October 20, 2000

Home, home in the burbs

A rancher outside Walnut Creek in the Bay Area rides about Interstate 580 in this photograph by Matt O'Brien from the exhibit Traditions in Transitions.

Traditions in Transition, co-sponsored by the Center for Design Research at UC Davis, is an exhibit of photographs and a series of public programs that focus on the pressures facing small-scale agriculture in California.

The exhibit, now through Nov. 24 at the Davis Art Center, 1919 F St., includes work by two photographers.

Gerald Tsuruda’s Silent Harvest chronicles the plight of the family farm in the Central Valley, where small-acreage farmers struggle to continue a tradition that often spans generations.

Matt O’Brien’s Back to the Ranch is a study of ranching in the East Bay, home to one of America’s oldest cattle-ranching communities. His focus is on a traditional Western lifestyle facing the increasing pressures of urban sprawl. The work of both photographers can also be seen at www.cmp.ucr.edu, the Web site of the California Museum of Photography.

The project also features a series of lectures and a chance for members of the public to bring in their own photographs of rural life and have them become part of a collection housed at local libraries. The photographs can be taken to one of three workshops, where they will be scanned and saved.

Workshops are from 10 a.m. to

2 p.m. on Oct. 28, Winters Library; Nov. 4, Woodland Public Library Nov. 11, Esparto Public Library; and Nov. 18, Davis Art Center.

For more information, call Diane Cary at 752-7822, or Victoria Whitworth at 752-2245.