LAP 20th Anniversary Program

Thank you for joining us in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Sally and Don Lucas Artists Residency Program at Montalvo.

It is simply hard to believe it has been two decades since Montalvo reopened its artists in residency program in the architecturally significant, state-of-the-art facility, now commonly known as the LAP.

It was Montalvo’s leadership who insisted the residency program remain at the heart of the organization when they embarked on the planning and capital campaign in the early 1990s. Today, we honor:

• Jennifer DiNapoli, who spearheaded significant fundraising efforts needed to secure this vision for the LAP;
• Barry Fernald, who provided steadfast oversight of the project’s construction in collaboration with the six architect/artist teams who designed the architectural gems that have housed over 1,300 artists in the last 20 years; and
• Sally Lucas for her aspirational vision, along with the lead gift that she and her husband Don provided for the LAP.

Ideas matter. I want the Lucas Artists Program at Montalvo Arts Center to be a place where ideas are explored and supported.

Sally Lucas

Today, we also honor those whose generous contributions continue to keep the LAP “Future Dreaming”:

In 2012, Barry and Jo Ariko established The Fund for Artistic Programs, which has provided critical support in advancing the work of the LAP, encouraging risk-taking and the expansion of our artistic offerings.

George and Judy Marcus’s bold vision and significant gift in 2022 launched our Curatorial Fellowships, expanded outreach programs, and established The Marcus Commissioning Prize for extraordinary artistic talent.

The LAP has been brought to life by over 1,300 artists since the program’s opening. It is due to the deep passion of these Lucas Fellows that the LAP has become a leader in the field of residency programs internationally. Today, we celebrate the release of Hello, Goodbye, Hello, with contributions by over 30 artists reflecting on how the LAP has supported their creative process, and fostered conversation and experimental models of artistic production.

Today, we celebrate the countless individuals, including Montalvo’s staff, who have made the LAP flourish!

With our deepest gratitude,
Angela McConnell and Kelly Sicat

5–7pm: VIP Celebration Reception

• 5pm Check-in plus bubbles and bites in the Villa
• 5:20pm Dance performance by Kinetech Arts
• 5:30pm Welcome by Angela McConnell
  • Remarks by Kelly Sicat
  • Celebrating our Honorees
  • Special Guest Speaker Madeline Lucas
  • Announce the Marcus Prizes for 2024
• 6pm Artist Studio Activations — proceed to the Residency (Trolley available)
  • Music by DJ Chale Brown
  • Silent Auction
• 6:15pm Poetry Out Loud, Curated by Sally Ashton

7–10pm: Public Celebration

• 7pm Artist Studio Activations
  • Music by DJ Chale Brown
  • Silent Auction
• 7:30pm More Poetry Out Loud
• 8pm Dance performance by Kinetech Arts
• 8:15pm Remarks by Angela McConnell & Kelly Sicat
• 8:30pm Silent Auction Closes
• 8:30-10pm After-dark Projections with Akiko Yamashita
• Throughout the night, delicious fare is available to purchase from Fire & Rice, Taqueria Angelica’s, Waffle Roost, and La Fenice Pizza

Commons & Patio

• DJ Chale Brown (Friend of the LAP)
• Sally Ashton (Literary Arts, 2011)
  Santa Clara County Poet Laureate (2011-2013) Sally Ashton has curated a group of local poets to share their work.
• Kinetech Arts (Performing Arts, 2023)
  Kinetech Arts explores the dynamic intersection of movement, science, and technology with dancers, scientists, and digital artists. They will perform Experiment #5 for 2.

Historic Villa

• Michael Arcega (Visual Arts, 2009), Paolo Asuncion, & Rachel Lastimosa
  Join Michael and his collaborators as they bring TnT Traysikel from the streets of San Francisco to the hills of Saratoga! Participate in the communal story archiving project (6-8pm)—and enter the SideCaraoke for a song after dark.
• Akiko Yamashita (Guest Artist, 2023)
  Originally commissioned to present a work for our 2023 summer festival, Take Time, Akiko Yamashita returns to create another awe-inspiring projection for our building’s façade. Utilizing light, video mapping and real-time 3D animation, Yamashita draws inspiration from the spectrum of colors inspired by prisms.

