Victor Cass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Victor Cass (born September 20, 1968) is an American artist, writer, and peace officer living in Pasadena, California. He is the first known user of the phrase, “Americano literature,” a term he coined to describe Latino writing in which the authors and/or the main characters are multi-generational Americans of Hispanic descent, not necessarily raised in the culture of the antecedents’ native lands. As Americanos/as, these characters come to discover the beauty and mystery of their ancestral roots through an immigrant or first generation co-protagonist, usually a love interest. Americano/a authors likewise manifest an appreciation for their ancestral culture via interacting with older family members and learning about their backgrounds.
Artistically, Cass’ most notable influence has been on the Pasadena (CA) Police Department, in which he has served as an officer since 1993. Cass exemplifies a “serving” artist—a person who continues to create while giving back to his community and country through military and/or police service—via numerous art and literary projects for the police department and by having created and led an innovative artistic youth outreach community project, which shall be described below.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Cass was born Victor Alonzo Reyna III, in Kingsville, Texas, USA, the older of two children. In 1969, his educator parents, Victor A. Reyna, Jr. and Thelma Gloria Tellez (Dr. Thelma T. Reyna), moved to Pasadena, California, where Cass attended public schools. He earned his Eagle Scout rank from Pasadena’s historic Troop 4, and was admitted to Art Center College of Design out of high school. (Cass had legally changed his name in 1987 to signify his artistic independence and to avoid confusion of his identity with his father: both Victors were referred to as “Victor Reyna.”)
In 1989, at the age of 20, Cass earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with Honors from Art Center, where he had excelled in advertising, painting, and creative writing. Cass showed literary talent early on. He published his first writing—an editorial fiction piece, “Pasadena, Sweet City of Espionage” in the Pasadena Star-News—the summer after his college graduation
After college, Cass took a year and a half off to travel, write, paint, and work on his portfolio. He regularly attended and engaged in “open mike” night at the Espresso Bar Café in Old Pasadena, a popular meeting place for budding writers, actors, and supporters of the arts. He wrote numerous short stories and a screenplay during this time, including his 1990 short fiction piece “On Blind Dates With Weird Girls,” which was published in The Amalthean Horn.
[edit] Madison Avenue
In 1990, Cass moved to New York City, where he worked as an Art Director at Lowe Direct, a subsidiary of Lowe & Partners, doing direct mail ad design for Xerox. During the nearly year-and-a-half he lived in New York City, Cass’ satirical essay, “Learning to Live With the Tough Guy of the Nineties,” was published in Lowe Profile, the in-house organ at his ad agency.
Residing in New York and being part of the advertising world was glamorous and exciting, but Cass felt unfulfilled designing ads for Xerox copiers. He was raised to feel a need to give back to his community. To make matters worse, hard economic times hit the advertising world during the Persian Gulf War, and Cass was laid off in the spring of 1991. By this time, Cass had already considered a career change to police work, having been influenced by the New York Police Department’s success at the time in curbing the city’s crime rate. Cass returned to Pasadena in late 1991 to pursue his new goals.
[edit] Police Career
He began the long journey of joining the Pasadena Police Department (PPD) almost immediately. He took various odd jobs to sustain himself during the lengthy application process. Cass reconnected with artistic friends from the Espresso Bar and was invited to launch his first one-man art show, “Still on Canvas,” at the café’s gallery. The show ran from May through June 1992.
In August 1992, Cass was hired as a Police Officer Trainee by the Pasadena Police Department. He began the Rio Hondo Police Academy training program in Whittier, CA, that September and graduated near the top of his class in January 1993. He was a co-recipient of the California Academy Director’s Association (CADA) Award.
Cass quickly grasped the concept of “community policing” and applied its principles in his daily work. He was one of the few police officers who consistently volunteered to work in Pasadena’s tough Northwest neighborhood, where he earned a reputation as an honest and fair public servant. Cass and his partners received praise for their high arrest rates and thorough investigations. A decorated officer, Cass has received numerous citizen and department commendations; city, county, and state commendations; and is the only Pasadena Police employee to be awarded the Chief’s Special Award medal in two (“Excellence” and “Innovation”) of three possible categories.
