The Chavez Memorial Solar Calendar & Education Project is made up of artists, educators, scientists, architects, archaeoastronmers, Chavez family members, community representatives, and city officials who work collaboratively as a consulting Board of Advisors on the design effort and on the educational program.
Design Team
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Santiago Casal, Founder and Project Director — Santiago’s career spans 45 years as a university administrator and faculty member (Antioch College), diversity consultant, award winning public radio producer, designer/builder, and community organizer. As an avocation he has travelled the world to study over 30 ancient archeological sites that have solar/celestial orientations built into their architecture. |
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John Roberts, Landscape Architect — John and his associates provide landscape architecture and environmental planning services to the public and private sectors. The firm has expertise in all aspects of the landscape design and planning professions, from project conception through final construction. Each public project, and most private projects, that we undertake are developed through an open and responsive community outreach process. Successfully completed projects include parks (national, state, regional, and local), schools, libraries, institutional and industrial campuses, streetscapes and urban plazas, museums, housing and historic restorations. |
Other design team members:
- Scott Donahue, Figurative Artist
- Archana Horsting, Director, KALA Art Institute
- Mojgan Saberi, Architect
- David Snippen, Architect
- Stuart Sidells, Architect
ADVISORY BOARD (Consultations as needed)
Educational Program (Art/Science)
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Tory Brady — As part of her work with the Exploratorium Teacher Institute, Tory works with the Science for Monks Project. His Holiness the Dalai Lama provided a directive for the exiled Tibetan monastic community in India to initiate science trainings that would eventually support new learning at the frontiers of science and Buddhism. A 4-week course is offered each year to a select group of 50 scholarly monks. |
- Alane Alchorn, Asst. Editor of Archaeoastronomy, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- David Dearborn, Astrophysicist, Lawrence Livermore Nat’l Laboratory
- Alan Gould, Curriculum Developer & Planetarium Director Emeritus, Lawrence Hall of Science, UCB
- Cherilynn Morrow, Ph.D., Director, Space Science Institute, Colorado
- Linda Shore, Ph.D., Director, Exploratorium Teacher Institute, CA
- Salvador Murillo, Retired, BUSD
Art/Science Design & Construction (Consultants)
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Peter Richards, Artist Emeritus, Exploratorium, an innovative science museum in San Francisco, California. Peter Richards shares his enthusiasm for integrating art science, nature and the elements through his work. His engaging outdoor public sculptures and immersive landscaped environments bring such phenomena as wind and tidal movement into a larger cultural context. |
- Steven Oliver, Oliver & Company (Construction/Management/Development)
- George Gonzales, Sculptor/Stonemason
City wide Chavez/Huerta Commemoration Committee
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Jesse Arreguin, Berkeley City Council Member, and this year’s chair of the Commemoration Committee. As a City Council member his priorities include, downtown revitalization, economic development and creating jobs, addressing climate change, and affordable housing and tenants rights. From a very early age, Jesse has been passionately committed to social justice. The son and grandson of farm workers, he has modeled his life after Chávez’s commitment to non-violent social change. |
- Kriss Worthington, District 7 Councilmember
- Beatriz Leyva Cutler, School Board Director
- Federico Chávez, Chavez Family Representative
- Cathy Campbell, Berkeley Federation of Teachers (BFT)
- Mark Coplan, Public Relations Director, BUSD
- Charity DaMarto, Berkeley Unified School District
- Lupe Gallegos-Diaz, Director, Latino/a Student Development, UCB
- Lorenzo Flores, Ecology Center (Web Master)
- Tina Flores, East Bay Farmworkers Support Committee
- Todd Kerr, Editor, Berkeley Times
- Mel Martynn, BFT
- Fred Ross, Jr., SEIU
- Alejandro Soto Vigil, Aide to Council Member
- Rosalina Worthington, SF Chavez Parade & Festival Representative
- Sbeydeh Viveros-Bandera, Aide to Mayor Bates
Seasonal Gathering Leaders
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Winter – Alan Gould is Planetarium Director Emeritus as well as a retired K-12 and informal science curriculum developer, Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley. He was one of the first science oriented educators to step forward to aid the project. |
- Spring – Lori Lambertson, Exploratorium Teacher Institute
- Spring – David Glaser, Science Educator
- Summer – Tory Brady, Exploratorium Teacher Institute
- Summer – Vivian White, Astronomical Society of the Pacific
- Autumn – Rabbi David Cooper, Kehilla Community Synagogue
- Winter – Bryan Mendez, Lawrence Hall of Science
Site Stewards
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Carlos Hill — Founder of Playing Life Academy (Footfire Soccer Camp and Brincadeira Viva Academy) which offers martial arts training and summer soccer camps at a safe after-school haven. The program offers classes in soccer, capoeira, kung fu, dance, fitness, music and yoga. |
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ACTIVE
Russell Nelson, Chemist
Tory Brady, Exploratorium
Gar Smith, Journalist
Beck Cowles
Steven Haflich |
INACTIVE
Cathy Sponseller
Kathy Churchill
Juan Portillo
Jim Shallenberger
Chuck Soper
Curtis Gray |
Chavez Family
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Federico Chávez – Administrative Law Judge, Calif. Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. Federico is the nephew of Cesar Chavez, serves on the Board of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, and is a resident of Berkeley. |
- Paul Chavez, Director, National Farm Workers Service Center
- Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Dep. Dir. of Public Engagement (Obama Administration)
- Fr. William O’Donnell (in memorial)
City of Berkeley
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Mary Ann Merker, Civic Arts Coordinator — I am an artist who “crossed over” into the “dark side” into administration! (: The arts can revitalize communities. My goal is to bring the arts into everyday experiences for the community at large through quality public art and community participation. I serve as staff to the Civic Arts Commission, which now has the primary responsibility in Berkeley of monitoring the public art development of The Solar Calendar – Cesar Chavez Memorial. |
- John Mann, Waterfront Manager
- Phil Catalfo, Waterfront Commissioner
- Andrew Clough, Public Works Director
- Linda Maio, City Councilmember, District 1
- Darryl Moore, City Councilmember, District 2
- Scott Ferris, Parks & Recreation Director
- Reeve Battle, Public Works Engineer
