Farewell to Madrigal

 

by Lonnie Burstein Hewitt. Photos by Maurice Hewitt.

 

 Ellen Arcadi with one of her mosaic pieces, a round table at what she calls
The Meeting Place at Madrigal.

For over two decades Ellen Arcadi has been the creative force behind Madrigal, a view-full hilltop retreat meant to give artistic people a place to do what they love. 

“If you love what you’re doing, work becomes love made visible,” Ellen says, and it certainly has been true for her.

She was originally an R.N. with a master’s degree in Public Health but always had an eye for good possibilities and enjoyed wandering through secondhand stores to find great deals on falling-apart pieces she knew she could turn into beautiful things.

In 1999, when she first saw the two adjoining hilltop half-acres in La Mesa, the property was pretty much in ruins, but its spirit called out to her and she bought it. She named it Madrigal after Anna Madrigal, a central character in Tales of the City, a popular series of novels by Armistad Maupin. Over the years she turned it into a magical place featuring her own mosaic art and many pieces by other artists.

Maurice and I were lucky enough to get a private tour on a sunny day last month when the Madrigal Gardens were looking lovely and so was the 180-degree view. Each of the studios and cottages was a delight, inside and out, and there were mosaics everywhere.

 

Stairway to a Studio.

Ellen and her mosaic sculpture S/he.

Ellen told us her son has warned people who come to visit her at Madrigal: “If you stand still too long, my mother will mosaic you!”

We didn’t stand still for long; there was too much to see.

A partial view of the Poolside Mosaic,
a collaboration with artist Linda Zaiser. 

 “Minds mingle and create magic,” Ellen wrote…as you can see on the poolside plaque.

A 4-foot-tall Praying Mantis created by a local welder.

Celeste: The Head Typist in Her Typing Pool by Linda Zaiser. (Her hair is a typewriter keyboard.)

Ellen at her Bathroom Mirror

Inside Ellen’s Studio.

A Tree Grows in Ellen’s Garage.

“This place has been my biggest canvas,” Ellen said. “I don’t know what will happen next but I’ve done as much as I can for Madrigal and it’s time for me to leave.”

If you’ve never had a chance to experience Madrigal, we’re sharing these little glimpses of it here, along with best wishes to Madrigal’s founding-and-ever-nurturing mother, Ellen Arcadi, wherever she may go once this special place finds its new owner.

To learn more about Ellen Arcadi go to Petals of Madrigal. 

Lonnie Burstein Hewitt is an award-winning author/lyricist/playwright who has been writing about arts and lifestyles in San Diego County for over a dozen years. You can reach her at hew2@sbcglobal.net.

 

Foster + Partners: Architecture of Light and Space at SDMA

by Patricia Frischer

Mary Axe Building - AKA The Gherkin, London

Lord Norman Foster is a bit more well known outside of the USA and this became evident why to me in viewing the  architectural models on view at the San Diego Museum Art of Art in Balboa Park. The exhibition Foster + Partners: Architecture of Light and Space is such a fun way to get to know the work of the team that is responsible for so many innovations, especially in sustainability. The American models are very conservative compared to those in Europe and the Far and Middle east.

I know his work from the relatively new gherkin i.e. pickle shaped office building that went up not too far from the Tate Modern in London, actually called the Mary Axe. But I really loved what he did at the British Museum by completely re-conceptualizing the library there and opening up the courtyard that house it, into a light filled space that is grand but also in keeping with the existing building.

I can’t say as much for the plans for the addition to the San Diego Museum of Art. Yes, it will be an enormous extra space for art and gathering. But there is not even one nod to the architecture of Balboa Park and to the old museum building itself. It will be serviceable, but will not become a destination building. The only thing it really reflects is the rather dull Timken Museum across the courtyard from it. Our friend, Kaz Maslanka ponders, “Could there be a compromise façade to the new wing, perhaps in the older style but made with new transparent materials? Could we please ask for something a bit more innovative in style, if it is not going to relate at all to the history of park. It is a sound conservation solution, but I feel we deserve more.  