[edit] Artistic Influence
Cass was determined to have an impact on his community through public service, both in helping reduce crime and in improving the quality of life for all residents. He also knew that his creative ideas and artistic abilities could help the Pasadena Police Department reflect the community’s love affair with art, culture, and anything progressive. Luckily, the police chief and other supervisors recognized his artistic talents and allowed him to apply them in various ways to departmental work.
While a patrol officer in 1993, Cass’ chalk mural, The Pasadena Way--which portrayed an ethnically diverse pair of uniformed police officers reaching out to an African-American family--was well-received by the public at the city’s first annual “Chalk on the Walk” show in front of City Hall. This led to a request by the Pasadena NAACP for Cass to illustrate the program cover for the Thirteenth Annual Ruby McKnight Williams Awards Dinner in September 1993. This was followed by Cass’ T-shirt design for one of the patrol teams. The “Fantastic Team Four” T-shirts, which were inspired by the Marvel Comics characters, gained widespread notice among the rank and file officers in the department.
That same year, Cass was asked to design the police department’s corporate identity, including the logo for the police cars. He agreed to take on the task, but requested that he find a way to somehow include the community in the design process, since they would have to see the cars. Cass went to his old alma mater, Art Center College of Design, where he arranged to have the project assigned to the Community Service Design Workshop class there. The subsequent result of the student logo design competition became one of the most elegant and artistic police car logos of any law enforcement agency in the land.
In Summer 1994, Cass designed the cover of the police department’s Pasadena Welcomes the World pamphlet for the World Cup Soccer matches held at the Rose Bowl. Later that year, his oil painting, Pasadena Police Building, appeared on the cover of the police department’s annual report. In 1996, the original painting was also exhibited in the group art show, “Nuestra America,” at the Friends’ House in Northwest Pasadena and currently hangs prominently in the lobby of the police building.
In April 1995, Cass drew a portrait of then-outgoing PPD Police Chief Jerry Oliver, who was being honored at a traditional farewell reception. This portrait graced the cover of the event program. Since then, Cass has drawn the official retirement/farewell portraits of 20 other high-ranking and rank-and-file employees, including a deputy chief and four commanders.
Also in 1995, Cass’ talents got him noticed by Dr. W. French Anderson of USC, who was writing a definitive account of the famous south Florida FBI shoot-out of April 11, 1986, which left two agents and both suspects dead. Dr. Anderson had been seeking a police artist who could accurately portray, in simple line drawings, each sequence of shot trajectories and hits, in relation to the participants’ positions in the infamous gun battle. Dr. Anderson hired Cass for the job. Cass’ drawings were published in Dr. Anderson’s book, Forensic Analysis of the April 11, 1986, FBI Firefight, which was released on the tenth anniversary of the event.
Between 1994 and 1997, both as a patrol officer and as a Community Policing Officer in the Villa Parke Project, Cass designed the logos for the Pasadena Police Athletic Association; the Pasadena Police Athletic Association/M.A.S.S./Special Friends Project First Annual Charity Golf Tournament; Blue Smoke-A Society of Gentlemen Diners and Cigar Smokers (PPD club); and the PPD’s annual Charity Cook-Off and Volleyball Tournament 1997.
1997 was also the year Cass’ writing abilities were noticed by his police department. He wrote an editorial, “Community Policing is Only Half the Answer,” which was published in the Pasadena Star-News. This gained him the attention of the new police chief, Bernard K. Melekian, who recruited Cass to be one of several officers to contribute writings to that newspaper’s “Rap Sheet” column, which dealt with community law enforcement issues. His subsequent articles included “A ‘Routine Traffic Stop’,” “To Shoot or Not…,” and “‘Tagging’ is a Crime.”
Cass was promoted to Detective in 1998, when he was tapped to design the official logo for the XXXIII California Police Summer Games, which Pasadena was to host in the summer of 1999. These games were one of the largest sporting events in the world, and involved college and professional-level police athletes from agencies all over the state, converging on Pasadena to compete in Olympic-style sporting venues. This was the biggest design job of Cass’ career, as this logo was placed on all printed materials related to the games: brochures, media press kits, passes, souvenirs, pins, and giant banners which hung from street lights throughout Pasadena before and during the Games. Cass’ design not only contributed to the overall marketing success of the Games, which were considered the best ever, but the logo was also considered by many to be the best logo in the event’s 33-year history.