Knight Ridder Commons

Designed by StastnyBrun Architects, Inc. with Tad Savinar

• Silent Auction (closes at 8:30pm)
• Hello, Goodbye, Hello Book Shop
• Kija Lucas (Visual Arts, 2015/2023)
  Untitled (Montalvo Botanicals), photographic wallpaper created from varied botanical life found on Montalvo’s grounds (available for purchase today only during the silent auction).
• Andre Woodward (Visual Arts, 2011)
  Sincerity as Far as the Eye Can See, installation of 7 ficus trees in cement cubes

Fisher Composer Studio 20

Designed by architect Dan Solomon, Solomon E.T.C. a WRT Company, with Patrick Gleeson & Nellie King Solomon

• Daniel Godínez Nivón (Visual Arts, 2017) & Fernando Vigueras (Music & Composition, 2016)
  The Mountain Dreams with Our Awakening emerged from a collective dreaming session with artists and staff at the LA Residency Program in the summer of 2017. Created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the residency, this sound installation is inspired by the imagined dreams of the mountains along the neovolcanic axis in the Mexican Valley. The auditory experience merges sound evocations gathered during mountain walks with piano accompaniments from Montalvo’s musician studio. Guided by Fernando Vigueras‘ musical compositions and Daniel Godínez-Nivón‘s graphic score, the installation aims to transform the studio into a resonating space that invites participants to envision the dreams of mountains. (6–8pm)

Andre Composer Studio 21

Designed by architect Dan Solomon, Solomon E.T.C. a WRT Company, with Patrick Gleeson & Nellie King Solomon

• Motoko Honda (Music & Composition, 2016) & Jesse Gilbert (Visual Arts, 2009)
  Experience the convergence of music and visual art as these long-time collaborators continue their ongoing artistic practice as a multi-disciplinary duet. Their ongoing artistic research combines Honda’s expertise as an experimental pianist/composer with Gilbert’s innovative visual practice, centering on his custom-built visual instrument SpectralGL, which responds in real-time to Honda’s music, generating captivating 3D animations that mirror the emotional essence of the sounds. (6–8pm)

Nelson Writers Studio 30

Designed by Hodgetts + Fung Design Associates with Lee Breuer

• Leah Rosenberg (Visual Arts, 2013)
  Rosenberg’s paintballs and paint objects are arranged around the space as if they have moved in. Sort of a paint ball intervention. Upstairs is a rooftop café serving drinks and various hued round snacks inspired by her installation. (6-8pm)

Donner Writers Studio 31

Designed by Hodgetts + Fung Design Associates with Lee Breuer

This studio is not activated this evening, but you are welcome to look around outside!

Bluth Visual Arts Studio 40

Designed by MACK Architect(s) with David Ireland

• Kimberly Varella (Visual Arts/Designer, 2019)
  Varella’s installation is a reenactment of the making of the publication Hello, Goodbye, Hello: The Sally and Don Lucas Artists Program [LAP] at Montalvo Arts Center. Among the materials presented are artifacts from early concept and design workshops, design presentations, proofs, press sheets, as well as folded and gathered sheets from bindery, cover tests, and more. There will also be a presentation of Montalvo Dreaming as animation and print series based on the collaboration that bookends the publication. In the early phases of design development, Varella wondered if the book could be organized based on what a day is like at the LAP—from dusk to dawn and the sublime hours in between? What resulted is an exquisite collaboration between Matteo Rubbi (visual artist), Byron Au Yong (composer), and Kimberly Varella (designer). (6-8pm)

Kirkwood Visual Arts Studio 41

Designed by MACK Architect(s) with David Ireland

• Ana Teresa Fernández (Visual Arts, 2024)
  Fernández explores systems that carry, move, and migrate water, either man-made or nature-based. Agua que Corre (water that runs) is the title Fernandez had in mind as the umbrella theme (pun intended) for this installation. Cumulonimbus specifically is the formation of water in the sky, the release of heat from the ground evaporating into the atmosphere. These formations are water vehicles that weigh 1.1 million tons and are 10-15 kilometers in height releasing massive downpours, the “wild” systems linked directly to climate change. Plumbing and pipes are the “controlled” and colonized underground systems that are directed and orchestrated by humans raising questions of power, control, and access to water. (6–8pm)

