Conocete Tucson Virtual en Español

Hosted by Tucson City of Gastronomy Food Justice Committee, this event highlights the work happening on Community Food Bank’s Las Milpitas de Cottonwood Community Farm, a six-acre community farm just southwest of downtown Tucson. Las Milpitas serves 120 families and is operated by the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona on urban land leased from Pima County. Las Milpitas growers share their experiences farming together for household food and income and present a demonstrations how to how to pick, prepare, and eat purslane, or verdolagas as it better known in Tucson!

JORGE PINON & KIM CLIFFTON are growers at Milpitas South End, well-known for their purslane/verdolaga harvests. Jorge just finished a year as an AmeriCorps volunteer with Milpitas and is now Plot Leader.

Las Milpitas de Cottonwood is a six-acre community farm, located on the banks of the Santa Cruz River, that provides materials and support for local residents to grow food for themselves, making healthy, local food more accessible to low-income families. The farm offers family garden plots, gardening supplies, and educational workshops at no cost.

Join Naina Bhamidipati and Mari Kaneta for a conversation about gesture as a vehicle for storytelling in dance and the work of upholding a dance tradition outside its cultural homeland. Bhamidipati demonstrates bharathanatyam, a traditional dance from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, accompanied by her brother, Nitish, on the mridangam drum. Kaneta, founder and sensei at Tucson’s Suzuyuki Kai, demonstrates classical Japanese dance forms such as odori and kabuki.

Facilitator: KATE ALEXANDER, TMY Performance Curator
MARI KANETA, Japanese dancer and sensei
NAINA & NITISH BHAMIDIPATI, Bharathanatyam dancer and drummer

Conversants: SELINA MORALES, Folklorist; ROD AMBROSE, Storyteller; BARBEA WILLIAMS, Theater/Dance Artist

Storytelling as manifestation of change in African and African American communities is an ancient and powerful community practice. Listen and learn from a conversation between folklorist Selina Morales and SFA Master Artist; community leader, movement builder and storyteller, Rod Ambrose; and dance/theater artists Barbea Williams about the vital role of traditional knowledge in building a more equitable future.

Tucson City of Gastronomy hosts the premiere of a new video by the San Xavier Co-op Farm about the tepary bean, an ancient Tohono O’odham food that continues to thrive in the Sonora Desert due to its cultural significance, drought tolerance, health benefits, and delicious taste. In tandem with the video, farm staff share cultural perspective and modern recipes for White Tepary Bean Hummus and Vegan Red Tepary Bean Brownies.

Facilitator: GABRIEL VEGA, San Xavier Co-op Farm Manager
AMY R. JUAN, Community member and activist
JOSHUA PRESTON, FRANCINE BAUTISTA, MARYIA MILES, Farm employees

The San Xavier Cooperative Association practices healthy farming and grows traditional crops to support the cultural and environmental values of the Tohono O’odham people as well as economic development within the community.

Karen Falkenstrom of Odaiko Sonora and Anne Pollack of Capoeira Mandinga share roles, responsibilities, and ethics of teaching and transmitting traditional practices. Deeply engaged in the practice and teaching of their respective forms, both artists will speak about their personal journeys acquiring and transmitting cultural knowledge.

Facilitator: KATE ALEXANDER, TMY Performance Curator
KAREN FALKENSTROM, Founder/Director, Odaiko Sonora
ANNE POLLACK, Founder/Director, Capoeira Mandinga Tucson

Mexican weaving and embroidery are integral traditional art forms in Mexico and the Americas, closely tied to indigenous knowledge and resiliency. Join artists, activists, and scholars for a conversations that braids knowledge and experience to explore textiles as a form of cultural resistance, economic autonomy, and women’s collective empowerment.

Facilitator: DR. MICHELLE TELLEZ, University of Arizona Mexican American Studies
LORENA ANDRADE, Director, La Mujer Obrera, El Paso, Texas
NANSI GUEVARA, Textile artist, Brownsville, Texas
MARIA DEL CARMEN PARRA CANO, Owner of Indigena

Flowers have a special connection to the Pascua Yaqui and are used in celebrations and memorials. Learn from traditional artists how to make paper flowers and the meaning of these sacred object for to Yaqui/Yoeme people.

Panel co-curated by Daniel Vega, Director Department of Language & Culture. We thank the Pascua Yaqui Tribe Department of Language & Cultural for their partnership!

Facilitator: PASCUALA VALENZUELA, Ms. Pascua Yaqui & LAYLALANAI GOCOBACHI, Junior Miss Pascua Yaqui
Artists: IRENE SANCHEZ & PAULA YUCUPICIO

The Tucson City of Gastronomy hosts this introduction to the work of the Dunbar Pavilion and its educational Community Garden. Learn how the Garden is a new programming centerpiece of the historic Dunbar School, a center for celebrating the rich history and culture of Tucson’s African-American community and a hub for collaborative local efforts toward racial justice. Debi Chess, Executive Director; Desiree Gonzales, Wellness Programming Manager; and Garden Manager Yesi Olivera discuss the Dunbar Pavilion’s role in the Tucson community and their collective hopes for the garden with host, E. Liane Hernandez, Culture Kitchen Curator. Tani Sanchez of UA Africana Studies also discusses work on the in-progress Dunbar cookbook project and shares a recipe for sweet potato pie.

Facilitator: E. LIANE HERNANDEZ, TMY Culture Kitchen Curator
Panelists:
DEBI CHESS, Director, Dunbar Pavilion DR. TANI SANCHEZ, Associate Professor, University of Arizona, Africana Studies
YESI OLIVERA, Garden Manager, Dunbar Pavilion
DESIREE GONZALES Program Manager, Dunbar Pavilion

In communities throughout North America and in the Celtic regions of Europe, Celtic music supports and enables social dances that serve to bring people together and maintain relationships. In this demonstration, Claire Zucker of Púca and the Wild Ones and a dancer will draw connections between the Celtic traditions they represent. Expect fiddling, dancing, and singing!

Facilitator: KATE ALEXANDER, TMY Performance Curator
Panelists: CLAIRE ZUCKER, Púca and the Wild Ones, and a dancer, DAVE FIRESTINE, Musician and member of the band STEAM, CHRISTINE SOLINSKY, Irish Dancer and ABBIE SORG, Contra Dancer and Caller.

CLAIRE ZUCKER hails from the green woods of eastern Tennessee, and her life circles around family and her love of music and dance. She plays traditional Irish and American Old-time music in sessions, jams, and in various bands, and for 25 years has built community and connected people to music and dance by calling and organizing contradances.