A civil war has broken out in Santa Ana’s Artists Village and it all started with a comment posted by Sandra “Pocha” Peña Sarmiento (yes she has a lot of names) over at the OC Weekly, under the pen name “Pocharte.” Here is the now infamous comment:
This is truly a sad development. Matt’s gallery was a much loved gathering place and his murals were beautiful expressions of our local artists’ vision. Now all this has gone the way of the gorgeous Caio Trattoria murals created by dozens of Artists Village tenants in the ’90’s & painted over by Chapter One when they moved in. All these exquisite moments are lost to us now…like tears in rain.
But in lamenting our glorious past, let’s not fall prey to unsubstantiated spin & unfounded hysterics. This can only foment more division & discord.
What isn’t mentioned in this article is that many long-time Santora tenants are staying: Joe Hawa, Atilano, The Art Bar & Firouzeh. Also, some Santora newcomers are being embraced by the new owner: the prolific Jenny Doh of Creciendoh Studio, the dynamic OC Creatives & the talented Tweena’s Tunes.
This OC Weekly article also doesn’t mention Jackosky’s recent meetings with MOLAA & other local art leaders to bring in high-quality art spaces that reflect Santa Ana’s diverse culture or his upcoming collaborations w GCAC and other art groups. These are endeavors far from “Thomas Kincade” grade art fluff.
Also left out was Jackosky’s invitation to have Studio del Sotano tenants relocate to the new Art Colony he’s building near the train station. Housed in an expansive industrial parcel a few blocks from the depot, these spaces would be a better location for working artists as they are more easily open to partnerships w Amtrak & out of county art collecting groups.
This story also neglected to mention the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the Santora’s restoration & repair: fixing the leaky rooftop air conditioners that had been flooding galleries for over a decade, cleaning the historic ironwork, uncovering the original skylights, patching & repainting the entire building, replacing all the broken glass & rotted wood. Those don’t sound like the actions of someone who has no love for the building or what it represents.
So it appears @OC Weekly left quite a bit out when running with their sensationalist one-sided “report” largely based on the comments of one person who has never lived or worked in Santa Ana. Also, not mentioned was that the artists evicted were the ones most active in joining her belligerent & misinformed attacks on the new owner in the press. Cause & Effect folks.
I hope in the next round, a broader range of local artists & arts professionals will be interviewed by the OC Weekly. Also that they would more closely examine the source of propaganda & their motivations before running w it.
As a Santa Ana native and nationally recognized artist, I see many things long-needed for a healthy arts scene finally coming to fruition here: the forming of an Arts Commission, local agency support for the arts & live/work housing, city cooperation on arts grants & arts commerce studies, a commitment to daytime cultural events & markets, new incubator spaces, public art programs & so much more.
I urge anyone wanting to get involved in Santa Ana Arts to move out here (or open a business in SA) instead of spreading more hate and poison from your sour grapes perch in HB, Irvine or Costa Mesa. Get some skin in the game!
Santa Ana’s Art Future is what we make it. If folks can work together without petty tantrums & ugly attacks on local residents, then we can build a true blossoming of the best this City has to offer.
<3 Viva Santa Ana! <3
A lot of folks thought, after reading that comment, that Peña sounded like an apologist for Jack Jakosky, the Newport Beach businessman who bought the Santora and recently whitewashed a mural and started to evict the local artists.
Peña by the way describes herself thusly on her website:
Sandra Peña Sarmiento (aka “Pocha Peña”) is an award-winning filmmaker, artist and writer who served as Festival Director for the CineFestival film festival in Texas and San Diego Latino Film Festival in California.
She has also worked with the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival and Spanish-language television networks such as Telemundo, Univision and Fox Latin American. Her video art has exhibited at museums, galleries and film festivals all over the globe and her handmade textile line is enjoying increasing popularity throughout the Southwest.
Matt Southgate, one of the artists who was evicted, had this to say about what Jakosky is doing, in a recent email:
The reason why Jacko would suddenly communicate a desire or intent to bring in “Grad Students” with “aspirations” is so that he can kill two birds with one stone.
First, he gets to publicly demonstrate a continued commitment to “The Arts” as well as his more dominant commercial intent.
More importantly though, he will end up surrounding himself with artists that are clearly “aspirational” in a non-political, non-threatening societal sense. They will be, by and large Institutionalized Sheep that have been trained to work and create within a designated State-sponsored socialized curriculum.
