Browse Exhibits (2 total)

The Bumz: Fresno Hmong B-boy Pioneers

Bumz Crew Photograph

This exhibit documents the history of the Bumz, a b-boy crew founded in Fresno, California who helped lay the foundation for a thriving local b-boy/b-girl scene. However, none of this would have been possible without a broader and more complex history of Hmong people in the Central Valley. That history includes the relationship between the Hmong and the US nation state during the Vietnam War, the susequent waves of Hmong migration, predominantly as refugees, to the United States, and Hmong settlements in working class sections of cities like Fresno, California and Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minnesota. In this case, the Bumz are most directly products of their expereinces in and around Fresno, California. The history of the Bumz crew, then, hilights how youth of color carve out local identities as they juggle the complex legacies of migration, adaptation to new environments, and building community with other youth of color all while trying to look fly!

Climax/Soul Control

climaxsoulcontrolatholmespark.jpg

This exhibit explores the formation of Fresno's most noteworthy b-boy crew: Climax/Soul control. From its foundation in the childhood friendship between Charles "Goku" Montgomery and Pablo "B-boy Pablo" Flores, to its growth from the fertile soil of Roosevelt High School's lunch time b-boy battle scene, to its current iteration as an "OG" crew helping to train the next generation of Fresno b-boys and b-girls, Climax/Soul Control's story is one that epitomizes the ways local working class youth of color create art and community amidst structural neglect. The Climax/Soul Control Crew is first and foremost a product of the Butler Park, West Fresno, and Central Valley communities that gave it life; at the same time, however, Climax/Soul Control Crew has gifted those communities with a legacy and blueprint for how to create a sense of local pride while striving for excellence.