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8/14/2019 Los Gatos Weekly Times: Art Goes On the Road, Thanks to Montalvo
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8/14/2019 Los Gatos Weekly Times: Art Goes On the Road, Thanks to Montalvo
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CovnRrNc rHE ARTSAND LocAL FEATURES
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the peop le won ' t go to theAr ts Center . thenwi l l b r ing ar t to theto be known asmore than just "thehill," Montalvo hasout to the commu-let residents know that thewants to be a part ofth e nonprofit hasis to hang works linked to aat the arts center atgathering spots, suchJoan Pisani Communityin Saratoga and the LosLibrary.first artist to participate inis Hirokazu Kosaka,"Ruin Map" began showing19 at the arts center aspartnonprofit's'AGENCY TheArtists" program.current visual artsthe JapaneseAmericanCommunity Center in Losan ordained Bud-priest. After completing a1,000-mi1eZen pilgrtnage
88 Temples" in1973,returned to Los Angeles,h9 began creatirig large-works of art with undertoneshis Buddhist teachings."Ruin Map," Kosaka wentto a project he learned as ain Japan.The studentsto go home and askgrandparents to draw map ofThe.idea was tohow the towns had changedcompared to how thethem.,his project, Kosaka
those 65 and older inand asked that theyfrom memory, their child-hometowns.The artist thenback to hisstudio an d trans-gaddtlqaEqfitbeada*irrgs
t goes on the road, thanks to Montalvo
A piece of living art, created by Hirokazu Kosaka, is on display at the Joan Pisani Community Center inSaiatoga. Nina Walker, the facilities coordinator for the Saratoga Recreation Department, flips throughthe pages of the work on loan from Montalvo. The arts center also has pieces hanging at the Los GatosPublic Library.into traditional woodblock printsthat were then transferred ontohandmade rice p ap er, and finallybound together as aige books.Those books are now on displayat the community center andlibrary, where people can touchand in teract w j th them. L indseyWylie, manager of artistic pro-grams at Montalvo,said the hope isthat these displays will lead peopleback to t he arts center.
"How often can you go to amuseum or arts center and touch ap iece of a r twork?" she sa id . Notoften."That's exactlv what has Nina6'Walkb.+,he faciiities coordi nator
fo r the Saratoga RecreationDepar tment so exc i ted ."When I'm sitting in my office,people come by all the time to takea look at it." s he said. This one is aparticularly neat one because t's aninteractive piece. Soyou're meant toflip itout andlook atit andtouchit."Walker said she was approachedbyWylie and jumped at the idea ofputting up Kosaka's piece in thecommunity center. Walker likedthe idea enough to ask Wylie ifMontalvo would be interested in arotating art exhibit at the commu-nity center,where artwork wouldbe changed out on a monthlybasis.' ;"The vbry nature of the commu-'
nity center is to build community,and maybe people will.come hereto register for a yoga class,"Walkersaid, bu t also or the expresspur-pose oflooking at the piece of art."The community center is aplace where people gather, andthis just adds another dimensionas to why.people would comehere."Montalvo Arts Center is locatedat 15400 Montalvo Road, Sarato-
ga; the Joan Pisani ComitunityCenter at 19655 Allendale Ave.,Saratoga; itnd the Los Gatos Pub-lic Library at 110 E. Main St., osGatos.
Photograph by George Sakkestad
JUNE 23,2009 LOS,GATOS WEEKLY-TIMES 33