They will not be activists.
They will definitely not be civic-minded, or socially critical outside of having an interest in superficial, intellectually abstract decor.
They will be superficially “Progressive” and superficially “Community Oriented”. They will be Hipsters.
Alicia Rojas, a friend of Matt’s who has been active in the Artists Village for a long time, also weighed in on the skirmish with her own email message:
In my conversation with Jakosky he did mention that one of his biggest complaints was the Halloween Party and how dirty the place was after. I believe he said “my breaking point was the Halloween Party” I hope Adam took this quote down as he was present during my conversation with Jakosky. This was after all a UASA event.
He is also getting rid of other galleries besides the three that are leaving at month-end. He is bringing in “high caliber grad students with aspirations”
There has been no campaign against Victor or Pocha…I believe Victor is confused there. In these instances I believe is called cause and effect to use some of Pocha’s language.
Going against the Plaza SA Community Mural in the way they did and doing Public Relations for Jakosky like in that OCweekly comment is what caused for others to start to realize that maybe Pocha’s vision didn’t align with some of our owns. Not saying that maybe her vision is completely a fraud because its not. Its just a little self serving as to be expected.
The person behind the flyer against Pocha and Victor is friends with Crow. The artist Victor and Pocha decided to blast anonymously because they were “gentrifying” the area by working with Chase. So that was kind of like cause and effect right? In this case they reaped what they sowed. I had nothing to do with that. An Crow was supposedly a “friend” of theirs. At least Matt and I use our email accounts when we need to voice our discontent and not hide behind “don diego” e-mail accounts.
I guess Pocha and Victor only spend a bunch of energy advocating for the destruction of a community mural, and insane amount of energy trying to have an outside artist (Crow) not paint another mural in town because they were working with Chase…whats the difference here in this situation? why didn’t they spend the same amount of energy with this instance with the Santora? Simple. They want what Jakosky is bringing. “National recognized artists that represent the diversity of Santa Ana” we the underground are not good enough, not good enough for murals, not good enough for spaces.
Victor Payan, who is married to Peña, weighed in with his own email message:
Dear Matt,
I read your email and your posts on New Santa Ana today and wanted to say that your comments are incorrect, and that Sandra has done nothing against you or other artists regarding the Santora.
In the few communications we’ve had with Jakosky, we always spoke of the importance of valuing the resident Santora artists and preserving the artist community there. We aslo spoke in defense of your mural. I don’t know where you are getting any other information, but it is wrong and only foments division and discord.
Your posting that Sandra told you Jakosky was charging MOLAA too much to rent at the Santora is completely untrue. She told you the amount MOLAA was charging was too high to consider at this time, and that we were recommending creating a municipal gallery or bringing a Smithsonian Latino affiliate to the Santora instead.
Concluding that Jakosky’s whitewashing and tearing out walls is due to booths in front of galleries is also incorrect, because Dorta has also put booths in the Santora during ArtWalks, both upstairs and in the main entry way.
As for why you are retracting your support of Sandra for the Arts Commission, you have never communicated any problem to us nor have we done anything against you. We have supported you throughout the Santora issue and continue to work for the betterment of artists and the arts throughout Santa Ana, including donating our time to work with low-income youth.
It is truly sad that you would launch such unfounded attacks without first addressing any issues with Sandra or me. When we last saw you on Friday night, you gave no indication of any problem or discord with us, and we took photos of you at Studio del Sotano to help spread the word for people to support your staying in the Santora. We also suggested approaching Jakosky to see if you could get a lease of your own for the space.
Also, my last communication attempt to you was Saturday night, letting you know someone wanted to buy your painting in UASA’s ArtWalk booth. I don’t know how you or anyone can consider this to be against you.
I also do not understand why you have launched such false attacks against Sandra, only that it is consistent with the defamation campaign you know Alicia has been waging against UASA and Sandra for many months.
It would be troubling to think that you had been manipulated to join Alicia’s campaign of defamation, division and destruction, but your posting false information and retracting of your support for no reason you ever communicated to us indicates this.
Your friendship is important to us, so it is really disturbing to be hit with such unmotivated attacks by you. If you would like to get together to discuss any issues, we would be happy to meet with you.
