Tristan Spencer
Mesa Legend

The Nervo Theater troupe will be performing an original play entitled “Los Murmullos del Ombligo” — “The Murmurs of the Belly Button” in English — here in the Phoenix Center for the Arts from April 21 through the 23. “Los Murmullos del Ombligo” is an original work by José Antonio Ocegueda.  The play addresses the theme of women in its various ways and slopes.

The woman is seen from outside the established, of what has been said, contrary to the forced paradigms and the rules of a society that has molded her misogynous desire forgetting her natural and simple need to be. This work, for example, deals with violence, but in this case from an anti-establishment point of view, the violence of women against women, a passive violence with different faces and different forms of gestation; That silent way that is not spoken, silent as a “murmur” that passes from generation to generation within a society crushed by the nefarious practice of double standards.

“Los Murmullos del Ombligo,” presents an imaginary journey where the spectator is forced to dialogue with everything that happens in their environment, the theme: Women, women in their intimacy, in their social burden, in their freedom, in their own environment Natural, in a scream, women in abortion, in feminism, in leadership, in the loss of their identity, in death, in deep silence like a murmur.

The themes are addressed directly and clearly, sometimes with touches of surrealism and deconstruction, also going through the comedy using it always, as a sarcastic and irreverent proposal that culminates in a psychological approach, bitter and at the same time very funny by its own nature, leading the audience in a swing of emotions that makes clear the very style of the author to do theater.

This staging is a voluntary work of the writer and director José Antonio Ocegueda, where he decides after 4 years of not doing theater, join a group of women and through his theatrical technique take them to an organic experiment that requires discipline and deep dedication .  Through workshops and deep classes of performance based on a technique, Ocegueda takes these women to an imaginary visceral space where they undergo the metamorphosis necessary to be able to get immersed in the different profiles of each character.

Some of the actresses have in their possession some previous approach with the art such as the poetry, design, photography, etc. “Los Murmullos del Ombligo” also contains several proposals on the scene that are full authorship of the actresses themselves as part of their theatrical formation and their direct obligation to the creation. “Los Murmullos del Ombligo” is the end result of the work and effort of each of the members of Nervo Theater, a constant in overcoming their own limits and fears, a staging that perhaps in their own essence can inspire other ways of doing Theater through a catharsis between the body, the mind, the imagination and the immediate reality that surrounds the actor in a society in constant challenge.

Tristan Spencer
Mesa Legend

Mesa Community College’s Red Mountain campus celebrates 15 years of leading the way as an environmentally friendly college campus. After receiving multiple awards such as the LEEDS Gold Certification, As well as being recognized by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) as part of the Garden for Life program. The East Mesa campus began construction in 2001, however, was not finished until 2002. Built on 98 acres of the Sonoran desert and from the beginning of its heritage, Red Mountain has kept to a certain “environmental ethic” Dr. Dennis Wilson said.

Dr. Wilson is a biology professor on campus who was instrumental helping to establish the eco-friendly culture at Red Mountain over the past years since beginning to work there. “There’s been an ethic that we’ve designed this campus around, which is this environmental ethic. In other words, embracing the natural world around the grounds that we’re in,” Wilson said. He emphasizes the campus is unique because of its incorporation of the local geography versus the typical repurposing of the land.

At the south end of campus sits the beautiful Saguaro building, the newest edition on campus. The mindset of the construction shows how very different the Red Mountain administration deals with construction versus that of other college campuses.  The Saguaro building serves as a very diverse center housing not only four biology labs, the performing arts center, and the staffing offices, but also a special type of life. This building gives a diverse meld of both science and music.
Professor Griffin Logue also spoke out about the wildlife housed in the various throughout locations on campus. “Part of the focus here is to display these animals that first off people don’t commonly have interaction with, but also there’s a lot of negative connotation around”.  Logue emphasized the more contact people have with these animals, the more they become attached to them.

The attachment Red Mountain has tried develop with the wildlife and the local community helps the national environmental effort to preserve wildlife. This relationship is developed through furthering the communal knowledge of the surroundings is quintessential in the personalization of local conservation efforts we can make in our own lives. The simple phrase “knowledge is power” has been the motto of the Red Mountain administration and teaching department for the past 15 years since the campus’s installment.

