media
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New Orleans Advocate: A traveling oral history project will float down Louisiana’s waterways. See how to get involved
New Orleans/Baton Rouge Advocate by Christian Snyder Starting mid-June, the traveling oral history project, “A Secret History of American River People,” will journey by handmade shantyboat through Louisiana’s waterways. Artist Wes Modes and crew will navigate Bayou Teche and the Atchafalaya Basin, interviewing Cajun and Creole residents and collecting personal stories of life on the…
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Press Banner: Felton artist sets out to document river communities in Cajun Country
Modes brings visibility to cultural heritage through art and storytelling Scotts Valley/SLV Press Bannerby Staff Ten years ago, in a quiet Felton barnyard, Wes Modes, 58, a UC Santa Cruz lecturer, and a few friends began piecing together a modest, 20-foot shantyboat from piles of salvaged redwood. Originally conceived as a weekend escape from Modes’…
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First Friday Santa Cruz: Secret History Project Tells Untold Stories of the San Lorenzo River
For local artist Wes Modes, this process of finding and sharing the stories of people’s relationships to rivers is a deeply powerful form of social practice—an art form that creates change through human interaction and conversation.
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Wheeling News-Register: California researcher travels Ohio River in shantyboat to learn about river life
The Intelligencer, Wheeling News-Registerby Mike Jones WHEELING, W.Va. – Wes Modes was stunned by the scenic beauty of the Ohio River as he floated down the waterway in his shantyboat this week on the first leg of a 600-mile voyage from Pittsburgh to Louisville as he collects personal stories from “river people” along the way.…
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: California artist will capture life on the Ohio River in a homemade shantyboat
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Christian Snyder Backyards tell stories, Wes Modes says, and Modes is willing to listen while floating by on what looks like a hut on a raft. On Wednesday, the California-based artist will set off on a shantyboat from the head of the Ohio River to explore the communities along the more than…
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River Tramps: The Strange Floating Population Found on the Ohio
Where shantyboat history has been hard to come by on the four other rivers we’ve visited, on the Ohio River, one need only Google for shantyboat and the name of any town along the five states that front the river.
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Santa Cruz Sentinel: “A Secret History” at Ebb & Flow River Arts Festival
Artist Wes Modes leaned against his shantyboat’s helm by the wooden dinette and his dog, Hazel, while he distributed free postcard photos of the 1940s-style vessel’s journeys on U.S. rivers.
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The Final Fate of the Shantyboat Dotty and a Question
What became of us? What became of the Shantyboat Doty? Did the shantyboat sink? Did Hazel, our ships mate, and I have to swim to shore? Did we have to survive on chestnuts and wild mushrooms on an uncharted island in the middle of a remote part of the Mississippi River?