2018 Spring Updates

It has been an exciting spring season at the Lucas Artists Program (LAP), and two new sections of our blog give you behind-the-scenes access! In January, we hosted internationally recognized multimedia artist Laurie Anderson, then jazz great Henry Threadgill in February. Check out the delightful after-dinner studio visit with Threadgill, in which the composer shares his thoughts on rhythm and structure with poets and other artists in residence, and the visit to Yasuhiro Usui and Kio Griffith’s studio, in which they use an endoscope to create a visual score, and then play it for the other artists. Through our new This Week in My Studio series, you can see artists working in their studios and hear what they are up to. Tongan visual and performance artist Kalisolaite ‘Uhila paints with a machete. Drummer Will Calhoun fights off old creative habits. Poet Julian Talamantez-Brolaski makes up a song about a horse in Apache. Jordanian playwright Amahl Khouri builds a script in collaboration with actor Hadi Tabbal.

At the end of the day, they come together around the table for dinner in the LAP Commons. Our new blog series Around the Table gives you a peek into that shared experience, from recipes of the meals served to a taste of the conversations that happens there. Join us!

In February, we were joined by RADIO Espacio Estacion (RadioEE.net), an international art and media collective that organize a mobile, multilingual, online radio channel broadcasting conversations about mobility and movement while on the move. Led by a diverse group of artists, graphic designers, writers, and curators, including Sebastian Bellver, Stephanie Sherman, Lucas Artists Fellow Agustina Woodgate, and Hernan Woodgate, RadioEE spent their days hard at work developing a new broadcast exploring self-driving vehicle technology and other automated mobilities. Commissioned by Lucas Artists Program at Montalvo Arts Center, this new broadcast titled Auto-Piloto will premier on November 15, 2018 and will be presented as part of New Terrains: Mobility + Migration, a multi-disciplinary, community-wide initiative launched by the San José Museum of Art (SJMA).

Read an interview with RadioEE and learn more about their upcoming project here >>

This spring season, ten Lucas Artists Fellows and invited artists participated in our Open Access programming series and shared their work with South Bay audiences. In February, transdisciplinary artist, citizen-scientist, and SETI Institute Artist in Residence Dario Robleto joined Chief of Staff and Program Director of Breakthrough Listen Jamie Drew for a conversation about human exploration, in both outer and inner space. Also in February, Lucas Artists Literary Fellows Danez Smith, Monica Sok, and Julian Talamantez Brolaski were accompanied by Will Calhoun, a two-time Grammy winning musician and co-founding member of the genre-busting rock band Living Colour, for a stunning evening of poetry and performance titled Don’t Look Away. In March, Lucas Artists Composer Fellow Nicole Lizée and her collaborators multi-instrumentalist Ben Reimer and musical duo The Living Earth Show held audiences captive with a live performance informed by glitches made by outmoded and well-worn technology and iconic film from the 1960s and 1990s.

See documentation from the Don’t Look Away program here >>

In January, we launched Installations for Healing, an open call for proposals in partnership with SV Creates, for a new project-based art commission at Santa Clara's Valley Medical Center's (VMC) Women & Children's Hospital Wing. We received a number of compelling proposals. After an afternoon of rigorous discussion and thoughtful evaluation by a jury of hospital staff and arts professionals, we are delighted to announce that Lucas Artists Program Irvine Fellow Leah Rosenberg has been selected for the award. Exploration of color and its relationship to our everyday experiences of the world and our emotional inner life is an ongoing thread in Leah’s diverse practice that spans a range of media including painting, sculpture, installation, printmaking and performance. It comes as no surprise then that the Creative Director of San Francisco’s widely successful kaleidoscopic installation Color Factory will be working with Children’s Center patients, staff and visitors to create a palette that explores the role of color in their lives, especially as it relates to illness, wellness, and healing.

Find out more about Leah Rosenberg’s work here >>

In August 2017, Lucas Artists Program Curatorial Assistant Emily Borcher launched a monthly LAP Spotify playlist. What began as a one-off initiative designed to accompany our sound-themed summer exhibition, Now Hear This! has blossomed into a series of monthly mix- tapes highlighting the diverse sonic talents of Lucas Artists Composers and guest musicians and sound artists. Each playlist is inspired by either an upcoming LAP program, a seasonal musing, or reflections on specific musical genres. For example, in the lead-up to Lucas Artists Composer Fellow Nicole Lizée's public performance, our March mixtape highlighted works of experimental music, including the eerie atmospheric songs of Anthony Pateras, haunting vocals of Yoshimi Goto, and computerized static of Stephen Vitiello.

Listen to our Monthly Mix Tapes here >>

Since last December, the LAP blog’s editorial team has been hard at work adding content to the Open Access program archive. While this undertaking is ongoing--and documentation of many events and exhibitions that the LAP has coordinated still needs to be organized and posted--we are eager to share our progress with you. For a particularly delightful blast from the past, please visit the page for artist Tiffany Singh’s Bells of Mindfulness project. You’ll find in-depth video content, a three-part interview with the artist, and plenty of beautiful documentary photography. Tiffany was recently awarded a New Generation Arts Award from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand. And, for a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the creative process, visit Justin Lowman’s Evolution of an Artwork series, where he discusses the installation of his 2014 project Untitled (Belvedere Temple). Happy reading!

