A Newer, Truer Vision of Local History at San Diego International Film Festival

By Lonnie Burstein Hewitt 

Poster for People of the West Series (Courtesy Pechanga Studios)

This is the 25th anniversary of the San Diego International Film Festival and Tonya Mantooth, a producer of many award-winning films, has been its CEO/ Artistic Director since 2012. This year, there were 3,500 submissions from 85 different countries, and she said what joy it gives her to be able to see all these films, have a chance to actually look at how other people think and live, and get to embrace the film-makers too. 

“Showing the kinds of films we do is about bridging the divides between us, coming to realize our shared humanity," she said, when I had the opportunity to chat with her recently. “There’s such power in allowing ourselves to fully experience a film, feel what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes. You  walk out of the theater differently, with a strong sense of empathy.”

One of the 90 films screening this year is People of the West,  Part 1 of a 10-part docu-drama that presents California history from the point of view of the indigenous people who were here for centuries before the Spanish came and whose cultures and communities are still very much alive today.

Brad Munoa, Creator and Executive Producer of People of the West,  grew up on the Pechanga Indian Reservation in Temecula, studied film production at USC, and has created several documentaries about his people since then. He  considers film the most effective medium for communicating ideas and preserving culture and says People of the West is the series he wishes his children could have seen when they were young.

 

First Contact, 1542: People of the West Part 1.
(Courtesy Pechanga Studios)

The film premiering here is only an hour long but I was able to see it beforehand and it certainly offers a lot to think about in that space of time. 

Afterwards, I spoke with Brad Munoa, who told me the idea for the series came to him in 2020, and started with about 20 people, all devoted to getting the untold history of California more widely known. Since then, over 700 people have been involved, and he himself has learned more about the vast diversity of the tribal nations in California and the strengths and interactions of their ancient cultures.

He mentioned an old African proverb: “Until the lion learns to write, all the stories will glorify the hunter.” But he is hopeful that the visual stories of People of the West will invite viewers to reject the old versions of local history, begin to realize the interconnectedness of our original indigenous people, and envision the possibility of creating a brighter and friendlier future by reaching out to each other.

If you’re interested in screening the films of People of the West for your local community or organization, contact info@peopleofthewest.org

But it’s Festival time October 13-18, so you can see the San Diego premiere of Part 1 on either of two dates remarkably close to October 12, when what used to be known as Columbus Day is now recognized in California and many other states as Indigenous Peoples Day. 

The screenings take place in La Jolla, on Friday, October 16, at 6 p.m. and Sunday, October 18, at 11:30 a.m., and you can order your tickets right here.

Whatever you choose, enjoy the Film Festival! It’s a fine time for coming together!

San Diego International Film Festival 
Oct 13 - 18, 2026
Tickets

Night of the Stars, Tues, Oct 13, The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center
Red Carpet & Pre-Reception: 5:30 PM, Awards Show: 7 PM

Opening Night: Wed, Oct 14, THE LOT, La Jolla, CA
Pre-Party: 5:30 PM,  Film Premier The Debut: 7 PM

25 Years After Dark Sat, Oct 17, 8 PM, The Belly Up Tavern, Solana Beach

People of the West
Fri, Oct 16, at 6 PM and Sun Oct18, at 11:30 AM The Lot, La Jolla

Lonnie Burstein Hewitt is an award-winning author/lyricist/playwright who has been writing about arts and lifestyles in San Diego for over a dozen years. You can reach her at hew2@sbcglobal.net

 

HWY 62 Open Studio Tours - Over 140 artists, the largest in Southern California

 by Catherine Ruane

Artist and resident of Morongo Valley, Participant in the Highway 62 Studio Tour 

HWY 62 Open Studio Tours near Joshua Tree is in its 25th year
and is now Southern California's largest  open studio event

There is something very different about inviting people into the place where your art is actually made.

That is one of the things I value most about being part of the Hwy 62 Open Studio Art Tours. For a few weekends each fall, I open my studio along with artists throughout the Morongo Basin and welcome visitors into the spaces where we spend the rest of the year working, experimenting, changing our minds and occasionally staring at something for far too long.

Catherine Ruane in her studio

This year marks the Tour’s 25th anniversary, and for anyone coming from San Diego, I can say from experience: the drive is worth it.

I know because I used to live there.

I graduated from San Diego State University, later studied at Otis and in Florence, and eventually returned to San Diego to live and teach art. Over time, though, I found myself wanting something that was getting harder to find there: space.

So I left North County for the high desert near Joshua Tree National Park, where I was able to build a thousand-square-foot studio and begin a very different kind of life.

The desert has changed the way I work because it changed the way I look.

