Jamie Solis' Portfolio: Southern California

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Saturday, February 21, 2015

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Thursday, January 16, 2014

Gems of the Desert

Appreciating the Beauty Behind Wonder Valley’s Forgotten Structures

By: Jamie Solis

Exploring the deserts that lie on the outskirts of San Bernardino County, you will certainly run into some odd findings. Whether it’s the Wigwam Motel, where a teepee can serve as your next comfy slumber or the once thriving city of Zzyzx, which has a name alone that perplexes passersby heading out to Las Vegas, the desert has always produced quirky and obscure structures for us to gaze at. If you’ve ever traveled to the Morongo Basin east of Twenty-nine Palms, near Joshua Tree National Park, then you may have run into an entire cultivation of abandoned homes that litter the desert in a scattered about and chaotic kind of way. Welcome to Wonder Valley, California.

Kim Stringfellow is a visionary who felt inspired by the culture and history behind these small structures. She has presented a dedication of works, all under the name Jackrabbit Homestead: Tracing the Small Tract Act in the Southern California Landscape. Over the last six years since its artistic conception, Jackrabbit Homestead has graced the likes of numerous galleries around California, from Joshua Tree to Berkeley, now finding its way to IE’s very own UCR ARTSblock’s Culver Center of the Arts in Riverside. This installment is composed of an exhibition of photography, a published book and an online multimedia project, which includes an interactive audio car tour—giving you the chance to learn the importance of these homesteads first-hand from historians, local artists and residents.

Wonder Valley brings a whole new meaning to the term humble abode. Many small buildings that once served as someone’s home sweet home are now four walls cluttered with decaying pieces of drywall. Other structures have nothing left but a skeleton of their decomposing wooden framework. Some homes have fallen over completely—ultimately crumbled into the ground after enduring decades of abuse from nature’s elements. Often these places appear to be stuck in time, where old broken down electronics line ruins of once-thriving households. Classic broken down trucks, dated appliances, tangled mattress springs and even turned over boats are among the past’s prized possessions that now only serve as trash of the desert.

Looking at some of these rotted out places, you can’t help but wonder who used to belong to these American Dreams? Who was willing to invest their hard earned dollars towards a piece of dry and desolate land? Life’s pressures often include a feeling that owning property is a necessity, and to completely abandon these homes was forgoing a once living dream.

The Small Tract Act of 1938 was the last time the U.S. government offered up an inexpensive way for families to buy property. These lots of land were up to five-acres and available for purchase to those willing to do something with the land and in this case the most viable option was to erect a small homestead. These little shacks were pop-up-homes in a sense, often taking only one day to complete their construction throughout the ‘40s to‘60s. Many people who decided to come out to Wonder Valley were veterans of World War I. Veterans came back from the war seeking a cure to heal their lungs and doctors recommended the warm and dry air. Building a little homestead in the middle of San Bernardino County seemed like a great opportunity at the time, despite the harsh climate.

Those settling in this new area were not in for easy living. To this day, water is still not readily available to the settlers of this region. Coyotes and scorpions crawl across the hot desert grounds in search for their next meal, and the weather is known to be either blazing hot or freezing cold. While these deserted homes prove that the majority couldn’t stand the elements, there are still a handful of people that inhabit these homesteads, whether it is for their daily living or having a breathtaking art studio to call their own. Today, many still see something appealing in this area that cannot be found somewhere else, whether it’s the virtually unlimited space or the absolute freedom from urban sprawl.

Standing inside an old shack, the open windows frame the beautiful and desolate view of this wasteland. These roofless buildings serve as an open canvas to budding artists and individuals looking for an opportunity to absorb the charm of nature. In the end, beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, so check out these forgotten gems of the Morongo Basin.

Jackrabbit Homestead: Tracing the Small Tract Act in the Southern California Landscape at Culver Center of the Arts, UCR ARTSblock, 3824 Main St., Riverside, (909) 827-4787; artsblock.ucr.edu. Thru Sept. 28. $3.