Doyle Sculpture Studio 50

Designed by Jim Jennings Architecture with Richard Serra & Czesław Miłosz

• Justin Lowman (Visual Arts, 2012)
  Lowman’s installation is a multidimensional artwork situated within the built environment and timeframe, here and now. Cut PVC panels frame views of the studio —8x8x8-inch cinder blocks and cast glass—while also calling attention to the overall structural elements of verticals and angles.  Filtered, ambient sunlight evolves endlessly throughout the day as nighttime gives way to the impact of LED lighting systems, and video projections. Pre-recorded sounds from the studio are also replayed continuously throughout the day in various rhythms and registers. The resulting installation attempts to unify disparate parts into a whole that opens the possibility to contemplate greater abstract terms of experience, time, and sublimity. (6–8pm)

DiNapoli Writers Studio 51

Designed by Jim Jennings Architecture with Richard Serra & Czesław Miłosz

• A tribute to El Paco Bar (Writers Studio, 2013)
  Originally created by Spanish writer Paco Inclan with contributions by visual artists Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik, and Enna Chaton, El Paco Bar was created in honor of Czeslaw Milosz who saw the studio’s space as a space for artists to gather until late into the night. Today, we will resurrect El Paco Bar in honor of our artists’ community – past, present, and future.  Pop in and stay awhile. (6–10pm)

Stolle Performance Studio 60

Designed by Adèle Naudé Santos, Santos Prescott & Associates with Doug Hollis

• Hope Mohr (Performing Arts, 2009/2023) & Ranu Mukherjee (Visual Arts, 2019)
  Collaborators and LAP Fellows Mohr and Mukherjee team up in this cross-disciplinary durational performance featuring a dance activation and visual elements constructed from sari cloth and felt by Mukherjee and Mohr. (6–8pm)

Brandenberg Visual Arts Studio 61

Designed by Adèle Naudé Santos, Santos Prescott & Associates with Doug Hollis

• Stella Zhang (Visual Arts, 2023)
  Zhang presents works that she has created during her current month-long residency. Drawing from her emotional and spiritual thoughts, Zhang’s sculptural works are meant to activate memories and put us in touch with our fears and desires. (6–8pm)

Hello, Goodbye, Hello documents the multifaceted role the Lucas Artists Program (LAP) at Montalvo Arts Center has played in the work and thinking of the artists who have resided here. In prose, poetry, and art, more than thirty contributors reflect on how the LAP has, over the past twenty years, supported the creative process, and fostered critical conversation and experimental models of artistic production.

Designed by award-winning design studio Content Object, Hello, Goodbye, Hello features the voices of notable artists, curators, and culture workers, including former US poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera; the internationally recognized artists and curators of Raqs Media Collective; interdisciplinary artist, dramatist, and Bessie Award recipient Alva Rogers; President/CEO of Artist Communities Alliance Lisa Funderburke; and curator, researcher, and co-editor of Contemporary Artist Residencies Taru Elfving.

Representing an important contribution to emerging discourse about the role of artist residency programs in our cultural life, Hello, Goodbye, Hello explores the unique relationships that residency spaces like the LAP generate between artists and place, while also interrogating the challenges of creating a hospitable space for artists and examining how residency spaces can be catalysts for change now and into the future.

Hello, Goodbye, Hello is available for purchase at the LAP 20th Anniversary Celebration event in the Knight Ridder Commons.

Marking the 20th anniversary year of the Lucas Artists Program, Montalvo Arts Center is thrilled to announce the inaugural Marcus Commissioning Prize awards.

The Marcus gift was established in 2022 to support an identified artist, or collective, whose proposed project will engage an all-aged public in addressing a contemporary, prescient theme.

The artists and projects are identified by the curatorial team of the Lucas Artists Program, along with their professional advisory council. This prize of $40,000 will support the development of a newly commissioned work for the grounds of Montalvo and may take the form of an installation, a performance, or a participatory investigation in any discipline.

The final work will be public facing and intended to build community. We see the Marcus Prize as a model framework for additional awards to be created for Lucas Program Artists in the coming years. Supporting the development and sharing the voices of our Lucas Artists throughout the Bay Area and beyond.

Our 2024 Awardees include:

Charlene Eigen-Vasquez
and the development of A Path Forward

Ana Teresa Fernández
and the development of Circutree