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November 20, 2006

Developer and scholars to announce
plans for working class museum

A Sacramento developer and area scholars including Sacramento State faculty members will announce the formation of a new museum focused on working class art and culture at 1 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 22 in the University Library Gallery at California State University, Sacramento.

The developer, Allen Warren of New Faze Development, has committed $1 million to support the new Central Valley Museum of Working Class Art and Culture. It will be located in a 20,000 square-foot facility within a new Warren development on Del Paso Blvd.

Plans call for the museum to feature a main gallery with rotating exhibits, presentations, lectures and concerts. Working class musical genres such as blues, Mexican border music and Zydeco will be highlighted. There will also be an edible gallery with a demonstration kitchen highlighting food that is grown and prepared in the Central Valley. It is set to open Labor Day weekend of 2008.

In addition to the commitment by Warren, museum organizers will be seeking other private funding.

Wednesday’s announcement event will feature a sampling of what the museum will offer, including photographs, sculpture and textile exhibits from the Central Valley. Speakers will include: Joe L. Moore, museum founder and director; author Gerald Haslam; Terry Castaneda, director of the Sacramento State Anthropology Museum; Sacramento State President Gonzalez; Sacramento State Provost Joseph Sheley; Allen Warren, CEO of New Faze Development, Inc.; Robert G. Boileau, project architect and Shirley Ann Moore, a professor of history at Sacramento State.

The effort to establish the museum has been led by Joe Moore, who has handled special grant-funded projects through the University Library such as the digital California Underground Railroad archives. A number of other Sacramento State professors have been involved and are on the museum’s curatorial and advisory boards.

The museum will be independent of the University. Plans call for ongoing partnerships with specific academic departments in areas such as faculty research, exhibit development and student internships.

Media assistance is available by contacting Joe Moore at (916) 278-6669 or the Sacramento State Public Affairs Office at (916) 278-6156.

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