Artistically, the momentum increased for Cass in 1999. Because of his accomplishments, both in police work and through his creative efforts, he was recruited to fill an entirely new assignment in the Community Services Section, one which he helped redefine over the next two years. He was now in charge of the department’s “Special Projects.”
During this time, Cass designed the logos/identity for the department’s Youth Accountability Board; Zap Inc. Tattoo Removal Program; 1999 Baker-to-Vegas Challenge Cup Relay; The Bridge newsletter masthead; and the poster for the 1999 Pasadena Human Relations Commission “Peace Through Music Gala Event.” He also designed a series of new award medals for the department, and helped to formulate and rewrite the department policy pertaining to them. The first of these medals were presented to recipients at the 1999 Police and Citizens Awards Luncheon. His elegant designs both of the medals and the Summer Games logo won him a 1999 Chief’s Special Award for Excellence.
Cass also designed a set of bronze memorial plaques for two of the Pasadena Police Department’s slain officers, which were placed on the façade of the police building. He also planned the dedication ceremony, which was held two days prior to the thirtieth anniversary of the last officer’s death, March 11, 1999.
Throughout the latter part of 1999, in addition to police duties, Cass dedicated himself to the writing of a new history of the police department. The last one, written during the mid-1970s, had not been fully researched. Chief Melekian selected Cass to write a new, scholarly account. In the Spring of 1999, Cass had received a Master of Arts degree in Military Studies from American Military University (Manassas Park, VA), and his historical research skills placed him in good stead for this project.
Cass spent most of the year researching and writing both on and off duty. He also designed the book’s cover (the interior page layout and design was done by a talented Pasadena designer, Mimi Orth). The end result--Pasadena Police Department: A Photohistory, 1877-2000-- was Cass’ first book, which was widely distributed locally and regionally. Cass and his book received a 2000 Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Commendation.
In 2000, Cass designed and executed the beginning of a three-phase department-wide hallway project whose purpose is to celebrate the history of the PPD through artifacts, photos, awards, and documents. The first phase was completed on the second floor, in which dozens of original awards, newspaper headlines, and other documents dating from the 1930s to today, were framed and hung. Also on this floor, three large wood and glass museum cases Cass designed were filled with original Pasadena police artifacts.
Also in 2000, Cass designed and implemented the Central Service Area Sub-District Advisor Program for patrol, along with the logos for the department’s Peer Counseling program, Black History Month, and Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations. He also designed the programs for the Womens’ History Month event and the Citizen Police Academy Class XIV Graduation ceremony, along with the advertising posters for the PPD Peer Counseling Program.
[edit] The PAL Arts Program
Perhaps Cass’ most notable artistic contribution to the community, however, was the PAL Arts Program. In Summer 2000, Cass substituted for several officers at the Pasadena Police Activities (PAL) Center at the Salvation Army. PAL is an after school program for at-risk children, who interact with police officers in various activities, including ping-pong, billiards, foozball, air hockey, etc. The children also participate on PAL sports teams, including basketball, soccer, softball, karate, etc. Tutoring and school homework time is also provided for the children.
Cass believed that, although sports and educational assistance programs are beneficial, children in PAL were missing something that was also vital to their growth and development: art and cultural awareness. Cass had developed a theory that for children to succeed in life, they needed to be “empowered” by the three components of his “Trinity for Success”—Educational Empowerment, Physical Empowerment, and Cultural Empowerment. Cass recruited instructors from the community, who, along with himself, taught art classes simplistically modeled after those at Art Center College of Design to selected students from the regular PAL program.
In September 2000, the first class of the PAL Arts Program was underway. After 14 weeks, 40 children had been through the program. There was an end-of-the-term art show attended by 100 people, including various city dignitaries. By 2001, Cass had forged various partnerships with notable art and business organizations in Pasadena and had gained wider recognition of his students’ annual art shows, wherein student paintings were auctioned, with proceeds benefiting the program.
In 2001, the Spirit Awakening Foundation chose the PAL Arts Program to be one of the recipients of a special creative writing grant. Also, Art Center College of Design chose the PAL Arts Program to be assigned to students in its Community Service Graphic Design Workshop class for their Summer Term 2001. This class designed the “identity” and collateral materials (promotional brochures, mailers, etc.) of the PAL Arts Program, to be used for recruiting and informational purposes. Art Center was later inspired to form its own Art Center for Kids after the popularity of the PAL Arts Program. .
