damian trujillo: hello, and welcome to "comunidad del valle." i'm damian trujillo. and today, a new art gallery in gilroy called fúchila on your "comunidad del valle." ♪♪♪ damian: we begin today with the monthly visit by the consulate of méxico right here in san josé. with me is ambassador alejandra bologna on "comunidad del valle." ambassador, it's been several months since we had you on the show. welcome back. alejandra bologna: thank you so much for having me. damian: yeah, it's a new year for all of us, but you're starting strong. that right now we're--that the topic is elections, right, and you're offering folks to register for the elections in méxico. alejandra: of course, but we are opening it as special

journeys since now until march the 10th. we will apply for the electoral vote credential. so anyone that is interest--mexicans that are interest in getting their electoral card, they can come to the consulate from 2 to 4. you know that mexicans can vote abroad and--but what is necessary is to have and get the credential for doing the process. damian: okay. that--it's been happening for some time, right? the service has been offered to mexicans living abroad for some time, but just a reminder that they need to do this if they want to participate in the elections. alejandra: yes, that because there's going to--there are coming some elections in the state of, estado de méxico and also at the north in coahuila. so they could vote, but they need the credential for that.

so we are having a special journeys during the week from 2 to 4 for the ones that are interest in getting the card. they can come without appointment. as you know, we work with appointments only, but in this case until march the 10th we will receive people just for credencial de elector not for passport or matrículas. just for credencial de elector, they can come without appointment from 2 to 4. damian: good to know. and i follow you on social media and i saw you doing a livestream for a week filled to advise people to drive sober, and you had a car that was wrecked in a crash outside the consulado so people can take a look about the--look at the consequences of driving under the influence. alejandra: yes, of course. as you know, part of the duties that we have here, activities that we have here at the consulate, we have a legal

department, protección, protection department, and what we want to do is to prevent any difficult situation to our nationals. so in this week, we are giving a lot of information in cooperation with highway patrols, with the police department of san josé, and other authorities, is to create the knowledge to the people that the consequences of driving with alcohol. it's very important because sometimes they think that, "oh, it doesn't matter. i have just a cup of wine and i will not have any problem." but a cup of wine could be enough maybe sometimes to have the person that the average of alcohol in your blood that will be off the record of the minimum acceptance.

so what's the problem? that they can lose everything because they can have, some, also deportation or they can--it could be also problem if they have a dui, that they will not fix their immigration situation. so that's why it's important to us to give this information to our community. damian: no. and i really appreciate that. and it wasn't one seminar for one day; you spend a whole week with different topics and different issues. so that's appreciated by the community that you present, ambassador. anything else that you want to add before we let you go today? alejandra: well, as you said at the beginning, we are starting strong this year. we are also working in having different visits from delegations from mexico. we are linking more in economic ties silicon valley and mexico. so we are going to have businessmen, we are going to

have different organizations coming during the year visiting san josé, and we are working on making matching with different businessmen and companies here in san josé. damian: very important. i spent some time in the colonia de santa fe in mexico city, which back then was called the silicon valley of méxico. i'm sure that's expanded since then. it's probably 15 years ago. but that collaboration between the two nations when it comes to business and whatnot is very important. ambassador, thank you so much, and we'll see you again next month on "comunidad del valle." alejandra: thank you. damian: thank you. and up next here on "comunidad del valle," as we mentioned, it's a new gallery in gilroy. it's called fúchila. stay with us.

damian: well, it's a grand opening of an art gallery happening in gilroy next month. it's called fúchilandia. with me back on "comunidad del valle" after a popular demand is the artist, the man behind this concept, ruben dario villa. welcome back to the show.

ruben dario villa: thank you very much, damian. i really appreciate being on here. it seems like you're always the first to the story when i got something big to say. so i appreciate it. damian: well, you know, you have mentioned you were on the show 8 years ago when you launched your fresh--your car fresheners, fúchila fresheners. and tell the viewers what i told you back then, i guess. ruben: the first line you said on that show was, "he's either a marketing genius or he's--doesn't know what the heck he's doing." so. damian: so it looks like it was the former, you're a marketing genius because, i mean, here's a concept. car fresheners or air fresheners are to--are aromatic. fúchila is completely the opposite. it means it's yuck. talk about the idea of naming your product and now your gallery. ruben: yes. well fúchila was a concept that was born inside of my office, and by my office i mean my bathroom because that's where i do my best thinking there.

