A unique art show, the Tuolumne County Arts Alliance’s Heartland Creative Corps Show, will open on Tuesday, June 25 at Columbia College, and residents from throughout the area are encouraged to take the short drive to Sonora to view the show.

California’s 2021 State Budget included a $60 million, one-time General Fund allocation for the California Arts Council to implement the California Creative Corps pilot program, media outreach, and engagement campaign designed to increase:

Public Health Awareness messaging to stop the spread of COVID-19;

Public Awareness related to water and energy conservation, climate mitigation, and emergency preparedness, relief, and recovery;

Civic Engagement, including election participation;

Social Justice and Community Engagement.

The show, available for viewing from June 25 through Aug. 8 at Columbia College, presents an overview of the projects created in Tuolumne County from 2023 to 2024. One of the goals was to employ artists so that they could rekindle their careers that had been harmed by the pandemic. All of these projects were led by artists who employed other artists and cultural workers to participate in the production of the pieces or performances. More than 100 artists and cultural workers were employed. Another goal was to support underserved communities, (based on the Healthy Places Index). Lower Quartile communities were chosen as venues for all of these free events and shows.

Among the pieces that will be on display are:

• Pebbles in a Pond: The Ripple Effects of Participation in Voting

• Last Earth—A meditation on Climate Change: An immersive media experience

• The Watch Mosaic—Adults with Intellectual Disabilities Creating Art for Tuolumne County

• Pareidolia—Increasing social equity and active awareness through visual art, media and social interaction

• Cinco de Mayo—An American Tradition

• At the Water’s edge—Dioramas of life in the streams and rivers of Tuolumne County

• Shedding Light on Homelessness—The Many Reasons for Homelessness

• Flow—A Story of California’s Water

Residents are invited to join in for a celebratory reception on Tuesday, June 25 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Columbia College Rotunda, Manzanita Building, 11600 Columbia College Drive, Sonora, CA. Light refreshments will be provided.