Programs

Home to formal gardens, oak and redwood forests, and various exotic plantings, Montalvo's horticultural diversity serves as inspiration for a series of new works created by Lucas Artist Fellows Kija Lucas, Monica Lundy, Hector Dionicio Mendoza, and Fieldworks Collaborative (Trena Noval and Ann Wettrich). Identifying, collecting, and documenting various specimens of plant life discovered while exploring Montalvo's 175-acre public park, these artists have adopted creative processes that resemble the activities of the backyard naturalist. Through sculpture, painting, photography, and works on paper, viewers are invited to reflect on the ill-defined boundary between the natural and unnatural, and the intimate entanglement…

Untitled (Belvedere Temple) was a site conditioned architectural intervention inhabiting an existing structure that forms part of Montalvo’s historic property. Responding to the original purpose of the Belvedere Temple to incorporate a specific vantage point or view, Justin Lowman used ambient and artificial light, PVC, redwood, plexiglas, textilene, and filters to frame and direct the viewer’s gaze to various overlooked vistas. Developed in conversation with experiments the artist conducted in his studio at the Lucas Artists Residency Program in 2012 and his recent installation in the Project Space Gallery, Justin described this work as a “mechanism for seeing.” Like Pixel Panes,…

Less than 50 years ago, “the Summer of Love” was more than a pop culture fad: it aspired to bring about a major social and political shift in America. Today, however, we face a near total lack of public debate about love as the basis of connection, understanding, and acceptance in our culture and our communities. Technological innovation makes it possible for us to be better informed about each other’s lives and feelings than any other time in human history. But is it deepening our connections with others? Or do cell phones, e-mail, and social media strip nuance from our communication and leave us lonelier than before? L O V E, Montalvo’s latest exhibition, considers the challenges…

With COME HEALING, its 2013 outdoor Art on the Grounds exhibition, Montalvo invites you to be restored. On view are works by six national and international artists exploring the relationships between healing, wholeness, and place:​ Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan (Brisbane, Australia) consider the connections between wellbeing and home with Dwellings: Project Another Country (Saratoga Hills) and Wing In Ground. Small houses produced from recycled moving boxes during workshops with local participants are transformed into two large-scale installations. Rashomon, a 15-piece installation of 3-foot high steel sculptures by Chuck Ginnever (Putney, Vermont), challenges viewers to question their perspective, suggesting that our life…

Of Maori, Indian, and Pacific Island decent, Lucas Artists Visual Arts Fellow Tiffany Singh (Auckland, New Zealand) draws inspiration from her varied cultural backgrounds to create work consisting largely of natural mixed-media-based installation and participatory community building. She has garnered critical acclaim for her use of ceremonial and ritualistic materials gathered from and transcending everyday culture. Continuing her ongoing investigation into the concept of sacred spaces, in 2013 she created the participatory sculpture The Bells of Mindfulness at Montalvo Arts Center. Working with community groups and in collaboration with rural artisans in western India, she produced an installation of 1000…