In Solidarity,
– Victor
And then he sent another email, at 4:19 am today:
Sandra is no lobbyist for Jakosky. We do support the Santora artists, and I don’t know what BS anyone is spreading to the contrary. Who are these three people you mention? Are they same three people who approached another Santora tenant to shoot down Sandra at City Council? That artist called them out on their underhanded attack and refused to be a patsy for their plan. How come they never contacted Sandra and asked for her help?
We only think direct communication, respect and presenting a solid plan for staying are better approaches than slamming anyone in the press with sensationalist and defamatory statements. Do you really think calling Jakosky a Nazi Jew, Devil Landlord or Alicia sending out a mass email to blast him to the whole City Council is going to help *any* artists keep their spaces?
Again, we have ALWAYS advocated to keep the Santora resident artists in the building. To lie and say otherwise and then use it for political purposes IS defamation.
Also doesn’t explain why you didn’t discuss your concerns with Sandra before blasting her publicly.
Peña did not join in the email fray but she did send me the following Facebook messages, on Sunday:
Where is this mess headed? Beats me. But I do think that Jakosky is not done cleaning house. And I don’t think that the Santa Ana Arts Commission, which is forming, is going to be able to handle any of this drama. When you factor in the vicious killing of Kim Pham while she waited to get into the hipster bar The Crosby all of this points to continuing dysfunction in the Artists Village. Will pettiness, jealousy and crime bring down DTSA? We will find out soon enough.
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Man, this shit should be filmed. Housewives of the Artists Village!
Its entertaining/embarrassing to watch the pointless drama and misguided bickering between these former friends. Why drag everyone through the mud rather than looking for real solutions? Peña and Rojas seem to have the same dreams of having a flourishing art community that reflects the prevalent latino culture of the area. They both talk to movers and shakers (ie Chase and Jackosky) because, surprise, money talks. They both advocate for local artists (despite the fact that the primary purpose of creating the artist village has always been to increase land values, AKA gentrification, leading to the displacement of most of the original artists.) However they both seem blinded by the seething grudge between them, fueled perhaps by ambition, competitiveness and misunderstanding. Its time to let go of that proud grudge which only tarnishes their reputations, and by association, anyone else who was imprudent enough to pick a side. They point angry fingers at each other, hurling insults and claims of corruption, but everyone on the outside of the conflict is merely confused by the irony of their sad and petty squabbles, and in the end, distrusts them both.
Some good points you make here. Nevertheless this all started with Peña's personal attacks on the OCWeekly and I see Rojas as defending her self here. Which is natural if you ask me. To me one is sticking up for the artists the other is not.
Being militantly opposed to what Jackosky is doing on surface appears to be "sticking up for the artists" while being diplomatic with Jackosky "is not." The truth is that gentrification has won in DTSA. At this late stage of gentrification, militant resistance (ie angry letters, public protests, verbal confrontations) will achieve less for existing artists than working with the new owner. They are not union workers, they have no right to the spaces they rent, and the property owner may legally evict anyone he wants. The guy probably blew millions of dollars on the building and some public outrage is not going to be a sufficient deterrent to making that money back. I can only imagine two viable strategies to use during end-game gentrification in order to "stick up for the artists." Either be diplomatic and attempt to preserve as much as you can and get something good for the community, or find a new place to have an underground art scene. So I'm saying despite the surface appearance, working with Jackosky has a better chance of getting good results for the artists as opposed to openly blasting Jackosky with bad press. Its a shitty situation, and I am truly sad about whats happening, but you have to be strategic despite your emotions and initial reactions.
Well or a third alternative maybe to ask OC SUPS to donate that empty bulding which Tom Daly bought fo 2M and is sitting empty now
That would be a good place for OC/SA arts.
I guess I am not following because I don't see where the artists were being rude. Or where protests happened. I happened to be there at artwalk when they did an altar for the mural that was painted over and it was peaceful and many artists where there in solidarity and I witness a lot of unity. Now I am local but don't frequent downtown often only on art walk so I might have missed all this upheaval you are speaking off. I didn't witness any of that. Also if that is the case that is censorship of the artists and a pretty shitty move on the landlord's part.
That night you are referring was a protest. Also not sure where you are getting "rude" and "upheaval" from, but that is far from the point I was making. The point is people have goals and there are actions they can take to accomplish those goals. If the goal was to stay in the Santora, publicly shaming your landlord might not have been the best strategy. However, if no one was safe to begin with, I guess you might as well give him hell for it!
Jack maybe sitting on the $10M in the gold and cant get to it.
