February is Black History Month!

According to the Truckee-Donner Historical Society (TDHS), the first Black resident of what became known as the “Truckee area” appears in the US Civil War Draft of 1863. Johnathan Ackwood of Truckee (Donner) Lake enlisted at the age of 29.

Names such as these, compiled by TDHS historian Chaun L. Mortier in a document entitled, “African-American Demographics,” read like a casting call for an original Netflix series on Negro Trailblazers of California: Anna Wolfe, owner of a boarding house on River Street, her husband a French Canadian shoemaker named John; and one of their lodgers, a seemingly solo 12-year-old named Josephine; and another hotel owner living on Donner Lake named Albert Johnson.

Pictured here is Johnson’s Donner Hotel and Saloon circa 1911. Could he be sitting in one of the boats in the upper right corner of the photograph? Local author Mark McLaughlin writes for Tahoe Weekly of a former night watchman for the Truckee Lumber Company, who described Albert Johnson as “more than six feet in height, straight as an arrow, and with a broad, square shoulders. . . .a perfect specimen of physical manhood.” Multiple historical records mention Johnson’s beaming smile.

Johnson lived in Truckee for over forty years, thirty-five of them running the hotel—renting cabins, cooking for guests, fishing with visitors, and reading the clouds from his “mansion in the sky.”

TAA invites you to take a look at TDHS’s compilation here, then select a name and profile that intrigues you. Imagine this person in our Town and what they saw, how they spoke, who they loved. Then write a letter from this person to a recipient in their home state. How would they describe then what we now know as the Truckee Cultural District?

This February 2023, we wish to honor creatives such as Albert Johnson on TAA’s Instagram account for Black History Month. Share the names of your favorite Black artists and art advocates with us in the comments—because Black art history is American art history. —The Truckee Arts Alliance

{Photo of Donner Hotel and Saloon courtesy of the Truckee-Donner Historical Society}

SAVE THE DATE

“Field Notes”—a Nomadic Exhibition
by Melhop Gallery º7077
Truckee-Donner Recreation Center
March 2023

FIRST FRIDAYS

Art Walk in Downtown Truckee

As Pantone says: “Welcome to the Magentaverse!” February is a great month to “vibrate with vim and vigor” due to Black History Month, Valentine’s Day, and the Chinese Lunar New Year’s closing celebrations. Each year, the color prognosticator firm that surveys fashion and design as well as utilizing A.I. to forecast colors of the coming year. Meet Pantone shade 18-1750.

In honor of the Pantone Color Institute’s Color of the Year for 2023, Piper J Gallery hosts a First Friday event and Opening Reception for eight local artists whose botanicals, still lifes, portraits, landscapes, abstracts, and non-objective art feature, in Piper’s words, “fresh, bold color.”

Friday, February 3, from 4:00–7:00pm
Piper J Gallery
10153 W. River St., Truckee Cultural District

TRUCKEE THURSDAYS

Summer Festival, Year-Round Lifestyle

Back in 2023 for another eight Thursdays is Truckee’s biggest street fest: Truckee Thursdays! Want to apply as a vendor for a Truckee Thursday event? Applications go live on March 1st, while food applications open on the 31st. In the meantime, make plans to book FREE transit with TART Connect for (at least) these dates:

June 22–August 10, 2023
Truckee Downtown Merchants Association
info@truckeethursdays.com

NEXT THURSDAY: FEB. 9

The Gr8 Vibe at Truckee RMU!

If you live and work downtown, you know that on Thursday nights, Downtown Truckee has a weekend-eve spark. Musician, Dj, Emcee, Dancer and all-around music lover known as Gr8 will locals and visitors pump up the TGIF.

Gr8 has traveled the globe on festival stages and now resides at the Truckee Artist Lofts, from where he creates an array of multimedia art. Among the things he has learned from his six years on the road: “Music makes the world Gr8.”

On his Instagram account, he posts:" “What’s good Truckee! I’ve been up here chillin for a while; time to get active. On Thursday, Feb. 9th at 8 p.m., I’ll be on the turntables dropping Throwbacks and 90’s Vibes!

“Thank you 🙏 @rmutruckee for giving me and a host of other artists a place to spin, play, and share their crafts! Look ‘em up—they got a great lineup all month!”

Thursday, February 9, from 8:00 p.m.
RMU Truckee
10292 Donner Pass Road, Truckee Cultural District

CULTURAL ASSET MAP OF NEVADA COUNTY

A Tale of Two Cultural Districts

These last three years have changed the landscape of our Truckee Cultural District. Ahead of the “The WPA & the California Creative Corps” event, we at TAA see a need to survey our Town again in synchronicity with our sister Cultural District in Grass Valley-Nevada City.

With our February 2023 issue, TAA has created a spreadsheet with which to track locations for future Asset Map updates here, hoping to raise grant funds for a larger mapping and cataloging project in the Truckee Cultural District. (Stay tuned.)

Our second entry is a newcomer to the Cultural Assets Map: Sierra College at Tahoe-Truckee, a site of next week’s Sierra Writers Conference.

The Sierra College, Tahoe-Truckee Campus (TTC) officially opened in 2008, making it the fourth center in the Sierra Joint Community College District after Rocklin, Nevada County (Grass Valley), and Roseville. Dr. Kim Bateman is the Executive Dean of Sierra College, Tahoe-Truckee. Kim is a storyteller, Psychology Professor, and an award winning author. Her research interests include bereavement, humor, and the effects of technology on relationships. Her book called Crossing the Owl’s Bridge: A Guide for Grieving People Who Still Love (Chiron Publications, 2016) won a New Generation Indie book award for nonfiction.

P.A.C.T.

Public Art in the Town of Truckee

In honor of the work of the Public Art Commission of Truckee (PACT), we share a slide from the commission's hundred-page inventory of Truckee Public Art.

Seeking to add another work of public art to the Town's Public Art Inventory? Send your pictures to Patricia@PKayeCreative.com. Once approved by PACT, TAA will post it to your credit in our next newsletter.

~ Thank you for reading ~

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