Valona pal Covid

Aug 19, 2021

Los Originarios del Plan is a traditional Arpa Grande group playing the music from the Tierra Caliente of Michoacan, Mexico. This four-man band plays acoustic strings (harp, violin, vihuela and guitar) with the signature calenteño (natives of Tierra Caliente) high pitched vocals. Their composition, “Valona pal Covid,” draws on their regional tradition of “la valona,” a popular musical and literary form characterized by an acid sense of humor and social concerns. Its lyrics are composed of stanzas of ten eight-syllable verses and musically, valonas are sung to the same musical tune.

Part of ACTAvando Contra COVID, a program of the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA). ACTA produced new works in Spanish and Mixtec in music, poetry and theater by four beloved Latinx artists and ensembles in the San Joaquin Valley. These new pieces all animate public health messaging for the prevention of COVID-19 in the valley, a region which has experienced both high level of infection and low vaccination rates during the pandemic.

ACTA's program is one of 14 public art projects organized by the CA Governor's Office and the Sierra Health Foundation.

Listen to the original song "Valona pal Covid" here.

< Older Post Newer Post >

Art Against Racism

30 May, 2023

Art Against Racism is a virtual arts exhibition which aims to lift up the tremendous array of creative works made in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. In doing so, project organizers hope that the exhibition will serve as an archive of the national artistic response to this historic moment.

Increasing Vaccine Confidence With Youth's Artwork - La Raza Youth Leadership Institute

30 May, 2023

La Raza Youth Leadership Institute hosted an art contest for youth ages 12-19 with the goal of motivating Latinx youth to get vaccinated. Three winners were chosen, and the first place winner's artwork was displayed on buses and in bus stop shelters near a number of schools. A phone number is included with the artwork for youth to call to receive more information about vaccines.

Perception Isn't Always Reality by Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective

22 Jul, 2022

Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective's Perception Isn't Always Reality engages BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) teen and young adult artists to reevaluate messages they may have received about Covid-19 and vaccinations and to reevaluate the sources of the information. Through their own brand of urban storytelling that involves collaborative work in hip hop music and krump dance, spoken word, videography, photography, and podcasting, the artists will produce a challenging body of work for the public to experience on urban canvases such as the sides of city buses and on air waves.

Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective

22 Jul, 2022

Based in St. Louis, Missouri and incorporated in 2014, the Story Stitchers Artists Collective uses a collaborative model to create social justice art. The mission of Story Stitchers is to document St. Louis through art and word and to promote understanding, civic pride, intergenerational relationships, and literacy. Story Stitchers works to promote a better educated, more peaceful, and caring region through the creation and dissemination of original art.

Healing Wings project helps residents process COVID-19 grief through art

21 Jul, 2022

The product of a collaboration the Potters' Guild of Las Cruces and Mesilla artist Josh Switzer, The Healing Wings project was developed to gave people in Las Cruces who were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic a chance to honor those lost during to COVID-19. Las Cruces community members were invited to paint clay-sculpted wings to hang on a metal tree. The wings gave the community members an artistic outlet to share their griefs or honor loved ones. The project also included a sculpture comprised of metal boxes, where people could write their experiences of grief on a paper and then put it in the box. Once the boxes are full, organizers plan to burn the notes as a symbol of letting go.

The Madisonville Community Studio

21 Jul, 2022

The Madisonville Community Studio is an ongoing project co-created by Madisonville residents and Design Impact to explore key questions about the inclusiveness of neighborhood changes. The project is supported by the Kresge Foundation. To improve interracial relationships in Madisonville and increase Black residents’ power, influence, and representation in the neighborhood’s development decisions.