Red Mountain also has stepped into playing a role in the lives of the endangered species life in Arizona. After teaming up with the Arizona Game and Fish department and the United States Wildlife department, the Cienega located in the very heart of the campus became used as a sanctuary for two distinct types of endangered fish life. The Cienega has become an official breeding ground to aid these two types of fish to replenish their number so they can later be placed back into the wild.

Wilson explained, “We’re acting as a reserve site for these endangered species because their natural habitat is disappearing. So, to preserve them we’ve got these non-natural ecosystems where have different populations, and we’re one of them!” The campus is only one of few institutions in the entire state to fill this role as a refugium as Dr. Wilson explained. This adds to the prestige of the North American Native Plant Society Founders award given to Red Mountain above all candidates in the US, for the conservation efforts to maintain the desert life as sustainable as possible. In early 2016, Red Mountain again was praised as a Certified Wildlife Habitat.

“Let’s manage for conservation, not necessarily a manicured lawns.” Wilson chimed. The usage of xeriscaping has been part of the campus culture since the beginning of construction, and by using all natural and native plants which require much less supplemental watering the campus conserves about sixty percent more water than the traditional college campus of its size.

Vice Provost Nora Amavisca Reyes spoke about the learning opportunities the college has been providing through this mentality of keeping things close to nature. “It is a great opportunity to educate others” Reyes added. “Even I myself am being educated. We have incredible, passionate experts in these areas here on campus.”

The conservative effort of the administration has not always been easy to defend however the ethics have never been compromised. Reyes admitted, “We have had changes in grounds maintenance and this is an ongoing commitment that we have as a campus. We have challenges that are posed and arise and we have to confront those challenges to again go back to that ethic underlying why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

Red Mountain has shown us for the past 15 years that the effort to aid our planet is more important than any single award or recognition. Their consistent effort has been shown and should be taken as a lesson to the local community to help support the native environment of our beloved Mesa. Mesa Community College has taken a great step in the right direction over the past years, and by educating its students to respect the plants and animals surrounding the hectic campus life.

Tristan Spencer
Mesa Legend

Mesa Community College (MCC) has for years been dedicating specified areas around campus to beautify and develop the Art Walk.  Since the Soleri Bells were added in 1968, the MCC administration has been allowing artwork be created on campus by faculty, students, alumni and celebrated artists as an effort to raise awareness of the arts and beautify the surrounding areas. More than thirty permanent public art exhibits ranging from sculptures to painted works can be found just by simply taking a walk around the school.

Beginning the walk from the MCC Rose garden located on the north side of campus five unique pieces of art can be found here, including the well-known Rose Garden Bridge that connects the Southern road sidewalk to the parking lot. The bridge was built in 2013 after MCC were chosen to receive a grant from the Stanley Smith Horticulture Trust resulting in up to $40,000 for a variety of garden projects that were meant to enhance the environmental look. The bridge was added so students can quickly and safely cross the retention area near the Southern and Dobson corner of the campus of without damaging any of the projects performed since the grant was given to MCC.

Only a short walk from the Rose Garden and located outside building LA3 is the iconic piece entitled Sacrament. Created as part of MCC’s Art in Public Places program the sculpture functions not only as rainwater collector but given the unique design also is a filtering device.Sacrament, is one of the older pieces completed in 1992 by Kevin Berry, pays tribute to the Salt River and the ancient people that once lived on its banks. The structure is made of bronze and filled with stones all representative of the local environment.

Finishing the walk to the other side of campus we find “Generations”. This is a student-designed mural on found on the west side of Studio 28 and incorporates many themes highlighting the heritage of the Southwest.  The issues of women’s rights, the cultural gap between generations, urbanization, water rights and the concept of past, present, and future are all interwoven into the design, which seeks to bring awareness to the good and bad consequences of expansion.
The project involved several months of student-based research, design, and execution and included a Community Paint Day, which drew over 70 participants from MCC and the community.

The entire project was completed in the Spring of last year under the direction of artist Hugo Medina. This collaborative project was overseen by a cross-disciplinary team and made possible through a 2015-16 Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction grant and MCC contributions. Mesa Community College has a clear dedication to the education and development of its students, and through the various projects done on campus young artists are given this rare opportunity.
In this article, we have only mentioned three of the over thirty public art pieces that have to be conceived and created here on the Mesa Community College campus. All are encouraged to go out and take a walk around campus to enjoy the arts

Tristan Spencer
ts.mesalegend@gmail.com
@Tswizzle2