One of ACE’s valuable partners is CSUMB’s Visual & Public Arts (VPA) Department. Every Fall, students from Jesus Aguilar‘s Media and Public Arts class meet with ACE and create a project about Chinatown. This was the second project we had worked on with VPA.
Many of the students are from outside Salinas, so they do not know much about Chinatown. But coming into the Republic Cafe always seems to help them “get it.” There is something about the building that speaks volumes about the family and staff that lived there, and ultimately about Chinatown itself. To get a feeling for the history of the building, view Silvia Turchin‘s beautiful documentary video, Past and Present: the Republic Cafe.
We took the students to the upper floors of the building, where the family and some of the restaurant staff once lived. Everyone who takes the tour is surprised about how large the Republic Cafe building really is.
The tour ends on the roof, where you can look out over Chinatown, get the lay of the land, and also get a clear view of the new affordable housing developments. We pointed out some of the landmarks, including the two Chinese Association “Tong” buildings, and of course the new Moon Gate 90-unit affordable housing development being built along Soledad and Lake Streets.
The students took this opportunity to take notes and photographs, and also think about a possible media project they can do. It was interesting to show them around the 4-story Republic Cafe building, and to sit with them afterwards and hear them talk about the experience and speculate about possible projects. They came up with some great ideas.
With the guidance of their instructor, they decided on a two-part project, which included 1) photographing and documenting items and shards from a recent archaeological dig in the Japanese section of Chinatown, and 2) incorporating that material into a multimedia project that would be presented at the Republic Cafe during the big Chinatown Block Party held in November 2018. Aside from the group project, they would also create individual projects.
The first part of the project involved photographing the artifacts in the Buddhist Temple of Salinas gym in October. They were able to bring cameras, lighting, and other photographic materials into the building and everyone participated.
More artifacts from the dig, lined up for the photo shoot. 
Setting up equipment. 
ACE Co-chair Cathy Chavez-Miller in the foreground 
Items from ACE’s archive were also photographed. Here they prepare print pages of the Philippines Mail newspaper. 
Cathy Chavez-Miller with ACE member Tom Tanner (who donated some objects to be photographed). 
Chinese style dresses to be photographed.
After seeing all the work the students and their instructor put into preparing and photographing the artifacts, we were curious and excited to see what they would create for the Chinatown Block Party in November… Next: Part II
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