Cass led the program until Spring 2003, when he undertook other police duties. During his tenure with the program, three community art shows had been held, raising over $2,000 for the program; the program headquarters were relocated to Northwest Pasadena, where most of the participating students lived; more community partnerships had been forged; and over 100 children had successfully completed the program. It had been a significant contribution to the children’s lives.
In March 2003, Cass was recognized at the 2nd Annual PAL Golden Badge Awards with a Certificate of Recognition from the City of Pasadena for his work as the PAL Arts Coordinator. Cass later received the Chief’s Special Award for Innovation for his work with the PAL Arts Program and his police history book, among other achievements.
[edit] Writing Career
Cass has been a prolific writer over the years, though he has not always published his work. In 1999, he co-wrote “Land of the Morning Calm,” with Pasadena Police Corporal Simone Alexander, which chronicled their goodwill trip to South Korea in 1999. This article appeared in the Pasadena Police Officer’s Association In Pursuit Of magazine.
In 2000, Cass wrote a screenplay, Bunco, which was an official entry in the first “Project Greenlight” filmmaking competition. It was with Bunco, and its protagonist, Nick Duran, that Cass began developing his Americano fiction-writing genre. With Nick Duran and Bunco, Cass began exploring the experience of the American with little or no “ties” to his or her ethnic heritage, living in Los Angeles County, where the majority of “minorities” are identified by their ethno-pride. Duran and other characters laid the foundation for Cass’ first novel, discussed below.
In June 2002, Cass wrote the Foreword of the Spirit Awakening Foundation’s book, Blind, which chronicled the poetry, artwork, and creative writing of his PAL Arts students. Later that year, Cass wrote an article for the Pasadena Weekly entitled “Cops, Guns, and Alcohol,” in which he defended the actions of an off-duty LAPD officer who had killed an armed robbery suspect at a bar in Sierra Madre, CA. The Weekly’s editor, Kevin Uhrich, praised Cass’ writing for its well-thought out, deftly-penned view of “the other side” in an editorial debate over the shooting which spanned several issues of the Weekly.
Cass returned to his historical writing roots in late 2003, when his article, “From Alton to Camargo: The Mexican War Adventures of the 1st Illinois Volunteers,” appeared in Mexican War Journal. William Bozic, then-President of the Descendants of Mexican War Veterans, praised Cass’ article as “one of the best articles I have read in recent issues.”
In 2005, Cass self-published his first “novel” (actually, a short-story collection with an almost linear, narrative thread), the police crime thriller Love, Death, and Other War Stories (iUniverse), which was well-received and reviewed by the Pasadena Star-News, Pasadena Weekly, Los Angeles Magazine, and the South Pasadena Review. In the book, the main character, Detective Roy Gildard, whose mother is an American of Mexican descent who doesn’t speak Spanish, is admonished to get in touch with his Mexican heritage by two Latina characters—one, an immigrant antagonist, and the other, a first generation former cholita and love interest of Roy’s. With this, Cass thus began the thread of his “Americano/a literature,” which was further exemplified in his subsequent (and as-yet unpublished) novel, Telenovela.
In 2005, Cass’ article, “Designing the Future Today,” was published in Arroyo Monthly magazine. His article, “Scout’s Honor Besmirched,” was published in the Pasadena Weekly in 2006. Cass also joined the ranks of internet bloggers in 2006, with his site, Sons and Daughters of Liberty, where he writes articles about American culture, heritage, politics, foreign affairs, and slices of life. His blog site can be accessed from his website, www.victorcass.com.
Regarding the Latino fiction of today, Cass states: “It mostly chronicles the immigrant’s story, or that of the first-generation Latin American, raised in the foreign culture of his or her homeland. Where are the ‘voices’ of the Americanos y Americanas—the second, third, fourth generation Americans of Hispanic descent—who weren’t raised speaking Spanish, celebrating foreign customs, and deciphering arcane dichos? Surely, there are writers, like me who fit this mold, who have plenty to say about our identity, our place in America, our feelings about the mysterious culture of our ancestors, and our own discovery of the rich heritage lived by my antecedents.”