Background:
In 1810, year of the commencement of the war of Mexican Independence (1810–1821), Jose Antonio Yorba, a sergeant of the Spanish army, was granted land that he called Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. Yorba's rancho included the lands where the cities of Olive, Orange, Irvine, Yorba Linda, Villa Park, Santa Ana, Tustin, Costa Mesa and unincorporated El Modena, and Santa Ana Heights, are today. This rancho was the only land grant in Orange County granted under Spanish Rule. Surrounding land grants in Orange County were granted after Mexican Independence by the new government.
In about 1821, after Mexican independence, Yorba was commissioned by new government to move about 500 pounds of gold (about $10M in today's price) from the California's territory to Mexico City. However, the Mexican-American war which ended in 1848, prevented Yorba to move the gold because the Alta California became part of the United States and American settlers arrived in this area.
So Yorba burred the gold somewhere in today's DTSA area.
Claimed in 1869 by Kentuckian William H. Spurgeon on land obtained from the descendents of Jose Antonio Yorba, Santa Ana was incorporated as a city in 1886 with a population of 2000 and in 1889 became the seat of the newly formed Orange County.
The legend of the Yorba's gold lived among the SA Masons who somehow obtained fairly accurate plan where the gold maybe buried. The Masonic organization in Santa Ana traces its beginnings to October 1, 1875.
Allegedly in about late twenties, the Masons decided to excavate for the Yorba's gold on the land acquired from the Minter family. The groundbreaking for the Santora Building took place on July 7, 1928. “Santora” combines the names Santa Ana and Orange. Built by the Santora Land Company, under the guidance of Oliver Halsell, vice-president and manager commissioned by the Masons to excavate under their direction.
During the excavation in the area where the gold was shown to be buried, on the Yorba's sketch, the ground crew uncovered a sinkhole and gravely unstable ground and refuse any further excavation.
However, the Masons did not gave up and following the ceremonial laying of the cornerstone on December 5, 1930, the Masonic Temple was erected at 501-505 North Sycamore Street. Contractors for the Santa Ana Masonic Temple were L. E. Miller and T. P. Schultz. Built to house several Masonic groups, the building featured a highly decorated lodge hall, auditorium, banquet hall, lounges, library, penthouse
apartment, and five retail shops.The location of the Temple was strategically selected so the tunneling under the Sycamore St. to Santora can be constructed to search for the Yorba's gold.
There are no documents nor legend describing what happened after 1931 when the Temple was finished. However, it is believed that the Masons never recovered the Yorba's gold which is still buried under the Santora building.
Allegedly the Mexican Historian Prof. Gustavo Arellano has more on the Yorba's gold.
Anybody that has been to studio del sotano can clearly see where the gold was discovered two years ago and excavated by one of the occupy santa ana "outer-assembly working groups" a.k.a. "heist".
The marker clearly commemorates the discovery but does not signify the actual exact location. Do you really think we would be foolish enough to keep the gold inside a building legally possessed by a "property owner".
I'll give you a hint. Don cribb and chiarini were actually much closer to the location than is jacko. Think subterrranean.
You may be on something here teo!
However, the prior owner own both Santora and Masonic Temple in same time so he could triangulate the exact location of the gold by use of iPhone GPS system. So obviously he knows precisely where to excavate.
But there is a problem.
How do you move tuns of the earth from the underneath of Santora or Masonic Temple without being noticed?.... Huh?
How would you get a permit to do so?
But the prior owner is very smart individual, you can tell by his long beard and Buddha like belly, so he elected to excavate few blocks north from Santora, on the Broadway.
The project has covered site name the ["1BP"].
Since 1BP is highrise building it requires very deep foundation so lot of earth can be moved without any suspicion.
So bringing in the Mexican Cartel experienced in the long range tunneling under the border he can get to Yorba’s gold in no time what so ever.
The kicker is teo, that the gold legally belongs to Jack since the local mineral rights exemption does not apply to man made deposits like treasure -- but Jack can't excavate.
In contrast 1BP owner can.
I do not know about you teo, but if I would be Jack I would be gravely pissed off.
I should point out that about 500 pounds of the Yorba’s gold consist of religious priceless Catholic artifacts looted by the Spanish pirates.
So how much is priceless? 100M? 1B?....... you tell me or Prof. Arellano should tell us.