especially now as i have kids, that's the only way to escape. i came up with the concept of fúchila fresheners 'cause i liked the name that it--of the ironic name and i was also looking for a project and a business to start that i was able to infuse my cultural identity as a first gen chicano here born in san josé and raised in gilroy. i wanted to infuse my design and my cultura into a product that is used on a daily basis like something like air fresheners. and so fúchila fresheners in alliteration was--when i came up with that name, it was just--i was just sold. i had to move forward with it. and, you know, i grew that business and i was able to at one point at the height of the--before the pandemic, at the height of the business, i actually had over 100 wholesalers internationally in japan, australia, puerto rico,

and all over the us, and eventually i knew that i had to continue pursuing this, as people started to call me mr. fúchila, you know. so i said, "okay, what's next?" and as i mentioned to you earlier, with a little nudge from god and from google, as, you know, i was laid off, i was one of the 12,000 that was laid off from google, i decided that it was time to take that leap and open a studio that i can only call fúchilandia. damian: oh, that's a great cause. so we have some video. it's actually from your website. in there, we're going to see la virgen de guadalupe. tell us about what kind of art this is. you mentioned it's on display right now at st. mary's church in gilroy. we're going to show that video now. ruben: yeah, the piece is currently housed at st. mary's parish in gilroy. but i wanted to commemorate la virgen de guadalupe during her feast december--which is december 12th, and so i finished the piece a couple days before, i hit up a friend, carlos, who

leads the youth group there, and i said, "hey. you think we can get this in the church and have it be part of the procession?" and he made it happen. so i was able to construct the almost-6-foot-tall-by- 3-foot-wide virgen de guadalupe made entirely of chiclets--hand-painted chiclets at that because i used over 20 colors and chiclets only come in five colors. so i had to get creative. and, you know, that was actually one of the bigger pieces of a series that i started that's all made entirely of chiclets, of which the first in the series were the frida kahlo mosaic that i made a few years ago that kind of blew up for me. so. damian: and these are chiclets that little kids sell at the border, right? ruben: yes, exactly. and that's exactly who i aim to commemorate. in fact, when i make this work, i always tell their stories about how going to--going--crossing the border, driving to mexico vacation i would see kids my age selling

chiclets to me and, you know, walking up to the window and selling chiclets. and i always tell their story because as a young child that was burned in my brain, and now i try to honor them any chance that i get. damian: i love that. during the production of that virgen artwork, how many chiclets were consumed during the production? ruben: consumed. a numbered amount of were consumed, including my kids, who actually whenever i put down chiclets, it's a very process--selective process. i do my own quality control and when i find chiclets that i don't like the shape or the size or they've been morphed for some reason, i start collecting them in another bucket that i allow my kids to use and create their own art out of those chiclets. so-- damian: see, there is one of the benefits of being part of the villa family. well, again, your grand opening is coming up in march.

it's there in gilroy. it's called fúchilandia. you don't want to miss the grand opening and, you know, visit frequently. march 18th, 64 west 6th street there in gilroy or you can log on to mrfuchila.com. we'll be back on "comunidad del valle" with mr. fúchila. stay with us. ♪♪♪

in las vegas, the most popular food is broccoli. yeah, that's the only food. they have broccoli smoothies, and broccoli pancakes, and broccoli ice cream, and broccoli hotdogs, and of course, they have raw unseasoned broccoli..... with stems. -daddy, i don't want to go to las vegas with you and mommy tomorrow. oh, are you sure? are you sure you don't want to go, it will be so much fun!

damian: we're back on "comunidad del valle" with mr. fúchila, the proprietor of the galle--art gallery of fúchilandia. so what can--people, what do they expect when they come visit fúchilandia? ruben: well, fúchilandia is actually a studio that's part of a nonprofit group called the 6th street studios and art center here in gilroy, and i'm one of the artists in residence. and so my thought was to open fúchilandia to sort of commemorate this milestone in my life, in my artist career and kind of show people what i've been up to lately, you know.

