The Sonoma Valley Museum of Art presents Last West: Dorothea Lange’s California Revisited, featuring two distinct experiences: a live theater experience and an exhibition.
The live theater performance is based on Last West: Roadsongs for Dorothea Lange (2020), written by Tess Taylor, directed by Ciera Eis, with video projections by Ryan Yu. Set against an immersive projection of moving, collaged Lange images, five actors tell the story of Lange’s life and journeys, helping us see how Dorothea Lange’s journeys might help us understand our own.
The exhibition touches on the eerily contemporary issues Dorothea Lange photographed nearly a century ago—mass migrancy and shelterlessness, catastrophic climate change, and internment. Coinciding with the 90th anniversary of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Last West uplifts current movements for dignity in the lives of migrant populations upon which California’s robust economy and agriculture depends. The exhibition presents Lange’s iconic as well as rarely seen California images and puts artifacts of her documentary work in dialogue with a selection of contemporary art by living artists and poets such as: Erik Castro, Warren Chang, Iris Jamahl Dunkle, Narsiso Martinez, Quaraysh Ali Lansana+Joel Daniel Phillips, Brynn Saito, and others.
General Tickets: $32
"World Premiere" Tickets: $52 (Exhibition sponsors attend free)
Student Matinee Tickets: FREE (by advanced arrangements w/SVMA Education Department)
All theater tickets include Museum admission and entry to the accompanying exhibition LAST WEST: Dorothea Lange's California Revisited
