Mission Garden, Food, Culture, History | Lecture by Alyce Sadongei and Efren Martinez
A School of Landscape Architecture and Planning Event for the CAPLA Lecture Series
Join us for a talk by Alyce Sadongei and Efren Martinez of Mission Garden, a living agricultural museum recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places and considered the birthplace of present-day Tucson. The presentation explores the site’s history and the agricultural traditions of the many cultures that have farmed this land over time, and introduces the garden’s newer plots. The speakers discuss the challenges of growing food as Tucson’s seasons become hotter and drier, offering lessons that connect history, culture, and the future of sustainable food systems in the desert Southwest.
Watch the Lecture
About Alyce Sadongei
Alyce Sadongei (Kiowa/Tohono O’odham) was the first Native American director of the American Indian Museum Studies Program at the Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Museum Programs where she developed training workshops for tribal museums and cultural centers. She later worked at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian where she laid the foundation for the current training opportunities available at NMAI. Alyce left the Smithsonian Institution to serve as the Assistant Curator for Native American Relations at the Arizona State Museum. During her tenure there, she led an eight-year project that focused on tribal libraries, archives and museums in partnership with the Arizona State Library and funded by IMLS. She has served on numerous boards and commissions including the Arizona Humanities Council, Pima Arts Council, now known as the Arts Foundation of Southern Arizona, the governor-appointed state board for Historic and Geographic Names and was co-founder of the Native American Museum Collaboration Network, now known as the Indigenous People’s Network at the American Alliance of Museums. She is currently a commissioner for the Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission. She most recently was the Program Manager at the American Indian Language Development Institute at the University of Arizona.
About Efren Martinez
Born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, Efren Martinez first got inspired to start organic gardening in 2010. Efren has worked at various local nonprofits and schools around Tucson throughout the years, mainly in the West and Southern sections of the town. Working towards spreading the act, knowledge, and love of gardening to people from all walks of life and ages, he draws inspiration from his New Mexican family's legacy of working with the land on his maternal side and his paternal Mexican grandmother's delicious recipes. He seeks to honor the land and the many ways it provides.
Header image courtesy Alyce Sadongei and Efren Martinez.
