September 2022 – June 2023
The Moreno Institute After School Program 22/23 serves 42 Fresno Unified School District (FUSD) elementary and middle schools.
The Moreno Institute Support Professionals provide academic support for designated classes, small group instruction as designated by the teacher or administrator during after-school activities, and supervise recess, snacks, lunchtime, and other outside activities.
March 22 , 2022 – June 10, 2022
The Moreno Institute Seeds of Learning Program provided homework support plus literacy and writing instruction at 19 elementary schools in Fresno Unified School District for K-3 students and also for a number of 4th – 6th grade students.
Elementary students were also assisted by high school student tutors.
This program focused on:
*Providing homework assistance to K-3 elementary students
*Providing opportunities using authentic literature and Readers’
Theater to encourage a love of reading and to help reluctant
readers become fluent readers
*Providing writing opportunities through cultural literature
“My name is Liliana Madrigal, I am a student at Fresno City studying Art History and these two paintings were shown in the 2022 Student Art Exhibition. My paintings fall under the category of watercolor but I did not use watercolor paint. One was made with Jamaica, the Mexican “agua fresca” flower and tequila and the other one was using “Grana Cochinilla”, the parasite of the cactus that 19% of its body is carminic acid and makes a beautiful red color. My inspiration on using these products started because they are ecological friendly and they represent Mexico and the American continent. I remember the first time I read Jose Martí “Nuestra America” and he had the quote that said “ Nuestro vino es amargo, pero es nuestro vino.” Which is roughly translated as “Our wine is bitter, but it is our wine.” In addition, Martí, criticized how easily influenced Mexico and Latin America become with European and US tendencies. I thought to myself, if artists paint with wine, tea, and coffee, why can’t I paint with something that comes from our land? Something that is me and it’s ancestral? I like to paint cultural things that bring me pride and meaning to my world.
The first painting is called “El Nopal. ¡LOTERIA!.” Loteria is a traditional board game, like Bingo. El nopal is considered a superfood, it is part of the Mexican flag, and it feeds millions of people who are low income. El nopal can produce ‘grana cochinilla‘ and with it, as with the card you win. All around “El nopal” makes us winners, yet it can have a negative connotation. The phrase “cara de nopal”–phase of nopal can imply that you are laughing and stereotyping a person from Mexican descent. For this reason, I chose to paint ‘El Nopal. !LOTERIA! with its own “blood.”
The second painting is called “¡Viva Jamaica!” This is the hibiscus flower that when desiccated and rehydrated it is used to make ‘agua fresca’- the burgundy water drink that is found in any Mexican restaurant. I called it ‘Viva Jamaica’ in honor of ‘Viva la Vida’ from Frida Kahlo, one of my favorite artists and her still life painting where she acknowledges life and honors death too. I used tequila to rehydrate the flower and it gave me this blueish-green color and it feels like a rebirth for the flower and the process.
These mediums are unconventional but they are a true representation of who I am; a hybrid of two cultures and an individual rediscovering herself through art and art history. ” – Liliana Madrigal
Find Liliana’s essay “Farmworkers: Essential workers, not ghosts” in Ending Poverty in California: https://endpovertyinca.org/upset-the-setup/liliana-artist-supports-farmworker-union-california/
