San Diego Art Prize 2015 at the Athenaeum

by Patricia Frischer

San Diego Art Prize 2015
at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
May 7- June 11, 2016
Opening reception on Friday, May 6, 2016 6:30-8:30PM.
Wendy Maruyama with
emerging artist Peter Scheidt
Roy McMakin with emerging artist Kevin Inman
1008 Wall St. La Jolla, 92037
More info:patricia@sdvisualarts.net  858.454.5872
Plus: 14th Annual SDSU Art Council Scholarship Exhibition

The San Diego Art Prize is sponsored by San Diego Visual Arts Network.


The four artists, Wendy, Roy, Peter and Kevin are recipients of the SD Art Prize in 2015. This exhibition at the Athenaeum is the final part of their award which included inclusion in Art San Diego in Nov, 2015 and a cash prize. The beautiful Clayes Gallery of the Athenaeum is a light filled spectacular showing space in the heart of La Jolla.  Everything looks better displayed in this space with tall windows of light that cast wonderful shadows. 

Peter Scheidt stole the show with his centerpiece mobile bicycle woodworking shop. He will be using this clever, but honest machine to create wood spoons from material he finds abandoned on roadsides and dumps.   The bicycle reminds you of those we have seen in third world countries piled high with goods or carrying whole families. This is not a mock up of a mobile workshop model, it is a real working environment created by the artist who will be demonstrating it weekends during the exhibition. It is a true melding of art and life

Peter Scheidt, Mobil bicycle woodworking shop

Peter Scheidt

 For those waiting to see larger works by Kevin Inman, four larger images are included in the show plus a selection of smaller works. My favorite is the dumpsters below. But there are also some of his smaller termite covered home series on show. Kevin was the big seller at the Art Fair and I saw a red dot next to one of the tree images below. 

Kevin Inman

Kevin  Inman

Kevin Inman

Kevin Inman

 Wendy Maruyama showed us large wall sculptures with strong reference to elephants and so seeing these much more subtle but equally elegant wall flower and drawer boxes was a surprise. They are understated and beautifully crafted and easy to imagine filled with tiny treasures in any home.

Wendy Maruyama

Wendy Maruyama

Roy McMakin presents this chest which if viewed closely has a variety of shades and a crooked handle. I have no idea what this means and the artist was not present to make an explanation. I can only guess knowing some of his other work, that this was a found and damaged chest of drawers and the replacements were made, not too perfectly so that no one would be fooled and would see it as a combination of old and new.

Roy McMakin

The Athenaeum also presents for the fourteenth consecutive year an exhibition of artwork by Scholarship Winners of the San Diego State University School of Art, Design and Art History. The SDSU Art Council selects students from the upper division of the undergraduate or graduate programs. Each of the award winners receives the opportunity to present their artwork or thesis paper in the Athenaeum's Rotunda Gallery. 

I have chosen two of the artist's images Phil Rowland and Kaiya Rainbolt. It appears that the sculpture department at SDSU is alive and well!

Phil Rowland, colleague of Peter Scheidt from the same SDSU program that Wendy Maruyama headed until last year.

Phil Rowland

Kaiya Rainbolt

Kaiya Rainbolt