Welcome to Culture Connection

Grass Valley-Nevada City Cultural District's newsletter,
featuring the events, stories, and people of our community

• Photography: Maddie Nicolas, Desolation

• Three-Dimensional: Juliette Williams, Removal...Relocation. A Trail of Tears to a New Land, For Ida Mae, my Grandmother.

• Two-Dimensional: Terra Nyssa, New Beginnings Salmon Eggs

• Best of Theme: Jennifer Rugge, And Bear Will Lead Them

• Emerging Artist: Katelyn Burdette, Ripples of Joy

• Judge’s Award: Sarinah Simons, Inflammation

• Judge’s Award: Molly Jochem, Seljalenfoss, Iceland

• Judge’s Award: Allison Kalt, Resilience

Check out these winning pieces and more—the
Mobilize exhibition at the Granucci Gallery is
on display through March 15.

Sierra Poetry Festival turns 10! Join in the fun as SPF Fringe brings poetry into the galleries, wineries, and shops that make our community unique.

• UNESCO World Poetry Day | Saturday, March 21, 11:00am-4:00pm
  Wonder Docent, 230 Broad Street, Nevada City

• Five Nevada County Women Poets Read | Friday, March 27, 6:00pm
  Miners Foundry Cultural Center, 325 Spring Street, Nevada City

• 2nd Annual Nevada City Poetry Crawl | Saturday, March 28, 3:00-6:00pm
  Various ocations throughout Downtown Nevada City

• Paterson - A Fundraiser for SPF | Wednesday, April 1, 6:00pm
  The Onyx Downtown at the Nevada Theatre, 401 Broad Street, Nevada City

Get your tickets for Sierra Poetry Festival on
Saturday, April 18 at The Center for the Arts!

GVNC Cultural District: What is your medium?

Jori Jori: I am a multidisciplinary artist working visual fields of Mixed Media Soft Sculpture and Wearable Art. I am also a performer; working in Film and Theatre and am locally known for Stand Up Comedy.

As a note, I have changed my name recently from Jori Phillips to Jori Jori! Please bear with me during this transition, as some elements (my website and email,) still are under my old name!

GVNC: At what point in your life did you realize your calling?

Jori Jori: I am lucky enough to have been born and raised into an incredibly supportive community and family, so much so that I never really questioned that art and performance wouldn't always be central to my life.

Because of this, I have always known that art is my path, and have been allowed to grow and change and explore under that umbrella my whole life. From circus arts to ceramics to the written word to modeling to film to fashion to sculpture. And on and on and on. I look forward to where the journey will take me next.

GVNC: Tell us about your creative process.

Jori Jori: In the realm of sculpture and visual art, I am very much in the camp of needing to see an object in real life, to begin to imagine the path it will take. I need to hold it in my hand, to touch it and handle it. It gets a little complicated when I'm dreaming the piece, and it doesn't exist yet to hold, so I focus on finding all the little pieces that I will need.

I spend a lot of time in thirft stores, antique shops, your grandmothers button bin, and in nature. I look for objects both natural and man made that have a story in them, and I scoop them up to take home to my studio. I collect multiples and multitudes and I dream in texture and object. When I finally meet a character in my mind who needs to come alive, I think on their story, I build their world, and I run through the faces and pieces and textures and multitudes in my internal catalogue until I know how they will be made.

Then I start the process of building the piece. And every single time it grows and changes as I build. I just have to get out of the way and let it happen.

There is a special meditative space that really comes alive with hand sewing and fabricating, when you do the same action for hundreds of hours a piece of you really goes into what you make, and I love that slow process.

Now I find myself lucky beyond words to be counted as a local by so many. I am known around town, I am cared for, cheerleaded and supported. I feel welcomed and invited by this incredible community, and because of this, I am beginning to finally find my footing as a career artist. I couldn't do any of this without you all, and I am proud to have found a place here. It is a very scary thing to pack your entire life and move to another country. I am proud that I did it. I am proud of what I have made of myself here.

GVNC: What do you love best about our creative community?

Jori Jori: The number of artists is insane! There is always something happening. No matter what you feel like doing, be it performance; poetry, music, theatre, film, stand up comedy, burlesque, drag, radio, or visual arts; ceramics, textile, mixed media, painting, taxidermy, welders, jewelers, photographers, filmmakers, stylists, costumers, set designers and everything in between

You name it, we've got it! I just love that at any point you can meet a person you have never met before, doing an art you have never heard of, and that they will be excited and willing to invite you into their studio and show you around. There is so much joy in creating here, and I'm happy to be a part of it.

GVNC: Name two Nevada County Artists you admire and why.

Jori Jori: Its hard to pick just two; zsa'lai (shey/shem): One of the truest creative voices we have in this town, I am lucky enough to call shem a creative collaborator and friend. zsa'lai is the embodiment of an artist living in their work, and I am constantly reminded to show up authentically and truthfully, following the example shey sets for us all. I am huge fan of zsa'lai's vocal poetic style, writing and vision in film as a medium. I am never disappointed with anything shey put forth creatively. See what zsa'lai is up to on IG: @zsally_llama

Camen Hodges (he/him): (Spoken as a collaborator and not as a spouse,) Camen is an incredibly creative filmmaker, the one who will always say yes to your wildest schemes, and figure out how to make them happen. He's an old standby in the local film community, and has worked for years on freelance adventures, in documentary and narrative film, both short and long form.

His movement on screen as a Director of Photography is fluid and speaks to his background in theatre production and design, and his voice as a director is clear and strong. I admire his commitment to living an artistic life, and hold him as an example of sticking with your art. Camen works full time as a Producer and Camera Operator at Core Memory, check them out on youtube: @CoreMemoryVideos

GVNC: Tell us about what’s coming up for you.

Jori Jori: Aside from my wonderful upcoming show at Crush, I have had the absolute honour of being selected as Blue Line Arts SCG 2026 Local artist in residence.

From April 10- May 1st, I will be in residence at the gallery in Roseville, and during that time will teach two different workshops, and deliver an artists talk! I am super excited for this opportunity, and hope to see some of you come out for the events!

More info on those workshops, and the residency can be found here: https://www.bluelinearts.org/scg-local-2026

Aside from that, I have pieces in on display at four different galleries in the next couple months! Locally I have three pieces in the 2026 Wild & Scenic art shows, both at the Rood Center and Center for the Arts, (until March/May). Nationally I will have pieces on display in Galleries in both Chicago (Woman Made Gallery, for their international open call juried show,) in March, and Texas (at Giant Runt Gallery,) in late March through April.

I have no immediate plans for stage or theatrical performance, but as this year is shaping up to be busy for me across all forms of art, the best place to keep in touch and see whats coming up next is my instagram!

Visit my website JORI, follow me on Instagram @jori.by.jori, or send me an email joriphillips@gmail.com

Camen and Jori the Wedding the Show the Exhibition

The Vault Gallery at Crush

211 Broad St, Nevada City, CA 95959

Opening Reception | Friday, March 6, 5:00 - 8:00pm.

This exhibition will showcase a display of the handmade costumes, capes and headwear created for the marriage of the two artists Jori Jori and Camen Hodges, in August of 2025. These pieces were designed by Jori Jori, and created by the artist and many hands in the community.

A selection of framed photos and other media will bring the viewer into the magic of the ceremony, and invite the audience to sit with the idea of reinventing marriage in a modern world. Exploring the ideas of tradition, ritual and costume, what that means to us as a culture, and what that can mean to us individually.

This Exhibition will run from March 6 - 29, with the gallery hours being Friday - Monday 11:00am - 6:00pm