Celebrating California Arts Day by Submitting a Centennial Mural Design

The deadline for the Centennial Mural design is Friday, October 3. It was no coincidence that this date was picked; every first Friday of October is California Arts Day. For more on California Arts Day and the impact and importance of the arts, even in small towns like Patterson, check out the California Arts Council website. For more information on Patterson's Centennial and the Centennial Mural Project, check out Patterson100.org.

Below is a photo by Elias Funez of the first Centennial Mural design submitted. For purpose of judging the designs on it's own merits, the designers of these murals will be kept a secret...

(The artist) tried to convey Patterson’s past, present and future as viewed by one of Patterson’s families.

It includes the D.B. George house when the palm trees were first planted on Las Palmas. The three cyclists in front of the historical building in the circle represent the Amgen tour. The Del Puerto Hotel is on the right side of the mural and the Senior Center of the future is on the left. The Plaza Center Building is registered as an historical landmark. The largest celebration of the year is the Apricot Fiesta, so the banner is depicted between two palm trees. The Apricot Fiesta logo is under the Centennial sign.

Patterson’s agricultural base is represented by an orchard in the left-upper corner, as is a farm with rows of produce. A steam thresher, as pictured on the upper-right, was made by W.W. Cox and taken in 1909 as it harvested barley.

The image of four men by a vintage car on the lower-left is thought to be taken by T.W. Patterson. He reportedly told W.W. Cox, “Will, I want to start a town here – will you harvest the barley as soon as you can, so I can have it surveyed.” W.W. Cox is in the center, leaning on his car.

Lastly, the mural includes the aqueduct and a nod to Diablo Grande’s golf course.

Starting Rehearsal

We start rehearsal tonight for the PRT production of Larry Shue's, "The Nerd". And I am excited! It should prove to be pretty funny! This weekend Gary Scoles, Carol Scoles and James Dimter worked on the set and within 2 days and 14 hours we put up it up! It looks great so far but there is still a lot to do! I love the process...


More later.

Patterson director and Del Puerto artist represented at Modesto theater

Three Tall Women
By Edward Albee
Directed by Colton Dennis and featuring Grace Lieberman.

From the author of A Delicate Balance, Seascape, Zoo Story and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woof, comes yet another Pulitzer Prize winning play from premier American playwright, Edward Albee. Based on the life of Albee’s stepmother, Three Tall Women is the sophisticated, enigmatic and moving story of one woman’s life journey. Through the lens of this woman’s life, Albee asks his audience to witness and experience all the strengths, weaknesses, pains, and joys of human existence.

Three Tall Women opens Friday, September 26th, and runs through Sunday, October 19th. Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings, and Thursday, October 16th at 8pm, and Sunday matinees at 2pm. Talk-Back Sunday is on October 12th.


Director Colton Dennis is co-founder and co-Artistic Director of Patterson Repertory Theatre.

Also, from Patterson is Del Puerto Art Group’s very own, Lois A. Hansen. Her work is being displayed in the lobby of the theater. She is showing her paintings and collages of women. For a more in-depth story on Lois and her art, read "Hansen shares artwork; play depicts life issues," at Maddy Houk's blog, Talk Around Town.

September 26, 27, 28 - October 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18 and 19, 2008.

Shows are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 2 pm. Lobby and Art Gallery are open 3o minutes before the show.

Tickets cost $15 per person. Art Gallery is free to view.

For information: 549-9341, or www.prospecttheaterproject.org/

Patterson's very own "Downtown Art Walk"

The Del Puerto Art Group has art displayed in 7 offices and businesses downtown! This art group has many talented artists who are members and the art displayed is a must see for anyone frequenting any of the downtown businesses. Come check it out!

Downtown Businesses/Offices displaying art:

City Hall
1 Plaza

Tri Counties Bank
17 Plaza

Oak Valley Bank
20 Plaza

Blues Café
34 S. Del Puerto

The Beauty Shop
26 S. Third St., Ste. E

Drs. Allen and Sarasqueta’s dentist office
355 W. Las Palmas

Valadez Jewelers
10 Plaza.

For more information on the Del Puerto Art Group, call 892-6782 or 892 6485.

• Much of this information is courtesy of Maddy Houk's Briefs in the Patterson Irrigator.

Love, Life and Literature

Lately I have been trying to find a way to incorporate the story of Patterson into a play for the centennial. Finally, with the help of my trusty assistant Moonisah, we discovered the thing that ties all Pattersonites together is the town's sense of community. So with that in mind and with suggestions that she has made I am now writing the first draft of the Centennial Play which I have subtitled A Thread of Community (a working title). If there are any suggestions or ideas out there I am more than glad to hear about them.

Arts in Patterson

It's unfortunate, but when most think of Patterson or the Westside, the arts isn't one of the first things that come to mind. Tori and I plan on changing that. The fact is there are plenty of arts here in Patterson and even more arts opportunities to come in the near future!

For example, we have the Del Puerto Art Group, Patterson Repertory Theatre (Tori and I are co-founders), two dance companies - Curtain Call and Trinity Dance Center, Patterson Art and Wine (a fundraiser for our theatre), and we have our Centennial Mural Project coming, as well!

Stay tuned for more arts in Patterson! We will do our best to post everything about the arts in our lovely community on this Patterson Arts Project blog.

We promise there is plenty more to come...