[edit] Art Shows and Displays
American Icon (an installation made of eight U.S. flags set in clear-casting resin) Art Center Gallery Pasadena, California-1988
One-man show, “Still On Canvas” Espresso Bar Café (South Raymond Avenue) Pasadena, California-1992
The Pasadena Way (chalk mural, 5’ x 6’) Contributing Artist, “Chalk on the Walk” Centennial Square Pasadena, California-1993
Equator (Oil on Canvas, 24” x 48”) Equator Coffee House Pasadena, California-1994
One-man show, “Evolution of Style” Espresso Bar Café (East Green Street) Pasadena, California-1995
Group show, “Nuestra America” American Friends Service Center Pasadena, California-1996
Mexican Gothic (Oil on Canvas, 11” x 14”) Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration Pasadena Police Department Pasadena, California-1997
The Disembodied Boob (Acrylic on Canvas, 12” x 12”) Group Show, “Absolut Chalk” Ross Farrell Gallery Pasadena, California-1999
Study in Black and White (Oil on Canvas, 14” x 18”) Black History Month Celebration Pasadena Police Department Pasadena, California-2000
Self-Portrait of the Artist During His Police Service (Oil on Canvas, 20” x 24”) Portrait of Courtney Morrill Polimeni (Oil on Canvas, 11” x 14”) Group Show, “The 26th Annual Art Show” Pasadena Presbyterian Church Pasadena, California-2000
The Date (Acrylic on Canvas, 12” x 12”) Group Show, “Absolut Chalk” Light Bringer Gallery Pasadena, California-2000
Children Art Culture Power PAL Arts Program Winter Art Show & Reception PAL Arts Center Gallery Pasadena, California-2000 (Produced only)
Color and Black & White PAL Arts Program Spring Art Show & Reception Light Bringer Gallery Pasadena, California-2001 (Produced only)
Rainy Night in Pasadena (Acrylic on Canvas, 12” x 12”) Group Show, “Absolut Chalk” Centennial Square Pasadena, California-2001
PAL Arts Program Summer Art Show & Reception PAL Arts Center Gallery Pasadena, California-2001 (Produced only)
School Girl with Creepy Guy (Oil on Canvas, 12” x 12”) Group Show, “The 27th Annual Art Show” Pasadena Presbyterian Church Pasadena, California-2002
The Armory Northwest Show PAL Arts Program Winter Art Show & Reception Armory Northwest Pasadena, California-2002 (Produced only)
Self-Portrait of the Artist During His Police Service (Oil on Canvas, 20” x 24”) The Money $how PAL Arts Program Spring Art Show & Reception Pasadena Federal Credit Union Pasadena, California-2003
Pasadena Police Building (Oil and ball-point pen on canvas, 36" x 48") Pasadena Police Department Permanent collection 2004
The Social Worker (Oil on canvas, 30" x 40") Murderess In the Rain (Oil on canvas, 30" x 48") Nova Gallery Pasadena, California-2004
For more information on Victor’s art and writing, visit his website at www.victorcass.com.
[edit] Sources
Anderson, W. French, MD. Forensic Analysis of the April 11, 1986, FBI Firefight. San Marino, CA: W. French Anderson, MD, 1996.
Cass, Victor. Pasadena Police Department: A Photohistory, 1877-2000. Shawnee Mission, KS: Herff Jones, 2000.
_________. Love, Death, and Other War Stories: Tales of Crime and Punishment in the Wild West. New York: iUniverse, 2005.
Pasadena Star-News, June 20, 1989.
The Amalthean Horn, Vol. 4, No. 1, May 1990
Lowe Profile, November 30, 1990
Pasadena Star-News, November 9, 1997; May 14, 1998; July 30, 1998; May 6, 1999.
Pasadena Star-News, November 22, 1999.
In Pursuit Of, Volume 4, 1999.
South Pasadena Review, April 5, 2000.
Spirit Awakening Foundation. Blind. Los Angeles, CA: 2002.
Pasadena Weekly, November 28, 2002.
Mexican War Journal, Vol. 12, No. 3-4, Summer-Fall 2003.
Pasadena Star-News, May 18, 2005.
Pasadena Weekly, Vol. 21, No. 22, June 2, 2005.
Arroyo Monthly Magazine, August 2005.
Los Angeles Magazine, August 2005.
Plus interviews with Cass.
