Art In The Heart of Stockton California

Brittany Alexander (Instagram: @socialhour) created another special “Social Hour” event that consisted of dancing, spirits, and art on the rooftop of the beautiful venue, Bella Vita in Stockton, California this past Saturday.

Different forms of art were newly introduced to the show.

Brittany described her impression of what was being displayed, “We have live painting going on, this is the first time we have ever had a live model like this. Everybody has their own individual thing that they bring to the art community. This time I have more clothing vendors, earrings all handmade. This is a very interesting group.”

Paulina Mendez, an artist from Stockton, gave a heartfelt explanation of what inspires her work. “My personal story, my life struggles, but artistic wise Frida Kahlo because I can relate a lot to her. Art has always been a part of my life, but once I actually exposed myself I was going through a very hard time. Was going through a divorce, I lost five different people within the same month that were my family members. One day I said there has to be something out there for me when I picked up my canvas and my paint that was it for me.”

Some artists commuted from out of town to vend and expose their artistic style at Saturday’s show.

Mathew Galvan (Instagram: @mgalvan.art), a fine artist from Modesto, California, focuses his art mostly on landscapes, “I do a lot of hiking, a lot of it comes out of that, I do a little bit of photography mostly as a hobby. I take pictures an end up painting them later on.”

Tahlaynah Casuga (Instagram: @mi_vidatriste), an artist from Oakland, California, described what she represents, “Minorities honestly, people that smoke weed and they’re looked at as people that are trying to cause trouble, delinquents, but in all reality, we are a community. Just because we smoke weed or listen to rap music, and have different sexualities, does not mean we are bad people.”

Artists expressed what drives them to pursue creating their work and what stems them apart from others.

Ana Castaneda (Instagram: @voidslut), a creative artist from Manteca, California described her muse, “I take inspiration within myself, from nature, other beings, outer space, just everything all around me basically. My friends, people I see on the street, just everything that pulls me in. I don’t really create art for clout or like a reputation of some sort in the community, I don’t do that. I do art because it is a release for me, a stress relief.”

Some artists have become storytellers through their work. Choosing to face social issues and incorporating them into visuals.

Angelina Casillas (Instagram: @angiethecreative), artist from Tracy, California, chooses to display her perspective of the world, “When I do my collages, especially with comics, usually there are artists that go about describing what is going on in the economy, people in general, or police brutality, I get all those little pieces, put them all together and make it beautiful, because even though it is chaotic, life is going to be crazy, but it’s still beautiful.”

Social Hour will continue its journey of giving local artists a platform and giving communities a reason to come together, one city at a time.

“I am super grateful and blessed to just be getting started [coordinating the events] and have the opportunity to venture out of town…It genuinely feels amazing,” Alexander added.