By Isaac Gonzalez-Diaz
Cal State Monterey Bay’s (CSUMB) own APIDA – Asian Pacific Islander Desi American – affinity center screenprinted t-shirts in honor of Filipino American Heritage Month at The Craft and Cultura Art Market in Oldtown Salinas Alley.
Attracting nearly 300 attendees, the first 50 at the APIDA table snagged a free t-shirt with the phrase ‘Isang Bagsak’ printed in black – done by local artist Orgullo Ocho Tres Uno. Translated from Tagalog to mean “one down,” the phrase symbolizes unity; if one person falls, we all fall.
Featuring 19 community artists and vendors, the market featured a plethora of handmade goods. From Mandala and crochet crafts to jewelry, decorated candles and live-art painting, the diversity of art was fully on display on Friday.
Alejandro Casanova, marketing producer and event producer for Artist Ink – a nonprofit that offers art programming to youth and adults – was one of the primary organizers of this event. Their vision was to help local artists sell and promote their art as well as network with other artists.
“This is the fourth event organized this year, we had the first one in May, the second one in June, the third one was in September and this is the last one of the year, but this event is not an event that just came out of nowhere,” Casanova said. “This is the next step of what we’ve been doing at the Artist Alley at Midtown Lane, and they started back in 2021.”
For some artists, attending this event was a way to expose locals to different art forms. This was the case of Mar Jimenez, a local artist who usually makes multimedia art, but chose to switch it up for the market.
“I’m multimedia, but today I just have prints, usually I have jewelry or what I like to call dormance but today I just have prints and some jewelry pieces that I made,” she said.
The market was accompanied with a diverse range of tunes as well, mixed by DJ Rick Jamz. Everything from 80s hits like “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley to a diverse display of cumbias (Colombian music). Local band The Mystic Souls also gave a live performance that added to the atmosphere for the event.
Andrew Parker attended to support his friend Megan Goodwin, who was doing a live-art display. “I’m supporting one of my friends that is the featured artist that is doing the painting of the black cat,” said Parker.
Event-goer and art teacher at Artist Ink, Jordan Roots – with the company of his kids – said that the event was promoting community involvement through the arts.
“I think it is very important that my children be exposed to the arts, I heard about this event through social media,” said Roots.
Photos by Elliot Rowe