Explore our archive here >>

Coming up this spring and summer, the LAP is proud to present a number of exciting Open Access events. Don't miss a single one! Prices vary for these events.

Life Beyond Earth
A Conversation about the
SETI Artists in Residency Program
Friday, April 27, 7pm • Historic Villa

The Sally & Don Lucas Artists Program at Montalvo Arts Center in partnership with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute is proud to announce the 2018 SETI Artist in Residence--internationally acclaimed composer, arranger, guitarist, conductor, and sound artist Felipe Pérez Santiago--at a lively evening of conversation between artists and scientists. Santiago will share the progress of his ambitious live musical project Earthling, a work that he is developing in partnership with Dr. Jill Tarter. Plus, enjoy cocktails courtesy of Mezcal Meteoro and tacos from Oaxacan Kitchen Mobile.

Open Studios at the LAP
Saturday, May 19, 12pm-4pm • Free
Sally & Don Lucas Artists Residency Campus

The community is invited to visit the studios of the Lucas Artists Program at Montalvo Arts Center, which are normally closed to the public. Open Studios are FREE!
The following Lucas Artists Fellows will invite visitors into their studios to explore their current work and share their creative process: Culinary artist Andrea Blum • Composer/musician Juan Felipe Waller • Poet Monica Sok • Playwright Preston Lane • Filmmaker T. Kim-Trang Tran • Visual artist Cassils
Delicious food and drink will be available for purchase.

RSVP on Facebook >>

SAVE THE DATE

Art on the Grounds 2018 with
Opening Festival: From Me to We (Working Title)
Friday, July 20, 7-10pm • Free • Montalvo's Grounds

This summer, Montalvo will premier three newly commissioned works of art by Lucas Artists Fellows: Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, one of the most significant artists to emerge from post-Revolutionary Cuba, will lead a communal performative installation resulting in a new peace garden for Montalvo’s grounds. Award-winning US composer Howard Hersh will premiere a new immersive sound walk designed to be experienced by visitors over the earbuds of their smart phones. And in her first US exhibition, Brazilian artist Marilá Dardot will work with first-generation immigrants in the South Bay to create a large-scale installation comprised of hand-painted flags that will carpet Montalvo’s expansive front lawn and surrounding areas.

To celebrate the opening of these installations and explore their themes, the LAP will present an outdoor festival of poetry and performance tentatively entitled From Me to We, which will feature Lucas Artists Literary and Composer Fellows and guest artists who will explore such questions as: “What does it mean to feel out of place in the country you call home?” “What binds us to one another and what pulls us apart?” “How do we reimagine and practice what being with one another means?” and “How can we amplify and embrace all the voices from American life and support a generous, inclusive vision of the country and its peoples?”

Stay tuned for more information coming soon!

KEEP IN TOUCH: If you're an alumni Artist Fellow, we would love to receive updates from you about your projects and accomplishments to feature on the Open Access blog. Please send all your latest news to [email protected].

THANK YOU TO OUR LUCAS ARTISTS PROGRAM SPONSORS

Program Sponsors & Friends of the LAP

Anonymous (3) / The Ariko Family Foundation / Joan Borinstein & Gary Gartsman / Casto Travel / John & Maureen Chowning / Philip & Jennifer DiNapoli / Margaret Dorfman / Terry & Ron Epstein / Edward & Renee Fields / Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation / Goethe-Institut / Alexandra & Wolfgang Hausen / William and Flora Hewlett Foundation / Wanda Kownacki / Sally Lucas / McKnight Foundation / George & Judy Marcus Family Foundation / Shauna Mika & Rick Callison / Ann Marie Mix / Caroline Taddei & Nicola Morini / David Nakamura, Sr. / National Endowment for the Arts / Glenn & Sherri Osaka / David and Lucile Packard Foundation / Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation / Francine Lejeune & T.M. Ravi / Sudnya Shroff & Nickhil Jakatdar / Thomas & Yuko Tiernan / Charmaine & Dan Warmenhoven / Mitchell & Kristen Yawitz

Friends of the LAP are advocates, donors, and partners with the Lucas Artists Program at Montalvo, who sustain the program as it presents the work of multidisciplinary artists at increasingly high levels and in increasingly ambitious ways. Friends of the LAP enjoy inside access to resident artists and their creative process. Interested in learning more? Contact Emma Moon, Director of Development, at 408-961-5841 or [email protected].

What is the Lucas Artists Program?

Based at Montalvo Arts Center, the Sally and Don Lucas Artists Program (LAP) is a creative incubator and cultural producer dedicated to investing in artists and nurturing their development and growth. We support artists from all creative disciplines and geographical locations to create and present new and experimental work and undertake critical investigations of contemporary issues. We provide artists with time, space and support to test out new ideas, take risks, forge new collaborative relationships, and cross-pollinate ideas through our international artists residency. We commission artists working in and across all disciplines to create new and innovative work. We also generate opportunities for audiences to engage with artists and their creative processes through varied program offerings. Find out more about the Lucas Artists Program at Montalvo Arts Center here: blog.montalvoarts.org.