Hall of Realms, Museo del Prado, Madrid

The Glasshouse International Center for Music, Gateshead, England

Great Court, British Museum, London

Reichstag, New Parliament, Berlin

Reichstag, New Parliament, Berlin - separate larger model of dome and interior

New Wing Proposal for the San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park, San Diego

Large scale photo conceptualization of the entrance to the New Wing Proposal for the San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park, San Diego

 

My little video of the model. 

The San Diego Museum of Art: A New Vision with Foster + Partners is the video which shows a building that is stunning in its function.  There is also a video interview of Sir Norman Foster. And I am glad to say there is a place in the exhibition that asked for your opinion of this plans. Please do go and let your voice be heard. 

Foster + Partners: Architecture of Light and Space at SDMA

On view until April 27, 2025
Balboa Park, SD

SDMA Artists Guild at Museum of Photographic Art @SDMA

by Patricia Frischer

Scott Bruckner  - look close, it is black and white wood hangers

It is a really big deal that  the SDMA Artists Guild  is having their very first exhibition at Museum of Photographic Art @SDMA in Balboa Park on display until March 9th. 

The group of artists that started the SDMA museum in 1926, first showed their work in the 1915 Panama-California Exposition.  Those local artists were involved in the design, façade and its early collections of the new museum. To this day, the Artists Guild continues its support of the museum including financial support. 

Currently with 112 members, 45 are represented in this showing that has been curated by Hugh Davies, retired director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego. This is amazing as the artists have not really shown at the Museum for a long time. And yes, it is the Museum of Photographic Arts that was taken over by the SDMA of art recently, but it is still the MUSEUM!  

Many art professionals have curated shows for the Guild, for example Alex DeCosta of Hyde Gallery, Nancy Lim, Associate Curator San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Katie Dolgov, Director of Exhibitions and Collections Oceanside Museum of Art and the quality of the work, though varied, is improving as it is in other art associations, like the Oceanside Museum of Art Artists Alliance. (Read Seen and Unseen at Oceanside Museum of Art by Patricia Frischer).

The small selection below includes art by James Bliesner  who is the new president of the Guild.  As you can see below it is a wide selection of styles and mediums, which one expects when a show has no theme. On the occasion of the very first exhibition a SDMA Artist Guild video has been created by James Halfacre with an introduction by Roxana Velásquez, the Maruja Baldwin Executive Director and CEO at The San Diego Museum of Art.

Rosemary KimBal - Dancing Brush, Zen brush painting

Angelika Villagrana - membership chair of the Guild board 

James Bliesner - president of the board Guild

Kevin Inman - vice president of the Guild board

Mark-Elliot Lugo

Jeff Crusberg

Kelly Davenport

True Ryndes

Julie Weaverling

Vicky DeLong

Their next exhibition which will be held at PHES Gallery in Carlsbad has an entry date of March 1 and will be on display from April 6 - May 31. We look forward to new directions from the SDMA Artists Guild.

SDMA Artists Guild at Museum of Photographic Art @SDMA
On display until March 9, 2025. 

 

Common Not-So-Common Objects at OMA West at the Seabird Resort

by Patricia Frischer

Alejandra Garcia

Common Not-So-Common Objects is not a pop-up exhibition but a pop art exhibition part of the Oceanside Cultural District at the Oceanside Museum of Art West Gallery at the Seabird Resort.  It is artists’ interpretations of everyday objects enhanced with their imagination and carefully curated by Natalie Gonzalez and on view until Jan 4^th.

The piñata as a bag of Cheetos by Alejandra Garcia, the extra-long, extra strong and right turn fire extinguishers of Zachary Dobbins, the supersized Spam presented by Dave Lefner, the charming tiny plates of Ron Carlson, the glamorized trash barrels by Duke Windsor, and the presentations of the over-abundance of our mass consumption by Taylor Chapin and Cheryl Tall: these are easily relatable stories.

But there is so much more at the Seabird Resort. OMA has advised on art in every area of the building. Three are featured here, but seeing all the works would be a good excuse for a staycation in Oceanside.

It was my first visit and I was there to celebrate the North County Economic Development Council’s Devvies Awards at a luncheon full of city mayors, councilmembers, sponsors, staff and volunteers. I was invited by Carol Rogers (one of my fellow North County Arts Network board members) from the  City of Escondido  Public Art Commission as the Escondido Public Art Strategic Plan was one of two Arts Award recipients. I am delighted to say that the Encinitas Pacific View Arts Center was the other. 

