“Vital Signs” Celebrates San Bernardino’s Culture, History

The San Bernardino Paul Villaseñor Branch library hosted Vital Signs, a collaborative project by Professors Juan Delgado and Thomas McGovern, who teach at Cal State University, San Bernardino. The book includes poetry by Juan Delgado and photography by Thomas McGovern, who started photographing murals in San Bernardino in 2006 and shot these murals in his spare time through 2012. Vital Signs was also available at the library for signing. “All the right people came together and we were very excited about it,” said McGovern regarding the initial start of the publishing process and collaboration. McGovern believes that the San Bernardino area is a beautiful, interesting, and wonderful place. “I noticed that there was a lot of pride in these murals. There is culture there.” Some of the murals McGovern had photographed were no longer there. “We want to see improvements [to the city], but on the other hand there is some loss that happens and we don’t want to forget these things. Let’s be careful about what we tear down. Let’s embrace the multicultural place and not make it like every other town; there is history here.” Juan Delgado felt that there is a lack of identity in a lot of uniform cities. Delgado’s poem “Wooden Stilts” is a nostalgic piece about childhood. Also featured is the poem “El Tigre Market,” written alongside McGovern’s photo of a mural over a closed and empty grocery store where an empty cart had been left tilted on the sidewalk. “We want to bring art to places that aren’t the normal temples for art,” said Delgado. Also in attendance was Phil Yeh, who has painted 1,800 murals all around the world and is currently painting a mural on E and 14th streets, at the site of the first McDonald’s. “When the community has murals, the community becomes alive,” said Yeh. Yeh has also painted a mural at the Mt. Vernon School, where he invited the kids to join and paint with him. “People want to express their artistic nature,” shared Yeh. He hopes more locals will pay attention to the murals. “We need to fight the negative stereotypes. There is a good energy here,” said Yeh of the San Bernardino area. There will be an additional opportunity to meet Juan Delgado and Thomas McGovern at the Feldheym Library on Nov. 16. [END] STORY: Professors, Thomas McGovern and Juan Delgado, speak about their book and bring awareness to the uniqueness of San Bernardino and the Inland Empire. BYLINE: Ismeralda Moreno PHOTOS BY: Ismeralda Moreno PHOTOS: #2 PHOTO CAPTIONS: IMG1: Professors Tom and Juan pose for a photo IMG2: The professors giving a presentation of the Murals found in the surrounding areas. WORD COUNT: CONTACTS(Relation, Name, Title, Ph#, Email): Thomas McGovern, Photographer, 909-537-7267, mcgovern@csusb.edu Juan Delgado, Poet, 909-537-5826, jdelgado@csusb.edu Linda, Library Programming Coordinator, lindaadams35@yahoo.com, 909-867-5605 Phil Yeh, Local Artist, philyeh@mac.com, 909-867-5605 MEMO TO EDITOR: I really enjoyed this event, please assign me to more like it. SPIN-OFF STORIES FOUND AS A RESULT OF THE ASSIGNMENT: Feature piece on Phil ARTICLE TITLES: Celebrating the Inland Empire, San Bernardino Murals and Poetry ARTICLE: The San Bernardino Villa Senor Branch library hosted Vital Signs October 15, 2013. The library provided refreshments for the attendees and the book Vital Signs was available in the back for signing. Vital Signs is a collaborative project by professors Juan Delgado and Thomas McGovern who teach at The Cal State University of San Bernardino. The book includes Poetry by Juan Delgado, and photography by Thomas McGovern. Professor McGovern started photographing murals in San Bernardino in 2006. He had been shooting these murals when he could between the years 2006 and 2012. “All the right people came together and we were very excited about it.” Said McGovern regarding the initial start of the publishing process and collaboration. McGovern believes that the San Bernardino area is a beautiful, interesting, and wonderful place. “I noticed that there were a lot of pride in these murals. There is culture there.” Some of the murals McGovern had photographed were no longer there. “We want to see improvements [to the city], but on the other end there is some loss that happens and we don’t want to forget these things. Let’s be careful about what we tear down. Let’s embrace the multicultural place and not make it like every other town, there is history here.” Juan Delgado felt that there is a lack of identity in a lot of uniform cities. Juan’s poem Wooden Stilts is a nostalgic piece about childhood that can be found in Vital Signs. Also featured is the poem EL Tigre Market that was written alongside McGovern’s photo of a mural over a closed and empty grocery store where an empty cart had been left tilted on the sidewalk. “We want to bring art to places that aren’t the normal temples for art,” Said Delgado. Also in attendance was Phil Yeh. Phil has painted 1800 murals all around the world and is currently painting a mural on E street and 14th street at the first site of Mcdonald’s. “When the community has murals the community becomes alive,” Said Yeh. Phil Yeh has also painted a mural at the Mt. Vernon School where he invited the kids to join and paint with him. “People want to express their artistic nature,” says Yeh. Phil Yeh hopes that more locals will pay attention to the murals. “We need to fight the negative stereotypes. There is a good energy here.” Said Yeh of the San Bernardino area. You can meet Juan Delgado and Thomas McGovern at the Feldhyem Library on November 16, 2013.