Fiala, you know that the original site of gold burial is no where near one broadway plaza. Stop acting like marketing director for mr. Zz top. Location of gold is still nearly smack dab under artists village promenade despite what the masonic indicator-compass shows in front of studio del sotano. You should know this all to well considering that you claim to have observed the original masonic excavation tunnels rerouted for the prohibition era private subterranean pedestrian routes. (On paper of course).
Obviously the English language is not your prime communication language, teo otherwise there would be some coherency in this Spanish/Masonic/antiquity discussion.
Forget about the magnetic comps readings teo. The magnetic pol shifts due to so called "Chandler wobble" so the only correct readings to the Yorba’s gold treasure is known to previous owner who triangulated the position via the iPhone taken from the Masonic Temple and the epicenter in the Santora.
Therefore, the tunneling from covered 1BP site to the Santora under the Broadway, commissioned to the Mexican Cartel, is most logical shortcut how to get to the Yorba’s gold own by Jacks.
Obviously the Masonic order of Knight of Templar knew that. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar
Fiala the only cartell tunneling commisioned by your boss zz top look alike is to get cheap labor to and from baja while avoiding sapd "s.com" stop the disinfo campaign about the tunnelling going up broadway. Those property values will remain stagnant as o.b.plaza doesn't appear to be happening. Does it?tell the truth fiala!
"tell the truth fiala!".......... Hmmmmmm
This is not October 30, 1938 and I am not Orson Welles airing the War of the Worlds.
However, if you would made a painting showing a tunnel from the 1BP to Santora and Jack's gold you could be famous...... but the autists have no imagination that is why they are poor.
Pablo "David" Benavides KNEW this too. That's why he needed NEWSONG to buy the place.
He was in the midst of a BRUTAL an expensive divorce with is wife Emily. Faced with child support for his two abandoned children, he was desperate for the treasure to payoff the loan on the family home that WIFE secured from her school teacher job, before his infidelity DESTROYED the family. Pablo was desperate.
Enter Councilwoman Michele Martinez, whose own checkered past as a "lookout" for the infamous F-Troop street gang provided muscle for the take over, but MM was strong willed, she had been used and abused by her bothers and their friends for years, and she was now further up the food chain, She was the darling of "La Eme's" Lawyer.
All of this secret maneuvering was nothing compared to.............
TO BE CONTINUED ( AliciaRojas/AndyGalvin/TomLutz/MMF SEX to follow)
I think I should colloborate with Mateo on a screenplay, (ethnically appropriate of corse) whete Alicia and Sstimento, dressed in peasant garb (think Diego or Freida) in an XXX lesbian scene. Think about when young Matt runs in with the fresh corn on the cob.....
Another scene might include Andy, as a visiting. Missionary from a rich Philadelphia college, getting GANG RAPED by cartel members. Only to decide he enjoyed it.........
See art is for everybody. The landlord guy from Jewport Beach might have a different idea then Alicia does. But heres the deal: He's the owner. And just like Sariemento he's from a millionare family.
Someone should look at Vinces holdings!!!!! Normally, that would be Adam Elmerk but he's in competition with Andy for the prize st the base of some Cuban dude from Irvines pole.
Realty sucks!
The new greatest story ever told . the never ending story lol
Jacko thought he could end it be erasing the mural with the map to Yorba's gold.
However this story will not end there. That has become completely obvious.
Buried Treasures of California
Book Description
Publication Date: May 25, 1995
After reading these 30 revived tales of wealth and splendor, you will be tempted to throw some supplies into a backpack like the '49-ers of old and head west. Although stories of lost gold and silver veins are abundant (“Mysterious Blue Ledge of Gold,” “The Curse of the Mormon Silver Ledge”), they in no way represent all of the wealth hidden in California's geography and folklore. Does Death Valley hold more than just sand and arid desert; is it also the “Canyon of Lost Gold” and site of the “Golden Gravels of Goler Wash”? Is the long California coastline covering secrets (“Gold in the Sand”) and hidden riches (“Lost North Beach Million,” “Five Hundred Pound Silver Ingot”)? Are the sprawling metropolises now covering the priceless artifacts of an emperor (“The Hollywood Bowl Treasure”)? Outlaws, prospectors, Indians, loners and Mexicans throw themselves into all the adventure and intrigue. California's mountains, deserts, beaches, and cities as well as sunken treasure are all encompassed in this collection.
Soon to be updated to the book: Are the sprawling Santa Ana now covering the priceless artifacts of the Yorba’s gold legaly owned by the Jack (“The Santora Treasure”)?