Frank X. Moraga
By Frank X. Moraga / Amigos805
Wow, where has the summer gone? It seems that we were just celebrating Cinco de Mayo events and now here we are getting ready to enjoy the last big three-day holiday weekend of the summer season.
But shortly after Labor Day, the wacky calendar turns to Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. At this point they might as well give us the entire two months as more and more events keep crowding into the calendar.
(Editor’s note: Exhibit and reception postphoned) The celebration kicks off early when Jess Gutierrez presents his “40th Anniversary Photography Exhibition” from Sept. 7 through Nov. 1 at Café on A in Oxnard. The grand opening reception will be held on Friday, Sept. 13.
Uncle Jess, as I like to call him, was one of those local and regional media members who introduced me to the world of journalism back in the far distant “Media and Minorities” conference days at Ventura College. In fact, there’s a photo Jess took of me as a college reporter/photographer trying to interview César Chávez during one of his marches through Ventura County.
Jess’s work recently concluded its showing at CSU Channel Islands as part of a César E. Chávez Photography Exhibit.
The Museum of Ventura County will honor a long-lost neighborhood with the exhibit “Last Exit: Tortilla Flats,” featuring a reception on Friday, Sept. 13. The following day, Tortilla Flats Mural project leaders Moses Mora and MB Hanrahan will talk with a group of former residents at the museum. If you have not had the pleasure, please spend some time checking out the mural under the 101 Freeway at Figueroa Street. The mural is a fitting tribute to a bygone era.
From murals to books we move to the Monday, Sept. 16 presentation and book signing by Inlakech founder Javier Gomez, whose book “I Was Diagnoosis Retarded” recounts his battles with the educational powers-that-be in Los Angeles, and how he overcame those challenges to be an award-winning educator. His talk will be at the Oxnard Public Library.
There should be no shortage of cultural entertainment during the next couple of months with The Majestic Ventura Theater presenting Julieta Venegas on Sept. 20; ¡Viva el Arte de Santa Barbara! kicking off its 2013-2014 season with Mariachi Nuevo Tecalitlán in FREE performances from Sept. 20 through 22; the Flamenco Arts Festival 2013 in Santa Barbara presenting, directly from Spain, Jesús Carmona & Compañía in the U.S. premiere of Cuna Negra & Blanca; CLU presenting on Oct. 9 “Un cuento chino (Chinese Take-away)” as part of its International Film Festival / Reel Justice Film Series; and Susan Zamudio-Gurrola talking about the history of Ventura County farmworker housing on Oct. 10 at the Agriculture Museum in Santa Paula.
And let’s not forget ongoing Fiestas Patrias events (see our cover story for times and dates), Teatro de las Américas’ inauguration of its new theater with the performances of two plays — “El gordo / The Big One” & “La pesadilla de una noche de verano / Midsummer’s Nightmare” — through Sept. 14 and the “Migrant Project: Contemporary California Farm Worker” exhibit through Oct. 30 at the Agriculture Museum in Santa Paula.
See our Arts & Culture section starting on page 8 for details on these and other events and visit our website for additions to our Amigos805 Best Bets section. Then get ready to celebrate.
— Frank X. Moraga is editor/publisher of Amigos805. He has served as business editor, director of diversity and general manager of a bilingual publication at the Ventura County Star, and as a reporter in the community editions of the Orange County Register and Los Angeles Daily News.