoring cooking classes.

ACTA's Bay Area artist gathering attendees. Photo: Lily Kharrazi

Art Sharing, Storytelling, and Affirmation: ACTA's Bay Area Artists Gathering

By Russell Rodríguez, Program Manager

On August 16, 2015, ACTA gathered a group of Bay Area traditional artists and practitioners from the Living Cultures Grants Program (LCGP) and Apprenticeship Program (AP) at the historical Heyday Books office in Berkeley, California. The meeting was to provide a chance to check in on the work that they are doing, meet other awardees, and to partake in a discussion around traditional arts and storytelling.

Smithsonian Institution: Recovering Voices: Community Research Grant Program

Deadline: September 15, 2015