i had the studio about 6 months up to this point now and i've been, you know, making art, designing multiple pieces for the community, and i was hoping that folks can come and check it out, including the piece that i mentioned, la virgen de guadalupe made of chiclets, my frida kahlo, my large piece also made of chiclets. and i have a wide variety of other art that i wanted to show off and let people check out, but the whole point is that the entire gallery is open for that event as a community open house and the hope is that the community from gilroy, san josé, south valley are able to kind of come through to the studio and check out the rest of the artists that are there, show off the talent and of art and culture that we have in gilroy, and hopefully, you know, invite folks to keep, you know, checking out gilroy as a place that's, you know, up and coming in the scene.

i've actually recently been elected as the art and culture commissioner for gilroy. so this engraved, big part is also a part of me trying to show off that gilroy has some really talented artists and some lively things are happening over here too. damian: well, you're a good ambassador for that. so congratulations. but i'm intrigued by the way you've conceptualized this. you talked about your artwork involving chiclets and it's in honor and in homage to the chavalitos selling chiclets. you also created one work in honor of farmworkers, that you presented that to some special people. ruben: yes. a few months ago, there was quite an amazing panel. of course, you know. you hosted. and we had visiting to gilroy for the first time dolores huerta, luis valdez, who actually, i guess, was born in the wheeler center, in the building that we were in

actually, and francisco jiménez, who is actually--him and his wife are my go--my wife and i's godparents for marriage. and so we--i presented to the--each of them a piece of artwork that i made, which was the ufw huelga flag bird--with including the bird and the red flag, and i did that in order to honor the work that they've done for our community, honor the work they've done for our most vulnerable, our voiceless, the agriculture community-- agricultural worker community. and, in fact, i--in order to make it extra special, i went in and bought--i went to an antique shop here in gilroy and i bought a couple of fruit crates and i deconstructed them and i used the word from the word crates from this, you know, valley of heart's delight and i made frames for the pieces, and so

the pieces are framed by fruit crates, and this is sort of like a full circle moment for them that now they're being handed and made into art for these amazing community leaders. damian: oh, that's just a fantastic idea, a fantastic concept and then just through the way you're enveloping everything into one social justice platform, if you will. just real quickly, you're going to have some great music on the grand opening: los amigos, grupo folklórico -- humanos and it's going to be a time to be had for all. ruben: yes. i'm super excited. and thank you, again, for having me, damian. i really appreciate it. damian: yeah. no. it's a big celebration, right? well, it's time to -- i mean, it's cause for celebration. when one door closes, as google closed for you, this wide, this huge door opened instead, and now you're blossoming. ruben: yes. and i appreciate you being always part of the journey.

i hope to see you and everyone else out there and i can't wait for march 18th. damian: all right. well, thank you so much for being on the show and good luck to you, mr. fúchila. ruben: thank you very much. damian: all right. and, again, the grand opening, folks, is happening in march there in gilroy, march 18th, 64 west 6th street in gilroy. just look for fúchilandia, the name of the new gallery by mr. fúchila. there is his web address. we'll be back with more here on "comunidad del valle." stay with us.

damian: well, we thank you again for sharing a part of your sunday with us on "comunidad del valle." don't forget to follow us on instagram and our twitter. we're going to leave you now with another special interview followed by some little joe y la familia. we'll see you next week. female: understand or know what farmworkers do. they don't understand the hardships that they follow, that they work year-round, fog, cold weather, hot weather, to provide for us. male: sometimes people say-- damian: that's the taste of that new--well, it's not really new now, but it's been around for a while, getting a lot of awards, the documentary

"campesinos: the unsung american heroes." and with me today are the people behind the lens of this great documentary, alex ontiveros and joe poni. gentlemen, welcome to the show. alex ontiveros: thanks for having us. damian: yeah. and, alex, you know, in just watching those 10 seconds of bit of that trailer, the hair in the back of my neck started standing up. tell us what prompted you, what propelled you to you and joe to say, "let's give this a shot?" alex: well, damian, as you may know--i mean, i know you know that we started a venture called silicon valley latino back in 2011, and the--basically the main goal with that venture is to share the narrative and the stories of the latino community, right, but we hadn't done anything that focused on the farmworker community. and at the end of 2019, joe and i came together, had a meeting, and we decided that this year--or in 2020--going into