Originally Published by IE Weekly on August 29, 2013: http://ieweekly.com/2013/08/arts/arts-feature/gems-of-the-desert/

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Immortalizing Riverside’s Imprints of “The Golden Dream”

By: Jamie Solis

The golden dream has always existed within the desirous minds of Americans. It’s stated on the Statue of Liberty herself, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” This quote from the sonnet New Colossus by Emma Lazarus has been an anthem of humankind for over a century, breathing the vision of prosperity and freedom from oppression for every person regardless of their race, ethnicity or class. This August marks 50 years since the brave Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King Jr.’s infamous I Have a Dream speech echoed against the Lincoln Memorial. He addressed how the Constitution and Declaration of Independence ensured that “all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This marks an appropriate time to delve into our local ties—to recognize the individuals who made their way to the Inland Empire in hopes for a better life for themselves and their families—a once in a lifetime shot at the American Dream they were promised.

The Eastside of Riverside has always been a mecca for Latino and African American families looking to find success. Many African American military men migrated to March Air Force Base from the Old South, and the commercial areas that line University Avenue are littered with evidence of this—from the historic buildings that tell captivating anecdotes of Southern California’s past to the residents that still recall the importance of those who walked along these streets.

A well respected Riverside native and award-winning writer, Susan Straight, looked around at her hometown and saw that many of the old buildings were burning down and being lost to development. She felt that the stories of those that have contributed to the uniqueness of this city must be told before the chronicles are gone forever.

These vanishing memories are being recovered and immortalized at the collaborative exhibit, “More Dreamers of the Golden Dream” at the Riverside Art Museum. Straight has collaborated with documentary photographer Douglas McCulloh, to expose the populace who has contributed to Riverside’s antiquity. Through overwhelming, large-scale black and white photographs printed on cloth alongside poetic words that express intimate details pertaining to the photos, the viewer is surrounded by the moment that was once passing but is now frozen in time indefinitely.

A photo of two young African American women, Rosie Morris and Alberta Morris Sims, was contributed to the exhibit by the Sims family. While the date is unknown, the sheer volume of the subjects’ hair gives it away—this photo breathes the ‘60s. Another exhibited portrait is of the old school jazz band Edgar Hayes and his Star Dusters. The enthusiastic energy of this quartet from San Bernardino is almost contagious—each of the four men is proudly posing with his instrument to forever leave a positive imprint in the musical minds of many.

Place yourself in front of McCulloh’s commanding image outside Riverside’s Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, and you’ll understand why this old church has been cherished by the Eastside Latino community since 1927. This photo of Tony and Sarah Lopez on Ash Wednesday evokes spiritual emotion. It was here that they were married over 70 years ago. Another photograph of this important day of faith uses the repetition of the ceiling boards to draw your eyes along the top of the print until your focus stops at the long cross held by an older gentleman—everyone appears to be deep in prayer.

There is also a collection of photographs highlighting Zacatecas Cafe—an important part of the Eastside since the 1970s. The old colorless images provided to this exhibit by the Medina Family contrast the modern contributions by McCulloh, demonstrating how simple changes are much more evident once compared after decades pass . . . the original hand-painted sign is now illuminating the otherwise dark street corner. Inside, the family atmosphere remains almost unchanged, although the new busy photo is dissimilar to the somber and beautiful photograph that depicted the inside of Zacatecas in the years before, which speaks of a once quiet cafe.

Through this vast collection, it’s important to recognize the brave travelers who came to this region with dreams of a bright future, because without their journey our beautiful region would have the cultural vibrancy present today. We must continue to memorialize imprints of our past before they’re lost forever.

“More Dreamers of the Golden Dream” at Riverside Art Museum, 3425 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside, (951) 684-7111; www.riversideartmuseum.org. Thru July 25. Admission is $5.

Originally Published by IE Weekly on July 3, 2013: http://ieweekly.com/2013/07/arts/arts-feature/a-picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words/