Catherine Ruane

Drawing and painting require observation, and out here there is always something demanding your attention: light moving across the rocks, the strange silhouettes of Joshua trees, an enormous night sky, a cactus blossom opening after dark.

Catherine Ruane

One of my favorite ways to begin the day is with an early hike in Joshua Tree National Park, especially in winter. Afterward, I’ll stop at Luna Bakery in Yucca Valley for coffee and a handmade pastry, sit outside for a few minutes and usually end up talking with someone I know before heading back to the studio.

That sense of community is one of the things I didn’t fully understand until I lived here.

The Morongo Basin attracts painters, sculptors, musicians, writers, designers and people who simply wanted to make a different kind of life. The Open Studio Art Tours are one of the few times each year when visitors get to experience that community from the inside.

You aren’t just seeing finished work hanging in a gallery. You’re walking into the places where it was conceived and made.

As an artist, opening my studio creates a completely different relationship with visitors. People ask questions. They see works in progress. They understand scale and process differently when they are standing in the same room where the work actually happens.

And, yes, the Tour introduces my work to people who might not otherwise encounter it, which matters to any working artist. But I also value the conversations. Studio life can be solitary. During the Tour, the doors are open.

If friends were coming from San Diego for the weekend, however, I would never tell them to spend every minute racing from studio to studio.

The desert rewards people who leave a little room in the schedule.

I’d send them into Joshua Tree National Park early, before the day gets busy. The surreal rock formations and thousands of Joshua trees are still the landscape that moves me most. And I would make sure they were outside after dark. Once you see the desert beneath a truly dark sky, you understand how much we normally miss.

For somewhere to stay, I love the 29 Palms Inn. Its cottages have a sense of place, there is good food and live music, and many of the musicians are part of the same creative community you encounter throughout the weekend. For friends who want to stay closer to Pioneertown, I’d steer them toward one of the smaller local lodgings or rentals there rather than anything that feels disconnected from the landscape.

Food is another part of the experience, and I’d narrow my list to three.

La Copine is one of my favorites because a sophisticated, French-inspired meal in the Mojave is exactly the kind of surprise that makes this area interesting.

Pappy & Harriet’s in Pioneertown is almost the opposite experience: casual, lively, filled with music and a mix of locals and visitors. It feels very much like the high desert community itself.

And on the way back toward Interstate 10, I’d stop at Spaghetti Western in Morongo Valley. It is run by a young Italian husband-and-wife team, with a wonderful family connection to the worlds of Ennio Morricone and Sergio Leone. Even the story behind the restaurant feels as though it belongs out here.

These aren’t simply places I recommend to tourists. They are part of my actual life.

That is what I hope people take away from the Open Studio Art Tours as well.

Come to see the art, certainly. But also notice the landscape surrounding the studios, the small businesses, the musicians playing at dinner, the people you meet along the way and the luxury of having enough space to actually look at things.

That is what drew me here.

The desert gave me room for a studio, but it also gave me a different rhythm of life and a different way of seeing.

For a few weekends each October, I get to open the door and share some of that with everyone else.

Hwy 62 Open Studio Art Tours
Oct. 3/4, 10/11, & 17/18.
HOURS: 10am-5pm
Start your art journey with the map, app and catalog.
Sponsored by The Morongo Basin Cultural Arts Council, a nonprofit organization with a 501(c)(3) status.

San Diego Visual Arts Network presents SD Art Prize 2026 Soft Power: On Color, Time, and Resistance

 by Patricia Frischer

Lara Bullock, Ph.D introduces the exhibition to the docents of OMA

San Diego Visual Arts Network was created to encourage artists to connect, create, and shine. At the heart of our work is the belief that art has the power to quiet personal worries, change how we see the world, and bring people together.

The San Diego Art Prize  is one of SDVAN’s signature initiatives. It recognizes the excellence of visual artists in our region and helps bring their work to a wider audience. Since its beginning, the Art Prize has celebrated artists who are shaping the future of San Diego’s creative community.

The Art Prize is not something artists simply “win.” It is a recognition of a sustained career in the arts, ideally awarded when an artist is at the top of their game. Selectors consider work created within the previous three years. Our long-term goal is to continue expanding the Prize so that, over time, we can recognize the many outstanding artists who contribute to San Diego’s cultural life.

The San Diego Art Prize turns local talent into lasting impact.

2026 San Diego Art Prize

This year’s exhibition, Soft Power: On Color, Time, and Resistance with artists Danielle Dean, Ingrid Hernández, Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio, Together, these artists represent the diverse and innovative practices that are defining San Diego art today. Together, these artists represent the diverse and innovative practices that are defining San Diego art today. The show is curated by Lara Bullock, Ph.D.