Zachary Dobbins

Dave Lefner

Ron Carlson

Ron Carlson

Ron Carlson

Duke Windsor

Cheryl Tall

Taylor Chapman

 

View of the whole gallery including windows from the street
but the entrance is through the lobby of the hotel

Michelle Montjoy's installation overhead viewed during the North County Economic Development Council's award lunch. Encinitas Pacific View and Escondido Public Art Strategic Plan were the two Arts Award recipients.  

Michelle Montjoy

Courtney Mattison

Jeff Irwin

 

Common Not-so-common Objects until Jan 4
OMA West at the Seabird Resort
101 Mission Avenue, Oceanside, CA 92054.
The gallery is on the ground floor towards the back of the building, accessed through the front of the hotel.

Awaken the Kid Within at Lightscape at the San Diego Botanic Garden

by Patricia Frischer

Winter Cathedral with Blue Bonnets in the foreground both by Mandylights

Lightscape at the San Diego Botanic Garden  will light up the kid within you with more than one million lights in a one-mile trail with 21 different installations by a variety of artists. This showing is produced by Culture Creative, a design firm from England and Scotland that produces these events in the UK, Australia and the United States. Besides the million-dollar installations there are a huge number of plants with lighting designed by John Stewart who is local to San Diego. These were so impressive and highlighted the SDBG collection. We were there at 5 pm and saw the sunset to the west and the higher hills to the east lit by the sun. We found this twilight almost more magical than the full dark as all of the planting participated in our enjoyment.

The music is a huge part of the experience and you can listen to it on site. This means that your party (and yes, it is fun to go with a group) can hear with no headphones to separate you. I think more than anything it is the music that sets the tone for each work. Without the music, it is lovely lights, but the music gives it context and story. Singing Trees by  ITHACA Studio is a good example of this, but I heard love songs, fairy music, Irish step dancing, jazz, Somewhere over the Rainbow and, of course, holiday tunes and that creates the winter mood even in southern California. 

Catch this year's showing until Jan 5 2025. Every year there are new sights to see and because of the dips and rises of the trail you get different views at every turn you take. Make sure and look over your shoulder to where you have been on occasion. This is a first class experience from a world class venue. 

Floraison by Pitaya a display of hanging California poppies.

Floraison by Pitaya a California display of poppies.

Floraison by Pitaya a California display of poppies.

Neon Network by Christopher Wren

The Painted Landscape by John Stewart

Submergence by Squidsoup, a curtain of lights on suspended ropes

Submergence by Squidsoup, a curtain of lights on suspended ropes

Submergence by Squidsoup, a curtain of lights  on suspended ropes

Illuminated Fountain by John Stewart

Illuminated Fountain by John Stewart

The waterfall lit by by John Stewart

Pulse by Jon Stewart

 Halo by John Stewart - illuminated and programmed balls on the lawn

Halo by John Stewart - illuminated and programmed balls on the lawn

Cascade Tree by Culture Creatives with 400 cascading multi colored light tubes suspended in an old Moreton Bay fig tree.

Cascade Tree by Culture Creatives with 400 cascading multi colored light tubes suspended in an old Moreton Bay fig tree.

Winter Cathedral with Blue Bonnets in the background both by Mandylights

Winter Cathedral with Blue Bonnets in the background both by Mandylights

Flame Skimmers Dragonfly  by Michael Young

Star Avenue by ArtAV

Lightscape at the San Diego Botanic Garden 
Showing until Jan 5

300 Quail Gardens Dr, Encinitas, CA 92024
(760) 436-3036

Culture Creative for full info. Map
Reserve your tickets for dates through January 5.

Tickets are from $26 to $34 for adults, $13 - $17 for children ages 3-12, and are free for ages 2 and under.
Entrance times are every 15-minutes starting and 5pm with the last entry being 8:30pm
Flex Tickets are also available, allowing entrance anytime between 5pm-8:30pm for $60 per person including parking
Discounted tickets are also available for San Diego Botanic Garden Members and active and combat-disabled Military with I.D. (excluding flex tickets)

Advance parking is $10 or $15 per vehicle depending on the date of your visit.
Parking increases by $10 on the night of the event
Food and Drink is available for purchase.