What I most enjoy about curating is the involvement it takes to see past the art itself, to tell its story in the best possible way. I enjoy immersing myself in art, and or in the artist. What makes it special? What can we take away from it?
I have extensive experience developing exhibitions from concept to installation, collaborating with designers, collectors, and artists. My work has encompassed cultural and social history, art, design, and sculpture. Below is a selection of exhibitions. I’ve also implemented hands-on displays with infographics(click to view) to further broaden the visitor experience.
april 4 – june 3, 2023
Painter Robert Chiarito and sculptor Richard Deutsch find their best art is like a treasure hunt where searching and discovery are at the heart of the creative process. As friends for over 30 years, they share and delight in each other’s artistic inquiries and challenges.
The colors of Robert’s paintings are just beautiful. I wanted visitors to have fun playing with their own ideas of color so I came up with a way of stacking blocks like we did as a small child. It seemed a simple and non-threatening way to interact, create and learn about how color works.
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january 10 – march 11, 2023
Six years. 4,121 streets. Angelica Glass spent six years walking the entire County of Santa Cruz, learning photography as she went. We are excited to bring you a story of finding beauty, listening to your heart, and gaining perspective in all sorts of ways. This exhibit is a marvelous experience of the diversity of this county. What is out there and what can we derive from such a journey? It turns out, a lot. Come and see for yourselves.
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september 20 – december 3, 2022
“The most common type of plankton, protists, are the ancestors of all plants and animals on Earth, including us. We are sea creatures that have evolved to live on land, carrying our salt water with us in the bloodstream of our own private oceans. We came from the sea and we are still dependent on it for our survival. We are bodies of water.
Discovering the importance of these tiny beautiful creatures and their role in our changing climate only deepens my attraction to them. This exhibit ties together science, environmentalism, and art in the hopes of inspiring others to preserve, protect and enjoy our wild spaces.”
For the Opening Reception, Jenni created this stunning display of her radiolarians suspended in ice. As we watched it melt there was a real sense of how the oceans are warming, the ice is melting and our ocean’s environment is being radically disrupted.
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march 29 – may 28, 2022
CHRISTINE ADCOCK MICHAEL ADCOCK VICKI ASSEGUED ANN DIZIKES HOLLY DOWNING BRIDGET MARY HENRY KINDY KEMP VICTORIA MAY JANET POLLOCK
Providing a frame with its warp pre-strung and a few simple tools with weaving materials, visitors were given the opportunity to see how cloth is created. It was interesting to watch the transitions.
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january 8 – march 5, 2022
This unique exhibit introduces Sikh art alongside a historical look at the Sikh migration and history from Punjab to America, specifically California. Through the Kapany Collection, we introduce Sikh culture, history, and ethos. Our timeline highlights the Sikh journey, calling attention to their important contributions to agriculture, science, and community.
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September 20 – December 11, 2021
Eloise Pickard Smith was a force of nature when it came to creating art and bringing art into the lives of the myriad of lucky souls who entered her orbit. She was a gourmet cook, gardener, and mother, raising four children who themselves went on to become respected artists. Eloise was a passionate community activist, successfully helping to block the building of a nuclear power plant. She did it all and she did it remarkably well.
Bringing together her art, personal and family life alongside her many professional accomplishments, this exhibit exemplifies the full breadth of her insight. It seems fitting that the beloved celebration of her one-hundredth birthday shines here on the walls of the gallery she was determined to establish and now bears her name.
With key loans from The William James Association, we exhibit work from one of her most outstanding achievements, the California Prison Arts Project. Five decades since she launched it, it continues to bear witness to her belief that people could be redeemed by the act of making art. We thank Peter Merts for his compelling photography, beautifully illustrating the humanity art brings within the prison walls.
Be inspired and engage in following your own aspirations, be tenacious, and always speak the truth. Eloise showed us that one person can have an enormous impact on the many.
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september 30 – november 22, 2019
Hardy Hanson’s art mirrors the man: detailed and precise, imaginative with a sly wit, colorful and unexpected, fascinating and provocative. His artistic expression had many forms: paintings, drawings, etchings, monoprints, sculptures, and wall reliefs.
The through line directing Hardy’s work was his probing, questioning, curious, and reflective mind. Prima facie impressions of pattern and color belie deeper meanings. His art engages the viewer visually, intellectually, and often, emotionally. Hardy thought that visual engagement could lead to interior journeys and he never stopped questing.
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This collaboration aims to enable people to access and engage with physics through art and to think about the role physics plays in their lives and the world at large. It provides meaningful creative and intellectual experiences for the visitors and for participating artists and scientists.
write-ups from the artists/physicists
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The Santa Cruz Recycled Art Program (SCRAP) offers selected artists access to the waste stream at the City’s Resource Recovery Facility on Dimeo Lane with the mission of highlighting our growing landfill problem and culture of waste. SCRAP is just one way the City is encouraging people to think differently about their own trash.
