Music professor Matthew Grasso knew since he first held a guitar that playing the instrument was something he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
Feeling creatively suffocated during his music education Grasso mediated to remove the unnecessary from his music which lead to the creation of guitars that went beyond the parameters of a regular six-string guitar.
“I think for over the past 10 years I’ve worked rather extensively on the design of these guitars, refining them [and] understanding what they’re about and I feel that this has set the tone for what I have to accomplish for the rest of my life,” say Grasso.
Photography professor Autumn Payne’s favorite subject to capture with her camera are human interest stories. She believes her natural curiosity helps tie human emotion from picture or video to her want to learn about people.
In addition to teaching photojournalism at City College, Payne is a writer and photographer for a weekly column in the Sacramento Bee called, “I CARE”, where volunteers in the community are celebrated for doing good things.
A self described introvert, Frank Gallardo believes music has layers of meanings to self expression.
Gallardo plays a variety of instruments from guitar, keyboards, to a bass he inherited from a church that nobody played. He learned how to play keyboards from taking music theory where he had to play basic chords.
Gallardo is currently taking intermediate guitar for the fourth time, refining his ability to play classical playing styles, how to read music, and how to play scales.
“It’s been a fascinating class because we do a little recital at the end of every semester,” says Gallardo. “It kind of pushes you to do your best and play well.”
Gallardo’s dream is to play in a band that plays a variety of music and continues his education in City College looking to make connections that will help him follow his dream.
Angelica Garcia is a City College student who practices Aztec dance that has been passed down from generation to generation. Garcia became interested in Aztec dance at six-years-old, introduced by her older sister as they danced in La Guadalupe in south side park.
“When I dance, I feel so much energy in me with the beat of the drum,” says Garcia.
Garcia says that dancing has taught her respect, especially for her elders, which she believes her generation is losing respect for.
“We need to be happy from where we come from, [and] who we come from.” says Garcia.
The Express news staff went to downtown’s Cesar Chavez Park this fall to capture the grassroots effort by City College students and staff as they did their part in the greater national Occupy Movement, which began on Wall Street and continues to spread throughout the country.
Express multimedia editor L.T. Clayton produced the video that captured Occupy Sacramento protesters pledging Oct.6 to occupy Cesar Chavez Park for a month as an act of solidarity with the national Occupy movement. A number of City College students participated in the protests.
“Folks are out of work and feel that the government, at the state and national level, aren’t hearing their concerns,” said Mayor Kevin Johnson of the Occupy Sacramento protests. “One of the great things about democracy is that people can come out and voice their frustrations. I certainly respect their ability to show democracy in action.
Johnson was interviewed by Express photographer Kimberly Washington.
Clayton shot City College art major Ben Howe and biology major Stephanie Cervantes, who went to Cesar Chavez Park and made posters at the protest. They admitted that they had trouble coming up with something they wanted to say.
“We both agreed that taking money out of…» Read More
Dec. 7, 2011
Donations of canned foods don’t usually yield tangible returns, but City College’s cosmetology department held its fall semester canned food drive, inviting students, staff and community to donate canned foods in return for a free haircut or manicure.
A multimedia editor for saccityexpress.com, Vincent Fernandez, examined how this act of goodwill benefits the Sacramento homeless community in the video “Food for Beauty.”
The semi-annual canned food drive gives cosmetology students the chance to practice their skills on a variety of hair types, and the interaction between client and cosmetologist is one of the benefits of the food drive. Cosmetology instructors supervise the event.
“I really like coming to the school for them to do my nails,” says resident Mercy Figueroa in the video. “With the can food drive, you’re helping someone out. Plus, at the same time you’re getting a service, which is really great.”
The drive has special meaning for client and early childhood development major Darrell Rogers, a formerly homeless resident.
“When you’re homeless man, everything is hard. It’s hard on the mental aspect of your life, the physical aspect of your life. When I was homeless, I was blessed to have…I went to a shelter,” Rogers told…» Read More
The University of California, Davis recently had to cut four sports teams due to the cuts incurred by schools across the state this year. The question on our minds is whether or not that same kind of cutting could be seen at City College. This is a documentary on the process we here at SacCityExpress.com went through to publish the story.