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El Sin Dinero

Casandra N. Alejandre-Venegas

Refran: "As the California sun goes down, the struggle of many remain"


Card Description: For my Loteria Card, I wanted to share my thoughts on Poverty in California. I chose Poverty in California as a subject matter because it is a pressing issue that needs to be addressed. Despite California being known as a wealthy and prosperous state, there is a clear contrast between the wealthy and the poor. Many people struggle to make ends meet and provide for their families, facing challenges such as high living costs, lack of affordable housing, and limited job opportunities. It is important to shed light on this issue and work towards finding solutions to help those who are struggling with poverty in California. The colors in the piece represent California also known as the “Golden State” Green for Money and Blue for the Sadness that revolves around this situation. For me personally, this card represents the struggle of what the people here in California must go through, and why most people leave the state of California to find better for themselves and their families. But I want the audience to see that California citizens have to suffer and work extra hard to make a living here and how money is getting tighter and tighter each year with taxes and gas and groceries and everything else here in California and how soon California will only be the wealthy peoples land


Student Biography: My name is Casandra, A. Venegas, a Senior at Santa Maria High School. I live In Santa Maria, California with my mom and my 3 pets. What inspired me to draw my loteria card was as a single child with a single mother at times is hard for us. We use a lot of government programs to help us survive here in California like Welfare, Section 8, Food stamps etc... Even with these government resources, it is still hard for us. Housing prices are still very high right now. This is important to me and my mom because we have been trying to move houses for a while now with every house unable to meet our budget. Also, with inflation in gas and food prices, it's even harder for us. The artistic process was kind of difficult because I was trying to find a way for my image to stand out but be a little goofy to lighten up the subject of poverty in California, but I was able to get the picture I wanted. After high school I want to go to college and work In agriculture and get a good job.

Grade: 12

Card Number: 30

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