UC Merced Arts Opens Season with LitFest, Musical Tribute to Railroads

A celebration of stories and a concert highlighting the history of San Joaquin Valley's railroads are the opening acts of the 2024-25 UC Merced Arts season .

Merced LitFest and Train Station Trios reflect the season's varied offerings. Gallery exhibitions, concerts, theater performances and a film festival are scheduled on and off campus through May 2025. The creators and their work provide a multilayered experience of the Valley's people, culture and landscape.

"Our 2024-25 UC Merced Arts season offers something for everyone. We're thrilled to be showcasing the incredible work of our students, staff and faculty in the arts," said Collin Lewis, the university's executive director for the arts. "These first two programs are especially exciting as they highlight the past, present and future of literary and musical work here in the Central Valley."

Leading off:

Merced LitFest: We Are California

On Saturday, Sept. 14, downtown Merced will host the first-time event for book fans of all ages. Sponsored by UC Merced's Center for the Humanities, Merced LitFest begins at 1 p.m. with local writer and poet readings at Sensory Lab by ASIP, Tioga-Sequoia Taproom, Second Time Around bookstore and Hi-Fi Wine.

At 7 p.m., author Dorothy Allison will give the day's keynote reading at the Multicultural Arts Center. Her signature work, the semi-autobiographical "Bastard Out of Carolina," examines mother-child relationships and the states of class and sexuality in the American South.

"As someone who grew up in Merced and who believes in and is excited about our growing downtown scene, being able to hold this event is a dream," said Samantha Tetangco Ocena, a teaching professor of writing studies and co-organizer of LitFest with Brigitte Bowers, a lecturer in the Merritt Writing Program. "It brings together two things I love: the literary community and my hometown of Merced."

Mark down Friday, Sept. 27, to attend the culmination of a unique crossover of history and musical traditions. A trio of musicians from the famed Silkroad Ensemble will perform works inspired by stories from the Valley's deep history of rail transportation.

Over two days before the concert at the Art Kamangar Center at the Merced Theatre, the musicians will huddle with Professor David Rouff, the UC Merced Grey Roberts and Bette Woolstenhulme Presidential Chair in History, and Merced County Courthouse Museum historian Sarah Lim - to learn about the immigrant laborers who laid the tracks and the communities that grew around the rails.

There will be two free public discussions between the artists and historians:

• 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 26, in Room 306 of UC Merced's Ruiz Administration Center

• 4:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27, at the Art Kamangar Center, before that evening's concert.

There is no admission charge for the Sept. 27 performance but reservations are required.

The project, called American Railroad , revives the often-forgotten voices of immigrant and indigenous laborers who put down the Union Pacific tracks in California, helping complete the Transcontinental Railroad. Trios travel across the nation to communities where they learn about local rail stories then hold a concert featuring music inspired by those stories.

Lewis said the seed for the Train Station Trios visit was planted in 2022, when UC Merced lecturer Tommy Tran raised the idea of bringing Silkroad to the Valley.

"Through a long-term collaboration between UC Merced Arts, the Department of History and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, and the Merced Symphony, we're thrilled to have these world-class musicians come and dive into the rich histories of our communities with us," Lewis said.

In addition to the symphony and the Department of History and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, lead sponsors of the Merced American Railroad project include Amtrak San Joaquins and the Community Foundation of Merced County.

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