What: The State of California’s “Your Actions Save Lives” campaign, which provides Californians with information about how to do their part to stop the spread of COVID-19, is partnering with local artists to reach disproportionately impacted communities throughout the state. The program features a variety of artwork with empowering public health messages of protecting one another, resilience and community.
Developed in partnership with The Center at Sierra Health Foundation, the community arts initiative is designed to raise awareness of critical actions Californians have taken to help stop the spread of
COVID-19 — and to encourage people to continue those practices — such as wearing a mask, washing hands, physical distancing, and getting vaccinated.
The California COVID-19 Community Arts Project features 14 original works produced in mediums including performing, literary, and visual arts in public places throughout California.
Who: More than 20 artists are using a variety of art forms and cultural symbolism to connect with communities with empowering messages to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Most of the artists are from the communities where their art is being produced. The project engages Latino, Black/African American, Asian American/Pacific Islander, Native American/Indigenous and LGBTQ artists and communities.
When: The program launched in April with installations and performances through June. Many installations will be displayed for at least six months. Art installation dates will vary by location.
Where: Artwork is sited in disproportionately impacted communities to reach ethnically and linguistically diverse audiences throughout California. See highlights below.
Why: Art, like California’s disproportionately impacted populations, is diverse. The program leverages the power of art as a form of communication and as a way to support California’s arts community while celebrating works that provide cultural and linguistic context for communicating messages of awareness, hope, resilience and living in community.
Highlights of the California COVID-19 Community Arts Project
San Francisco: Serge Gay Jr., mural, Safety First. 2390 Market St. in the Castro District.
Oakland: Masako Miki; interactive installation, Benevolent Animals, Dangerous Animals. Multiple locations in Chinatown.
San Jose: Robin Lasser/Adrienne Pao, pop-up art installation, Vietnamese Bubble: Dress For Our Emergence and LatinX Bubble: Dress for Our Emergence. Multiple sites.
Monterey County: AgelicaMuro / Hector Mendoza Anguiano,newsprint, posters, and t-shirts, Comunidad “Juntos Salvamos Vidas.” Tienditas, supermercados, local businesses in Monterey County.
Los Angeles/East — El Monte: Francisco Palomares, pushcart with handmade artworks, and a coloring books, masks, and postcards designed by the artist, PalomaresBlvd Art Carrito in El Monte. Seven sites in downtown El Monte including the Transit Center, parks and plazas.
Los Angeles/South: Raul Baltazar, one-day performance, No Rona!. 20-mile bike ride/performance from South to East LA.
San Bernardino: Tamara Cedre, pandemic-related stories of local residents shared through video, printed ‘zine distributed in newsstands, and website, A Space Between Us. Multiple sites throughout San Bernardino.
Santa Ana: Elena Lourenco, Natalia Mendoza and Isabel Gonzalez, storefront installations in downtown Santa Ana, with installations in lending libraries throughout Santa Ana, Transformative Actions. Santa Ana.
San Diego: Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio, mural, Stop the Spread. Bread & Salt Gallery.
El Centro: Ernesto Yereno Montejano, mural, Untitled. Cynthia’s Flower Connection.
Stockton: Sunroop Kaur, mural, ਬਸੰਤSpring. JMP Restaurant Supply.
Sacramento: Jessica Wimbley, digital installation and static billboard, Masking Series. Arden Fair Mall and Oak Park neighborhood.
Central Valley: Juan Felipe Herrera (poet), Leonel Mendoza and Los Originarios del Plan (music group),
Grupo Recreacion (music group), Carmencristina Moreno (music group), San Joaquin Valley Latinx Music and Poetry for Covid-19 Prevention. Original songs and poem to be broadcast on Radio Bilingue.
Redding: John Harper, exterior installation, Birds on a Wire/Lessons from Nature. Turtle Bay Exploration Park.
For more information on COVID-19 and the latest public health guidance, visit covid19.ca.gov. To find out more information on COVID-19 vaccines and to make an appointment to be vaccinated, Californians can visit MyTurn.ca.gov or call 833-422-4255.