2020 we would dedicate resources and time to a passion project that became this documentary. damian: and, joe, when we you spoke to alex first about this, i don't know if you realize it's a -- you are like now, if you didn't. it's a job like no other. it's not a job--it's not an office job. it's not a job where you're driving a truck. this is a job. and i can say it because it's one of the jobs that it's a very bottom of the totem pole when it comes to respectability in the american job market. joe poni: correct. there's no dignity when it comes to being a farmworker in our day and age, unfortunately. and what we set out to do was to highlight the hard work, the sacrifice that this community does for not only california but for our nation. california is the largest food producer in the nation and they are essentially the backbone of our country.

damian: absolutely. i don't know--i can see that you guys are professionals. your picture looks a lot better than mine here on "comunidad del valle." congratulations for that. and you've showcased it in a lot of places, alex, and it's gotten quite a few awards. alex: yeah, we've entered it into the 2022 film festival circuit, and to date it has received eight awards and one kelly, and we've--in addition to being at film festivals, just specifically during the hispanic heritage month, we had a lot of our friends and contacts at the tech companies and corporations reach out to us to do screenings during hispanic heritage month. so it's been screened at places like build.com, linkedin, and vidaa and others, and so it's been showcased through those platforms to the employee resource groups--to latinx employee resource groups that have coordinated that with us. damian: well, thank you for giving a voice to the voiceless

'cause that's what--basically what the campesinos really are. let's do this. let's show. you have a 1-minute trailer from the documentary. let's show you a trailer, and we'll talk on the other side. male: for a very long time farmworkers, like all the other latino workers, have been in the shadows. you know, the pandemic put a light on that. female: you know, i look at the farmworkers and i think they're maestros of the land, they're profesores, they're doctores of the land. female: people don't understand or know what farmworkers do. they don't understand the hardships that they follow, that they work year-round, fog, cold weather, hot weather, to provide for us. male: sometimes people say, "oh, these people from other countries, they come and take our jobs." no. nobody want to do this job. or what's going on with the pandemic and stuff, these people they still out there working. they don't have any other help. so if they don't work, they probably don't eat.

that we got to appreciate more of these people. ♪♪♪ damian: there goes the hair again in the back of my neck. the documentary is 22 minutes long. i ask this of other documentarians: joe, how difficult was it to leave perhaps hours and hours of videotape and interviews on the editing floor? joe: very difficult because there's so much to tell for this precious story. the fieldworkers worked 10 to 12 hours a day in the sun, in the heat, in harsh conditions. and so you can just imagine how much footage we collected. when it comes time for distribution, we may add more so that it can be more of a 30-minute, maybe even a 45-minute length, but it was a very difficult, but honoring job for us here on this end.

damian: and one of your characters there, alex, said that the campesinos are the professors of the land. well, what powerful words to describe the campesinos. alex: yeah, absolutely. i think--and then that just goes to speak to the level of appreciation that we really need to have for these individuals that for generations have dedicated their lives to helping feed the nation and-- damian: let's put that up on the other side, alex. i do want to expand on that and i don't want to cut you short. so let's expand in the next segment. again, this is the documentary "campesinos: america's unsung heroes." there is the web address of silicon valley latino for more information. ♪♪♪ ah, ah--ahhhh. "pa' que sepas quién te hablo --" ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ ♪ por todas las ofensas que me has hecho; ♪ ♪ a cambio del dolor que me quedó. ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ por las horas inmensas del recuerdo. ♪ ♪ te voy a dedicar esta canción. ♪ everybody. ♪ cantando no hay reproche que nos duela; ♪

♪ se puede maldecir o bendecir-- ♪ ♪ con música la luna se desvela. ♪ ♪ al sol se le hace tarde pa salir. ♪ ♪ y ay va ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ ya no quiero-- ♪♪

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