Adan Avalos and his Truck of Burlap

The first event of the Tomas Rivera 22nd Annual Conference 2009 was the construction of a life-sized burlap truck by Adan Avalos.

The burlap truck itself was a kind of dedication to the earlier life of Tomas Rivera. As the son of migrant field workers, he himself worked in the fields while attending school, until his higher education at college began.

Photo by Michael J. Elderman
Adan Avalos takes out all his materials from black bags.

Adan Avalos and Alpha Phi Omega volunteers arrived bright and early at 7 am in the morning, in order to construct the faux-vehicle. The burlap truck, ostensibly a recreation of a 1961 Ford Ranchero, started off with a wooden frame. The frame itself consisted of many individual pieces of wood, painstakingly numbered in order to dictate where they needed to be placed.


Photo by Michael J. Elderman
It's hard to see, but every piece of wood had meticulously numbers indicating their placement in the frame.


The actual burlap was treated with a solution of water and sugar. This idea came to him earlier on in his life, when he used it to create smaller models of things. I'm paraphrasing here, but he said something to the effect of, "if it can work so well on a smaller scale, why can't it be applied to something bigger?"

After constructing the frame, he and the volunteers went to work, applying different parts of the burlap shell, such as the trunk, the doors, windows, wheels, and even the bumper.
















Photo by Michael J. Elderman
Applying the burlap wheels to the frame.
















Photo by Michael J. Elderman
Even the interior components of a truck, such as this steering wheel, were included.

I was especially impressed that Mr. Avalos had the idea to actually create an interior - a piece like this would usually just have an outer shell. He actually put a steering wheel, along with interior seats to make the truck as realistic as possible.



















Photo by Michael J. Elderman
Using a large screwdriver to put in one last screw.

Mr. Avalos later told me, while we were doing the arduous task of taking it all down, that putting the entire truck together was something he could only do so often, as it was a very exhausting task.

















Photo by Michael J. Elderman
Adan Avalos and Alpha Phi Omega volunteer Melissa Banez place the hood on the truck.

















Photo by Michael J. Elderman
In the back of the truck were a variety of tools, also made up of burlap, intended to emulate the tools that field workers would use.

















Photo by Michael J. Elderman
Professor Juan Felipe Herrera dropping on to see the progress of the truck and conversing with MFA Dance candidate Hannah Schwadron.

















Photo by Michael J. Elderman
Later in the evening during the reception, Adan Avalos shows off the finished burlap truck.


One last anecdote:

When Adan Avalos and I were taking down the truck, a strange man approached us, proclaiming to be a professor - he talked to us about the end of the world and blamed a variety of different ethnic groups for it. As a testament to Mr. Avalos, he was extremely patient with the man, even though we were rushing to get everything back into his truck.

Next up: The screenwriting workshop with Ligiah Villalobos.

Soon: Student responses to the conference!

Later ideas: Getting students more involved in next year's conference.

Introductions

Some introductions, before we get to the good stuff:

My name is Brian Marcelo, and I'm the current Tomas Rivera Undergraduate Fellow. I'm currently a third year Creative Writing major, with an interest in fiction and playwriting/screenwriting.

Part of my duties included electronic promotion of the Tomas Rivera 22nd Annual Conference 2009 - this involved sending a massive amount of emails, not only to students on the UC Riverside campus, but to surrounding campuses in Southern California. I also dealt with helping to coordinate the conference, such as obtaining the appropriate permits, evaluating media services, finding volunteers and making sure the day of the event ran as smoothly as possible. Lastly, I am currently maintaining this newly created blog, which is dedicated to the Tomas Rivera Conference. Having these responsibilities allowed me to work closely with Professor Juan Felipe Herrera.

Professor Juan Felipe Herrera, a professor of Creative Writing at UC Riverside since 2005, is the current Tomas Rivera Endowed Chair. He has been involved with education for many years, graduating from UCLA and Stanford with a bachelors and masters degree, respectively, in Social Anthropology, as well as attending the University of Iowa (Writer's Workshop) and obtaining an MFA. He has written many books as well, his most recent one being 187 Reasons Why Mexicanos Can't Cross the Border.

As chair of the Tomas Rivera Committee, he deals in all aspects of the conference, from choosing the presenters and artists set to perform, budgetary aspects, promotional concerns, and many other things.

I must extend a special thanks to the Tomas Rivera committee, and the Creative Writing Department, especially to Tiffany Long, Yvonne Howard, and Janice Wilkins, as well as the Chicano Student Programs' Director Estella Acuna, for all of their hard work in making the 2009 conference such a success.

Coming up ahead will be pictures of the 2009 event! Up first will be pictures and some words regarding Adan Avalos' construction of a truck made up of burlap.

Here's a preview of things to come in the next few blog entries:


Photo by Michael J Elderman

Adan Avalos with volunteer Melissa Banez constructing the burlap truck.

Photo by Michael J Elderman

Rare photos of Tomas Rivera displayed on the fourth floor of Rivera Library.


Photo by Michael J Elderman

Screenwriter Ligiah Villalobos conducting a workshop geared towards writing for the screen.


Photo by Michael J Elderman

Students, faculty, and committee members enjoying the food.


Photo by Michael J Elderman

Waiting for the performance by Carlos Cortes, followed up by a screening of Under the Same Moon.

Photo by Michael J Elderman

Remembering Tomas Rivera.

Welcome! This is the official blog in all matters relating to the Tomas Rivera Conference, which is held annually at the University of California, Riverside.

For those unfamiliar with the Tomas Rivera Conference, it is an annual event that commemorates the life of Tomas Rivera, the first Mexican-American to hold the position of Chancellor in the University of California system. Previous conferences have included events such as the construction of a truck made out of burlap, screenwriting workshops with Hispanic writers, and showcasing rare photos of Tomas Rivera at the Rivera library.

In the coming weeks, this blog will include photos and student testimonials about the 2009 conference! Be on the lookout!


Brian Marcelo
Tomas Rivera Undergraduate Fellow
Tomas Rivera Conference