This year’s recipients bring a particularly meaningful dimension to the Art Prize. For the first time, all three are women with young children—an extraordinary reminder of the many demands artists balance while creating exceptional work. Each artist has a distinctive voice and practice, and bringing them together creates both an opportunity and a challenge. Our curator has approached that challenge with intelligence and care.

Presenting the Art Prize at the Oceanside Museum of Art has also allowed us to reach and engage new and more diverse audiences. We believe that San Diego is one creative community—connected by bold art, big ideas, and a shared commitment to creativity.

The 2026 Art Prize presentation will include a panel discussion, giving audiences an opportunity to hear directly from the artists about their work and creative practices. We have also developed educational lesson plans, created by Brenda Andrews, for use at the museum and online.

A catalog designed by Mark Murphy of Murphy Designs will be available in both print and digital formats, with the online version connecting readers to video content and additional resources. Our thanks to our SD Art Prize administrator Andrea Rodriguez Chamberlin.  

Above all, we believe that art connects us. SDVAN is proud to help make those connections happen—between artists and audiences, ideas and communities, and San Diego and the wider art world.

That is our legacy.

Danielle A. Dean - clip from film White

Danielle A. Dean uses resources like archives, videos, performances, community projects, sculptures, and drawings to explore how ideas and images get repeated and recycled in ways that help keep global capitalism going. She works with different types of media and often involves other people in her projects to take a closer look at the cracks and problems in this system that seems like it’s stuck in a loop. In this video work she takes her inspiration from a British industry campaign that features cows as one of economic drivers post WWII. In this work, an imaged scene is drenched in white over a period of time. The white is symbolic of not only milk but the whiteness of the power in the world.  Dean received an MFA from California Institute of the Arts and is an alumna of the Whitney Independent Study Program. Danielle Dean is currently an associate professor or art at UCSD. 

Danielle A. Dean - clip from film White

Danielle A. Dean - clip from film White

Danielle A. Dean - clip from film White

Actual vintage promotion card for British Industries

Danielle A. Dean - clip from film White

Ingrid Hernández, from Tijuana, Mexico, explores how cities change by looking at how people relate to their homes. With a background in both sociology and visual art, she focuses on communities built by migrants, deportees, and people who’ve been displaced, especially near the US-Mexico border. She often depicts discarded materials from the U.S. and local Mexican maquiladoras in her work. Her projects usually involve long-term collaborations, including interviews, photography, and exploring shared memories. Ingrid Hernández is co-founder of Relaciones Inesperadas, a teaching space for the development of contemporary artistic practices and the fostering of critical dialogue in the arts established in Tijuana.

Ingrid Hernández

Ingrid Hernández

Ingrid Hernández

Ingrid Hernández

Ingrid Hernández

Ingrid Hernández

Ingrid Hernández

Ingrid Hernández

Ingrid Hernández

Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio explores the world on a most personal scale. She confronts how caregiving for loved ones can displace time and reshape perception. The work is quiet, contemplative with an understanding of cosmic astrophysics. She is creating architecture on an atmospheric, emotional level with installations of drawing and painting that gives us a glimpse of an always changing universe of challenges. She received her MFA from the New York Academy of Art and BA in art history and visual arts at the University of San Diego. Ortiz-Rubio currently teaches drawing and painting at University of San Diego.

Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio

Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio

Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio

Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio

Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio

Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio

Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio

Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio

Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio

Lara Bullock, Ph.D  with OMA docents

Brenda Andrews, creator of the SD Art Prize lesson plans demonstrating Head in the Clouds Brain Storm  part of the WALK WITH ARTIST’S EYES Initiative

San Diego Visual Arts Network presents SD Art Prize 2026
Soft Power: On Color, Time, and Resistance: Danielle Dean, Ingrid Hernández, Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio. 
Curated by Lara Bullock, Ph.D.
Opening reception: Sat. Sept 19 from 5 to 7 pm Buy tickets here.

Soft Power in Practice: A Conversation with the 2026 San Diego Art Prize Recipients is on Sun Sept 27th from 2 to 4 pm, Buy tickes here.
This panel will be moderated by Lara Bullock, Ph.D and each artist will be introduced by the champion of their work:
For Tatiana Ortiz Rubio:  Jim Brown, Public Architecture and  Isabel Dutra
For Ingrid Hernández: Amy-Sanchez Artega, artist, (Cog•nate Collective, previous SD Art Prize recipient in 2022)  and educator (SDSU)
For Danielle Dean: Christine E. Jones, Manager of Art, Film and Creative Industries, Office of Economic Development and Government Affairs

Oceanside Museum of Art
On view until Feb 7 2027
704 Pier View Way, Oceanside, CA 92054 (760) 435-3720
Hours: Wednesday to  Sunday 11 to 5. Extended Hours on First Fridays 11 to 8
OMA Museum is open FREE on First Fridays 5 - 8 and First Sundays 11 - 5 of every month.

