As we finalize our annual “Sight and Sound” issue, featuring the South Bay’s visual and audio artists, I am watching the inauguration of our 46th president, cautiously hopeful for a new tone in our national dialogue. I also can’t help but reflect as we look to spring, when this issue arrives in your mailbox, that a year has passed under a cloud of COVID-19. These factors give me an unresolved range of feelings—relieved after four years of holding my breath politically and fatigued by the shelter-at-home, Zoom culture. Yet, I am reminded that the strength of all society and culture is in its people. Those who dream, create, and act. Obviously, that is why I lead a publication focused on profiling our community creatives, because they are life and hope. I have no idea what the state of the Union and the world will be when you read this, but I hope that the people you met in this issue provided you with sights and sounds that strengthen you, encourage you, and find you in a “space” of openness and health.

Thank you,

Daniel Garcia

THE CULTIVATOR