Radio Bilingüe  -  For Immediate Release

Jan. 31, 2012

Latino MacArthur Fellows Convene in Fresno for Community Dialogues and Performances

Contact: Hugo Morales, Radio Bilingüe Executive Director, 415/412-9301

Latino recipients of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Fellowships will converge from throughout the U.S. in Fresno this week for a reunion including many free public presentations and discussions with the local community.  The gathering coincides with California State University, Fresno’s hosting of events this Friday featuring readings and discussions with renowned author and MacArthur Fellow Sandra Cisneros, author of “The House on Mango Street.”  Radio Bilingüe Executive Director Hugo Morales, recipient of a 1994 MacArthur Fellowship, is host of the local “MacArturos” reunion, which will also include a live community forum on the Latino Dropout Dilemma to be broadcast nationally by Radio Bilingüe and a performance by internationally acclaimed performance artist and MacArthur Fellow Guillermo Gomez-Peña.

Publicly known as the MacArthur “genius” awards, the MacArthur Fellowships are a program of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which awards the unrestricted grants to individuals deemed by the foundation to have shown “extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits.” The three criteria described by the foundation for selection of Fellows are “exceptional creativity, promise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishment, and potential for the fellowship to facilitate subsequent creative work.”

The Latino MacArthur Fellows’ peer group has met in several of the MacArturos’ home cities, in each case reaching out to and learning about the culture and concerns of the local community. Hugo Morales says, “I am thrilled that this amazingly accomplished, fascinating and caring group of Latino role models will visit our city, and I invite the community to come and engage in all of the open events we have planned.”

MacArturo Fellows confirmed to attend the reunion in Fresno include:

Amalia Mesa-Bains, artist
Pepon Osorio, artist
John Jesurun, playwright and director
Joan Abrahamson, community development leader
Baldemar Velasquez, farm worker organizer
Maria Varela (unconfirmed), community development leader
Rueben Martinez, promoter of bilingual literature
Camilo Vergara, photographer
Ruth Behar, cultural anthropologist

Carlos Bustamante, biophysicist

Guillermo Gomez-Peña, performance artist

Hugo Morales, public media leader

The following FREE public events are scheduled for the MacArturos:

Thursday, February 2, 2012

12 Noon: Live Broadcast on Radio Bilingüe – Linea Abierta national talk show will feature renowned author Sandra Cisneros and installation artist Pepon Osorio.

Ongoing through the reunion: Art Exhibit, “The Botanical Archive – 2011” by MacArthur Fellow Amalia Mesa-Baines, Arte Americas , 1630 Van Ness Ave., Fresno CA, 93721.

Friday, February 3, 2012

12 Noon: Live Broadcast on Radio Bilingüe - Linea Abierta national talk show will feature MacArturos Rueben Martinez of Los Angeles and Ruth Behar of Michigan, both cultural activists.

2 p.m. “Sandra Cisneros in Conversation,” California State University, Fresno, Music Building Concert Hall – Free and Open to the Public

7 p.m. “An Evening with Sandra Cisneros” California State University, Fresno, Satellite Student Union  – Free and Open to the Public, including books sales and signing.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

12:30 pm - Press conference with “Los MacArturos” at Chicano Youth Center, 1515 E Divisadero St, Fresno, CA 93721

2 – 5 pm - Live Línea Abierta Fresno Community Forum and National Broadcast

“Facing the Dropout Crisis” – The public is invited to this live roundtable forum featuring visiting MacArturos, the first hour in Spanish, the second in English and the third bilingual for questions and answers.  The panel will discuss the factors at the root of the Latino school dropout crisis and visions for change.  Chicano Youth Center, 1515 E Divisadero St, Fresno, CA 93721.  Free and Open to the Public.

7 pm - Guillermo Gomez-Peña's performance “Strange Democracy” described by the artist as “a solo performance reflecting on the post 9/11 era, the border wars and anti-immigration hysteria, pop culture and more!”  The Sanctuary Stage Theater, 2336 Calaveras Street at the corner of N street, downtown Fresno. Free and open to the public.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

11 am- 12 p.m. – Live interview with farmworkers’ rights activist and MacArthur fellow Baldemar Velasquez on Radio Bilingüe’s transnational program “La Hora Mixteca”.

The MacArturo reunion is being supported by a collaboration including Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indigena Oaxaque ño and The California Endowment - Building Healthy Communities in Southeast/Central/Southwest Fresno and Southwest Merced/East Merced County.

All broadcasts noted are available to all interested affiliate stations nationally via Satélite Radio Bilingüe and will air on stations including Radio Bilingüe ’s KSJV 91.5 FM Fresno, KMPO 88.7 FM Modesto-Stockton, KTQX 90.1 FM Bakersfield, KHDC 90.9 FM Salinas, KUBO 88.7 FM El Centro, KVUH 88.5 FM Mendocino, 94.5 FM Paso Robles and streamed live at radiobilingue.org.  Saturday’s live forum will also be simulcast by KIQI 1010 AM reaching San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Santa Rosa and Vallejo, KADT 990 AM reaching Sacramento, Yuba City, and Chico.

Radio Bilingüe is a national Latino-controlled non-commercial radio network and the prominent producer of Latino-oriented programming in public broadcasting.  Funds for Radio Biling ü e and Línea Abierta are provided in part by The Ford Foundation, The Open Society Foundations, The James Irvine Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, The California Endowment, the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, The California Wellness Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the U.S. Department of Commerce/California Emerging Technology Fund.

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