Changing Terrain: Regional Artists Interpret Our Landscape at the Oceanside Museum of Art

by Patricia Frischer

Kevin Perrault (detail)

Changing Terrain: Regional Artists Interpret Our Landscape is an unusual combination of invited artists, a number of artists from the previous 2013 exhibition Nature Improved: San Diego Artists Interpret Our Landscape and an open call for artists. The Curatorial Advisory Committee was Johnny Bear Contreras (sculptor and Kumeyaay public artist), Gabriel Boils Teran (visual artist and cultural agent), Katie Dolgov (Director of Exhibitions and Collections at Oceanside Museum of Art- OMA), and Tina Zarpour (Vice President of Community Engagement, Education & Collections at San Diego History Center SDHC). It is also unusual as it is a joint exhibition shown at the same time at OMA and SDHC. OMA has 2 venues for this show, the main galleries at Pier View Way and also OMA West at the Seabird.

There are  58 artists included at OMA, all are contemporary and all are from Southern California and Baja. This makes for a very large ranges of mediums and styles. Shown here are just a very few but they cover subjects such as a women’s role in society, plastic waste in the oceans, man’s relationship to nature,  climate change, wild fires and a pleathera of environmental issues. However, you can just enjoy the works for the way they look.

Kevin Perrault

Omar Campos

Jeanne Dunne

Wick Alexander

Judi Pettite

Irene Abraham

 

Emberly Modine

We happily report that Kevin Inman, Gail Roberts, Irma Sophia Poeter who have works in this show are past San Diego Art Prize recipients and you can see the 2026 SD Art Prize recipients in the large upstairs gallery: SD Art Prize 2026 Soft Power: On Color, Time, and Resistance: Danielle Dean, Ingrid Hernández, Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio. They share an Opening reception: Sat. Sept 19 from 5 to 7 pm Buy tickets here. PLUS: Soft Power in Practice: A Conversation with the 2026 San Diego Art Prize Recipients is on Sun Sept 27th from 2 to 4 pm, Buy tickets here.

Changing Terrain: Regional Artists Interpret Our Landscape
Oceanside Museum of Art and concurrently at San Diego History Center (SDHC) and
August 22–January 17, 2027
704 Pier View Way, Oceanside, CA 92054 (760) 435-3720
Hours: Wednesday to  Sunday 11 to 5. Extended Hours on First Fridays 11 to 8
OMA Museum is open FREE on First Fridays 5 - 8 and First Sundays 11 - 5 of every month.

Future Flowers: Memory, Meaning, Mischief - Thao Huynh French at Mesa College Art Gallery

 by Patricia Frischer

Sailor Sisters

This exhibition with its vivid red colors puts us in mind of the movie The Women which features an ending scene with our heroine deciding to win her husband back from a hussy by painting her fingernails Jungle Red. Thao Huynh French has been on a journey of survival from Viet Nam, with a stop in a Philippian refugee camp to her life in San Diego. Along the way her mother painted many nails as a manicurist to support the family.

For French, flowers are a symbol of resilience and transformation and we see them in all their red glory. In Asia, red symbolizes good  luck and prosperity. It is believed to attract wealth, success, and positive energy and is a celebration of joy But it also wards off evil. Red is a life force.

This is French’s very first exhibition but with her husband, she has painted over 400 murals including the recently commissioned ones for San Diego Mesa College. Mindful Murals is aptly named as there is real substance and a message in all of her works, especially the installations here that document that refugee camp and her world view. She shows graphic designs, dress fabric and painted shoes, a grouping of red Asian holiday objects as well as a series of canvases.

We can see a progression in her work from the blue Rebirth image done in 2021 at the beginning of the exhibition to the blue note book at the end which ask for your memories and stories, perhaps for her future inspiration as she includes all of us in her journey. 

Tom Yum

Miniature angry panda mural at Shank and Bone restaurant

Flow of Life - Mesa College mural

Decolonize Yourself You Dumb Hoe

A world worth saving - small book

Rebirth, 2021

Future Flowers: Memory, Meaning, Mischief - Thao Huynh French
San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery
On view until Sept 17^th, 2026
FA103, 7250 Mesa College Drive, SD 92111
Gallery Hours: Monday through Thursday, 12 – 5 pm. Closed Fridays and weekends. Closed Monday Memorial Day Sept 7.
Info: Alessandra Moctezuma 619.388.2829