Sixteen selected photos from my ongoing “Chinese Sonoma” project are on display at Santa Rosa’s Finley Center throughout January 2025.
I began making photographs of RECA (Redwood Empire Chinese Association) performances for a dancer in our family. Then rehearsals, then more. The collection has grown.
In the 1800’s, Chinese hands created the first great Sonoma County wineries. Chinese immigrants provided nearly all of the labor – but they built no lasting Chinese settlement, no persisting “Sonoma Chinatown.” Those early immigrants weren’t allowed to own land, and in less than a generation they’d mostly departed. A century later, new Chinese families arrived, and today three+ generations of modern Chinese Sonomans have built homes, families, connections and careers here – a community in motion across every aspect of the county.
The joys of shared music and dance continue, and these photos have helped this Norwegian American to also feel part of our ever-richer shared Sonoma Life.