Fi2W on the Radio: Artist Captures Napa’s Undocumented Vineyard Workers Laboring While Wildfires Burn

Arleene Correa Valencia in a vineyard in the Napa Valley. Photo: Rachael Bongiorno

When wildfires ripped through California’s Napa Valley in October 2017, local artist Arleene Correa Valencia was shocked to hear that farm workers were continuing to work in the vineyards — even as smoke surrounded the area and local residents were evacuating.

Outraged, Correa turned to her art — painting — to highlight the dangerous conditions in which immigrant workers, particularly undocumented ones, are forced to labor. She took photos of the scene to create oil paintings, which are the focus of her upcoming series, En Tiempo de Crisis, In Times of Crisis.

Feet in 2 Worlds’ managing editor Rachael Bongiorno produced a story about Correa for NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.

Read more on NPR’s The Salt

Fi2W is supported by the David and Katherine Moore Family Foundation, the Ralph E. Odgen Foundation, The Ford Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The J.M. Kaplan Fund, an anonymous donor and readers like you.

AboutRachael Bongiorno
Rachael Bongiorno is a New York City based multimedia journalist and media educator from Melbourne, Australia. Her work has been broadcast on NPR, WNYC, ABC Australia’s Radio National, Deutsche Welle, Democracy Now!, SBS Australia, Free Speech Radio News (FSRN), and 3CR Radio. She holds a BA with postgraduate Honours from The University of Melbourne and an MA in media studies from The New School. Her stories and projects are available at www.rachaelbongiorno.com