MLK Art Camp is Jan. 20
6th Street Studios in downtown Gilroy will host Martin Luther King Jr Art Camp starting at 9am Jan. 20. The fun-filled camp is perfect for creative kids, offering full and half-day sessions. Campers will delve into exciting art projects, guided by professional instructors, with outdoor play time and snacks on the schedule.
6th Street Studios is located at 64 West Sixth Street in Gilroy.
For more information, visit the Facebook page titled “Martin Luther King Jr Art Camp.”
Chamber to celebrate ‘Emerald Elegance’
The Gilroy Chamber of Commerce will host the 2025 Spice of Life Awards gala and dinner on March 15 at the Gilroy Elks Lodge on Hecker Pass Highway. The theme for this year’s gala is “Emerald Elegance.”
The gala will take place from 5-9pm. The chamber will announce its 2025 Spice of Life honorees. This year’s award winners include
• Man of the Year: Jayson Stebbins
• Woman of the Year: Fran Beaudet
• Large Business of the Year: Heritage Bank
• Small Business of the Year: RAC Services
• Young Professional of the Year: Ruben Dario Villa
• Educator of the Year: Francisca Garcia
• Susan Valenta Youth Leadership Award: Manreet Kaur
• Non-Profit of the Year: Gilroy Downtown Business Association
• Volunteer of the Year: Janet Krulee
Library opens new children’s spaces
The Santa Clara County Library District announced the creation of interactive children’s spaces in all of its community libraries. Storybook SCCLD play spaces are designed to captivate young children and their caregivers, while promoting the five early learning principles of Every Child Ready to Read— talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing, all in one place, says a press release from the library district.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, research shows that developmentally appropriate play can promote social-emotional, cognitive, language and self-regulation skills that build executive function which contributes to school readiness, setting up little learners for future success, says the press release.
Each library’s play space is a “magical environment that will reflect something special about each community, at the intersection of tech and nature,” the release says. “These play spaces will incorporate interactives for little hands to practice motor skills, themed reading nooks for quiet play, playhouses for imaginative play, toddler slides for active play, a sensory learning area for babies and pre-walking children, a balance element for all abilities, plus seating for children and their families.
“These spaces foster a passion for books and reading while providing valuable early literacy experiences that support grade level reading proficiency.”
The first play space will be installed at Saratoga Library, starting on January 20, 2025. Please visit the Storybook SCCLD webpage to see the play space installation schedule for your library. This page will also introduce you to the team of friendly robots who are your guides through Storybook SCCLD. The webpage will be updated each month with brand new information, so please bookmark it for future use.
The new play spaces will be installed Feb. 12-April 12 at the Morgan Hill Library, 660 West Main Ave. in Morgan Hill; and March 5-May 10 at the Gilroy Library, 350 West Sixth Street in Gilroy.
Teacher, artist opens solo show at Cura Contemporary
San Jose-based photographer Allan Barnes, a former photojournalist who teaches at Ann Sobrato High School, is opening a show of his works at Cura Contemporary in downtown Morgan Hill.
The upcoming show, which opens Jan. 10, features Barnes’ use of historic photographic processes, cameras and techniques, says an announcement of the show from Cura Contemporary. The show, titled “Meditations,” will be on view through Feb. 23.
Barnes creates wet collodion tintypes using an early 19th-century technique of coating glass or aluminum plates with light-sensitive chemicals before placing the plate in a camera and exposing it to light, Cura Contemporary said. After the plates are exposed to light, they are dipped and rinsed in chemical solutions.
Most recently, Barnes has been creating work out of a mobile darkroom built into his 1985 Toyota Dolphin RV, traveling up and down the Pacific Coast Highway to take and develop large format photographs of the local coastal landscape.
Barnes has nearly four decades of experience in photography. As a former photojournalist, his work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, Detroit Free Press, Spin and Metropolis Magazine, according to Cura Contemporary.
After relocating to California in 2007, Allan shifted his focus to teaching and has been an instructor of digital photography at Ann Sobrato High School in Morgan Hill since 2017. In addition to his high school classes, he offers workshops on historic photographic processes across California, including at his San Jose studio—where he specializes in portraiture using 19th-century cameras and techniques.
In conjunction with Barnes’ solo show, the gallery will host its first artist talk, “Darkroom Alchemy with Allen Barnes,” says a press release from Cura Contemporary. During the talk—which will explore the artist’s career—Barnes’ mobile darkroom will be on display.
The Jan. 19 artist talk is free and open to the public. Reserve a spot online at https://tinyurl.com/dpecr3xn.
Cura Contemporary is located at 17395 Monterey Road in downtown Morgan Hill.
Grant seeks to combat impaired driving
The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has awarded a $750,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Safety Administration to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, ABC said in a press release. The purpose of the grant is to educate teens, young adults and the public on the consequences of impaired driving to reduce driving deaths and injuries.
Funding from this grant will provide opportunities for students, educators, parents, prevention specialists and law enforcement to collaborate on projects that educate youth about the dangers of underage drinking, driving under the influence, binge drinking and alcohol abuse, says the press release. The grant program runs through September 2025.
Grant resources will be used for training committees of college-age students to present the risks of underage drinking to their peers, creating a teen influencer YouTube channel aimed at preventing underage drinking, and delivering statewide presentations to parents about how to talk to their children about underage drinking.
“ABC promotes this initiative to raise awareness about the dangers of impaired driving and underage drinking,” said ABC Director Joseph McCullough. “We share a collective goal in enhancing the safety of California’s roadways for everyone.”
