BEFORE AND BEYOND: Exhibit of Phase 1 Artists

Installation View of BEFORE AND BEYOND: Phase 1 Artists of the Del Rio Trail, 2023.

The City of Sacramento's Office of Arts and Culture commissioned twenty artists to make artwork that engaged community members and built excitement about the future Del Rio Trail. From February - June 2023, these artists made artwork inspired by the trail, its history, and the people who have used it. 

Each Phase 1 artist exhibited a selection of the artwork created at the Twisted Track Gallery from July 7 - 29, 2023, for the Del Rio Trail Exhibit, BEFORE AND BEYOND. The exhibit featured a range of artistic media, including ceramics, film, painting, photography, printmaking, music, sculpture, and textiles. 

1 - 5: Melissa Uroff, Ticker Tape, Resin, Photographs, Neon Lights, 2023.

Melissa Uroff interviewed women who live in communities surrounding the Del Rio Trail. She asked them about their relationship to nature including their use of natural resources and spiritual practices. Her Ticker Tape installation was inspired by the responses she received.

1 - 2: Alexis Arriaga, Following the Del Rio Trail, Film, 2023.

2 - 4: Tobi Liston, Artivism Workshop Video and Posters, 2023.

5: Christina Preston, A Trip Down Memory Lane: A Brief History of the Neighborhoods Surrounding the Del Rio Trail, Photography, Drawings, and Text, 2023.

Alexis Arriaga created a documentary that followed a group of her fellow Phase 1 Del Rio Trail artists as they created their artwork and engaged with the community.

Tobi Liston presented a video of her Artivism workshop, where she taught the history of Artivism, a discipline that merges art and activism. She taught participants how to visually unify themselves with their signs and body language. Participants collaborated to create their own stenciled protest signs. After the workshop, Tobi and the participants attended a Climate Change protest at the Capitol.

Christina Preston created an exhibit about the past uses of the Del Rio Trail site which included the history of its indigenous inhabitants.

1 - 3: Matthew Flores, Del Rio Trail Community Mosaic - Scenes From The Trail, Ceramic Tiles, 2023.

4: Andri Tambunan, Justin, Kathrine, and Liv, Phototography, 2023.

5: Andri Tambunan, Brian, Irene, Melania, and Eva, Phototography, 2023.

6: Andri Tambunan, Mark & Robin, Photography, 2023.

Matthew Flores set up his clay tile activity at multiple community events along the Del Rio Trail. By the time of this exhibit Matthew had accumulated over 500 tiles that were made and glazed by community members. He displayed the completed tiles as a mural.

Andri Tambunan interviewed and photographed community members who regularly use the Del Rio Trail in its current state.

1 - 5: Shonna McDaniels, The Rhythm of the Train, Wood and Mixed Media, 2023

6: Judah Pimentel, Trailwalker, Acrylic, 2023

7: Judah Pimentel, Stay Here With Me, Watercolor, 2023.

8: Judah Pimentel, Humptina Dumpty, Acrylic, 2023.

9: Judah Pimentel, Aerial View Giraffe, Watercolor, pen, and ink, 2023.

10: Judah Pimentel, Make A Wish, Acrylic, 2023

As a tribute to the trail’s railroad history, Shonna McDaniels created a mixed-media train sculpture. The sculpture featured images, sounds, and videos related to the history of jazz musicians and their relationship to train travel. It even included an a kalimba, an African musical instrument with a wooden soundboard and metal keys, for people to play.

Judah Pimentel created five surreal paintings inspired by nature, people, and businesses in the neighborhoods surrounding the Del Rio Trail.

1: BEFORE AND BEYOND Installation View, Twisted Track Gallery, 2023.

2 - 3: Anna Meier, Colorscape - Del Rio Trail, Quilt and Book, Naturally dyed velvet and linen, cotton batting, cotton thread, 2023.

4: Sunya Whitelight, Entelechy: Dream (Dandelion), Stained Wood, Brushed Metal, CNC Routed, 2023.

5: Sunya Whitelight, Direction (Poppy), Stained Wood, Brushed Metal, CNC Routed, 2023.

6: Sunya Whitelight, Destiny (Oak), Stained Wood, Brushed Metal, CNC Routed, 2023.

Colors and plants from the trail were prominently featured in the artworks of Anna Meier and Sunya Whitelight.

Anna Meier sewed a quilt with linen and velvet textiles which she dyed with her own natural dyes (made from Del Rio Trail plants and flowers). She also displayed a book which contained writing about her process and photographs of plants and fabric swatches that show the range of colors that can be extracted from the plants.

Sunya Whitelight displayed three sculptural mandalas with designs inspired by the nature on the trail.

1: Peter Foucault, Trail Tales Bike and Print Cart, Mixed Media interactive sculpture, 2023.

2 - 3: Peter Foucault, Trail Tails Screen Prints, Screen printed posters with community member input, 2023.

4 - 6: Jose Di Gregorio, Metempsychosis, Spray Paint and Carving on Found Wood, 2023

7 - 9: Heather Hogan, Del Rio Trail Geocache, Interactive installation, 2023.

Peter Foucault set up his portable printmaking trailer (attached to a vintage cherry red bicycle) at popular neighborhood businesses and gathering sites along the trail, from Land Park to Meadowview. At each site, he invited community members to hand write or draw responses to prompts about the Del Rio Trail on screen printed posters.

Jose Di Gregorio displayed three paintings he made on pieces of fence wood he found on the trail.

Heather Hogan gathered community member input to create a logo for the Del Rio Trail and badge designs for each neighborhood along the trail. She displayed two boxes filled with stickers, stamps of the badge designs, drawing materials, and paper. Exhibit guests were encouraged to take stickers or make their own handmade contributions to these boxes which she will she will hide and geocache on the Del Rio Trail.

1: BEFORE AND BEYOND Installation View, Twisted Track Gallery, 2023.

2 - 3: Roberta Alvarado, Installation including Ekam (One), N’zue (Water), Love, Weave, and Sol y Tierra, Photography, 2023.

4: Daniel Herrera, Del Rio Trail Landscape Series, Combination Lumen & Cyanotype, 2023.

5: Janine Mapurunga, Untitled Postcard Series, Photography, 2023

6: Janine Mapurunga, A Path for Reflection: Documenting the Del Rio Trail, Photography and Video, 2023.

7: Rosalva Willow, Sewing Circles, Cyanotype Collage, 2023.

Roberta Alvarado photographed individuals from various cultures who practice cultural dances, music, and rituals within Sacramento. Her photographs highlight common threads among the individuals.

Daniel Herrera created a series of lumen and cyanotype photographs of the Del Rio Trail made using actual plant material from the landscape.

Janine Mapurunga documented the current form of the trail in a self-reflective video and postcard series.

As a soundtrack to the exhibit, original songs inspired by the trail by Jillian Van Ness and Josiah Tayag Catalan played throughout the gallery.