New Initiative Spotlight: MarinCity80 Exhibition, Book, and Presentation
We were honored to contribute to Felecia Gaston’s (Performing Stars of Marin) exhibit and book celebrating of Marin City’s 80th anniversary! With Dominican University Library as the only official archival support and partner, Ms. Gaston also launched The Marin City Historical & Preservation Society, with the goal to restore the historic Rosa House in Marin City to store the precious collections of the Marin City History Archive.
The MarinCity80 Exhibit: In celebration of the 80th anniversary of the founding of Marin City, Performing Stars showcased photographs and materials in its Marin City Historical Archive in its “The Legacy of Marin City, A California Story, from 1942 to 1962” exhibition in Marin County Civic Center, from August 20, 2022 to November 1, 2022. Dominican interns and service-learning students have been supporting the Marin City History Archive since 2018. In the Spring 2022 semester, Dominican archivist Louis Knecht and interns Suz Blunk and Cece Trifoso worked closely with Performing Stars director Felecia Gaston in organizing and sourcing the historical photos and artifacts.
Prof. Lynn Sondag and her Spring 2022 ART3119 Art Fundamentals class also participated in the exhibit through the co-creation of “tunnel books” with Bayside/MLK Academy students based on stories from the Performing Stars archive. Watch the video that documents the creative process and the presentations of the finished tunnel books:
Over the summer of 2022, Prof. Sondag and Honors Program interns Jasmyn Jensen, Patricia Pieg, Hanah Belle Pontillas, and Jacqueline Valdepenas also assisted in the preparation for the Marin City Journey Room, part of the exhibit at the Bartolini Gallery of Marin County Civic Center.
Visit the MarinCity80 website for more information on the exhibit.
Book Publication: After the very popular exhibit ended, Felecia Gaston immediately embarked on the next project: a printed book of the history of Marin City. Archivist Louis Knecht and Service-Learning interns Suz Blunk and Cece Trifoso continued to be the main research support for the book project. In addition, Dominican faculty Julia van der Ryn and Dr. Emily Wu, as well as service-learners Anna Ranario, Nicole White, and Ella Can also volunteered their time to contributed to the book project. A Brand New Start…This is Home: The Story of World War II Marinship and the Legacy of Marin City was successfully published in early 2023!
Presentation at Annual Conference of Society of California Archivists: On April 7, 2023, Dominican library archivist Louis Knecht, interns Suz Blunk & Cece Trifoso, Dr. Emily Wu, and Felecia Gaston and Jeanette Egenlauf from Performing Stars shared the community-centered model of archiving that addresses the historical power imbalances between university archives and the communities in a presentation titled: “Celebrating 80 years of Marin City: Resistance of Historical Erasure and the Archival Collaboration between Performing Stars of Marin and Dominican University of California”
