Kai Pagan and AJ Wright in Partnership with Watsonville is in the Heart 

Santa Cruz, California

Watsonville is in the Heart is a community-based research initiative committed to documenting and honoring the first wave of Filipino immigrants that arrived on California’s coastline in the early 1920s and were instrumental to the progress of the state’s agriculture. Partnered with Watsonville is in the Heart (WIITH), our team will craft a 3D virtual tour based on the exhibition Sowing Seeds: Filipino-American Stories from the Pajaro Valley. The exhibit will be held at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History and open from April 12th through August 4th. The main aspects that we’ll be prioritizing in the tour include interactive features and annotation functions that will help the tour be easy to navigate; photography was taken of the physical space so we can replicate exact details of the exhibit and particular fonts and colors that match our community partner’s vision. 

The main goal of our project is to help WIITH emphasize the presence and contributions the Manong Generation had within Californian history and expand its audience size. Using a physical space temporarily reserved in the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History to display the historical information they’ve gathered limits the scope of people WIITH can reach to locals or visitors within the Santa Cruz area who can conform their schedules to fit the times that the Museum opens and closes at. Thus, to combat such limitations, our team is transforming that physical space into a digital experience accessible anywhere. 

Funding: $490