For the Del Rio Trail Project : Phase 1, I chose to create social media content and create art inspired by my outreach to the community. For social media, I interviewed two local businesses and my art professor Gioia Fonda about their experience in Land Park / South Sacramento and what they hope to see in Phase 2 of this project. These questions and video content are to hopefully inspire and give recommendations to the Phase 2 artists from the community itself. These interactions also inspired me personally, for my own work to promote this project.

A few questions I asked locals in this video interviews included:

. What visually reminds you of Land Park / Sacramento?
. What do you hope to see regarding Public Art throughout the trail?
. What is it like within the community surrounding the trail?

These three questions inspired a majority of the pieces in my Del Rio Trail Collection. Regarding some responses I got to the selected questions:

"What visually reminds you of Land Park/South Sacramento?"

- Most mentioned trees.

James Corner, a shift manager at South Sacramento’s Meet&Eat diner said that he thinks of ‘trees and greenery’ when Land Park and South Sacramento comes to mind. He stated “It creates a relaxed vibe to be surrounded by greenery, versus cityscapes like midtown that tend to be more busy.”

I agree with Corner, trees and greenery create a safe, calm, fresh environment in the midst of a busy city life that can be parts of Sacramento. I chose to give a calm expression to my work for this reason.

Gioia Fonda, Abstract Artist and Professor at Sacramento City College mentioned “Trees, I think about trees. How majestic it is to drive down these roads (Land Park), and have trees covering when it’s so hot, having a route to take to avoid the heat, it’s a beautiful thing.”

Lastly, Alanna, a manager of 5 Sips stated that she thinks about the park (Land Park) itself, and going with her family as a child.

I was also intrigued by Gioia's response to my question: "What do you hope to see with the sculptures installed in the trail?"

“I hope to learn something (from the public art created), to have pieces that stand out but also coexist with nature. But if you make a piece too much about nature, it’s hard to compete with nature. Art could be about nature, but think about the contrast between the sculpture and the trail”.

Overall, I am satisfied with the results of my artistry for the Del Rio Trail Project (Phase 1), and wanted to share the inspiration and symbology of my pieces! I have created five pieces depicting South Sacramento landmarks, culture, and the Trail itself and here are the words to go with the art!

PS: All the video content and photos are linked to this blog!

“Stay Here With Me” (Tree Nymph with Train Tracks)

After hearing Brian Ebbert discuss the battle between the community and the city to maintain the del Rio Trail, I got inspired to make this piece. Ebbert explained at our Artist Presentation night that he, the South Sacramento community, and a few city council members fought higher-ups to keep the train tracks and trail from being recreated into a tourist bus route. It was a debate and battle for nature, community, and healthier traveling throughout South Sacramento. Therefore, I made an indigenous-centric tree nymph holding tight to the train tracks present within the Del Rio Trail, to represent nature and local communities keeping what’s rightfully theirs and what belongs in our city. We need a moment to reconnect with nature in a large city, a healthier way to get around, and a pretty sight to see. Also, when interviewing artists and local businesses about the Del Rio Trail, most of the crowd responded to this question the same: “What visually reminds you of Land Park/South Sac?”. Almost everyone said greenery and trees. So that is reflected in all five pieces, but I feel like this painting best reflects the overall vibe and project.

I feel like Fairytale Town is a well-known children’s park in Sacramento. Not only is it a park, but it’s fantasy-themed and includes holiday festivities and fairytale-inspired theater shows. I have warm memories of going to Fairytale Town, and I adore the vintage fairy-esque aesthetic of it all. Obviously, because I was making art inspired by South Sacramento culture and the Del Rio Trail’s surrounding monuments, I chose to recreate the iconic humpty dumpty entrance. I added my own twist, creating a natural/feminine version of the classic egg. She sits with a docile expression to represent the childlike essence of the park’s themes and audience. I made her a brown egg because a brown artist created her (only brown hens can lay brown eggs, etc.). Overall, I love the recreation of her, I feel like I even added another element of fantasy and fairie aesthetic with her natural appearance.

This is actually a portrait of a friend in Watsonville, I sometimes look at people and just find them interesting to paint. I did want to make a fifth piece for this project, so I decided to tie it into the theme of the Trail. In the original reference photo, my friend Isaak has a paintbrush in his mouth. I decided to create a twig with a made-up fruit on it, to represent that we creators create a fruitfulness of creativity that is like no other.

“Aerial View Giraffe” (Ink drawing of giraffe)

This piece is how I believe the giraffes at the Sacramento zoo look at us. We often look at species of animals appearing all the same, with no variety or individuality. I wouldn’t be surprised if they do the same. So all the people in this image have the same ghost-like appearance. I also included easter eggs of my other few paintings I made for this project within this drawing. Lastly, I drew a giraffe to connect to another known South Sacramento location, the zoo! This was a place I was once connected with as well as a volunteer.

I feel like Sacramento is full of artists with individuality and style, in a way that isn’t to compete but more to express themselves. I notice most of us lift each other up and lead each other to opportunities, as we all have different walks and phases of the artistic journey we’re in. Though a Dandelion and a “wish’’ flower are in different phases, they’re still the same plant. South Sacramento also tends to be filled with ducks and geese during spring, alongside dandelions and daisies.

Judah X. Pimentel: A Glance Into This Collection of the "Del Rio Trail"

Judah X. Pimentel: Meeting Land Park and The Trail's Community