Despite facing hard economic times, the Washington Neighborhood Center, in downtown Sacramento, is still one of the main sites for Sacramento State’s Barrio Art Program.

The Barrio Art Program was established in the early 1970s by a retired Sac State art professor emeritus, Jose Montoya.

Jose created the program to give Sac State art students an opportunity to design curriculum and to teach in the community hands-on while earning their 40-hour teaching prerequisite for the Sac State credential program.

Tomas Montoya, Jose Montoya’s son and president of the Washington Neighborhood Center, said the course is a 40-hour commitment to one of the program centers focusing on linking the university and the community. He said that nearly 40 years later, the Barrio Art Program continues to open doors for Sac State students who want to experience an urban, multicultural and multilingual teaching environment.

Gia Moreno, senior art education major, said the Barrio Art class is more than a three-unit class.

“It is a class that impacts the community on many different levels and teaches students how to teach in different environments,” Moreno said.

Students participating in the Barrio Art Program have been teaching at the center, a non-profit organization and community-run center.

Tomas Montoya said funds for the center are provided through private donations and United Way Worldwide, a leadership organization.

The center, which has been struggling financially, has been required to make staff cuts to avoid shutting down. Board members and community volunteers have taken on the staff’s previous responsibilities including running the office, teaching classes, and maintaining the center.

The center’s financial standing, however, has not limited what it offers, including tutoring sessions, English classes, dance classes, and boxing. The center also provides many educational and athletic opportunities taught by Sac State students from previous Barrio Art Programs, UC Davis students and community organizations.

Recently, the center has hosted various fundraisers – one including the hip-hop artist KRS-One who participated in a benefit concert.

“We are struggling, but the community has come together by picking up the slack and we will not be shutting down,” Tomas Montoya said.

Moreno, who was involved in the Barrio Art Program for more than a year and taught Barrio Art for one semester, said the Barrio Art Program has not felt the financial trouble. In fact, it helps the center by donating a portion of a grant that was given to the program. The grant helps the center pay for electricity bills. The program also leaves unused art supplies for the center to use during summer or winter breaks.

The center’s board members said Jose’s focus when creating the Barrio Art Program was to create access to art for the Hispanic residents in the barrio.

“A barrio is a largely Latino and immigrant-populated neighborhood,” Moreno said.

Catherine Turrill, assistant chair of the art department at Sac State, said that throughout the years, the barrio has evolved into a multicultural environment and now all cultures benefit from the program.

The four components of the Barrio Art Program show the different age groups Sac State serves during the semester.

The Children’s Component serves children from kindergarten to sixth grade. The Anciano Component supports adults and senior citizens. The Cultural Component is Danza Azteca, that teaches the community about pre-Colombian indigenous and cultural dances. The mural project component centers on mural paintings in the tradition of the Mexican Mural Movement. One example of the mural project is the mural at Sac State on Lassen Hall by Ed Rivera, according to the Barrio Arts Program website.

Beginning this fall, faculty member Steven Ciampaglia will teach the Barrio Art course for the first time.

“I am honored to be part of a program that has a long tradition at Sac State,” Ciiampaglia said. “I hope I can live up to the standards set by previous instructors of the course as we take this program into the future.”

The Barrio Art Program gives art classes to the community from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Washington Neighborhood Center.

Moreno said children from the community who do not receive art education at school are receiving it at the center. Their mothers and fathers also have an opportunity to learn several artistic styles.

“It is very family-based at the center,” Moreno said.

Tomas Montoya said the center could always use more help from the community.

Volunteers do a variety of things from seeking donations, tutoring, teaching, outreach, and more.

For questions, call the Washington Neighborhood Center at (916) 444-6833.

Vanessa Garibaldi can be reached at [email protected]