Healing Art + Creative Opportunities at ICA North’s CU Saturday

By Lonnie Burstein Hewitt. Photos by Maurice Hewitt.

Artist Ethan Chan, in silent performance with TV and Table.
(He usually ate alone, but would set the table for
others in order to feel less lonely.)

Saturday may be date night for some people but Saturday late afternoon-into-evening is often date time for art-lovers on the five-acre ICA North campus in Encinitas or inside their spacious ICA Central gallery in Balboa Park.

On January 18^th, San Diegans of all ages came together in Encinitas to view new exhibits by ICA’s two 2024 artists-in-residence and have a chance to create their own artworks too. The theme was healing: In the upper gallery, Ethan Chan, an Asian American, displayed his sense of loneliness and isolation--intensified during the pandemic--in an hour-long silent solo performance. What was totally engaging to viewers was his love of kitsch: plastic sauce packets he turned into a comfort-food-laden table, and a wearable, wall-mounted Packet Jacket depicting the uniform worn by archetypal American heroes.

Packet Jacket.

The Sin Ti Series by David Peña.

These are lyrics from “Sin Ti” (“Without You”), a 1947 song by Los Panchos that brings David Peña back to the music he used to hear at the home of his beloved grandparents, who are no longer alive. These ten pieces are cyanotypes, which use sunlight to fix impressions of physical objects onto paper or, as here, onto canvas, assuaging the artist’s grief by recreating the past. 

English translation:     
“Without you
I will never be able to live
And to think that never again
You will be by my side.”

 On CU Saturdays, there are opportunities for visitors of all ages to get creative, with as much help or advice from ICA staff as they need.

 

ICA member Carrie Elwin, one of many eager participants:
 “I come here to craft,” she said. “I’m the perfect crafting freelance creative!”

The next CU Saturday will be February 15, 4-7 p.m., at ICA Central. 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. 

Will you be there?

Plan your visit to the  ICA   

Ethan Chan & David Peña: Heavy as Ghosts.
ICA San Diego / North (Encinitas)
Saturday, January 18, 2025 - Sunday, July 27, 2025
Thursday–Sunday 12:00 to 5:00 pm
Monday–Wednesday Closed 

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

Revisiting Quilt Visions 2024 at Visions Museum of Textile Art

By Lonnie Burstein Hewitt. Photos by Maurice Hewitt.  

 

Soul Spies, by Candi Lennox, St. Augustine, Florida. (Emerging Artist Award)
“They are referred to as the window of the soul, and I have relied on the eyes
to tell me the story of my fellow humans during our masking season,”
the artist wrote.

If you missed seeing Quilt Visions 2024, Visions Museum of Textile Art’s 25th international juried art quilt exhibition that closed at the end of December, here are a few of the extraordinary pieces that were on view, each of them an award-winner.

Winter Trees-A Glimmer of Light, by Shin-Hee Chin, McPherson, Kansas.
(SAQA Award, selected by the jurors for art that is compelling, dynamic, and progressive.)
Materials: Recycled blanket, cotton, linen, polyester threads.
Technique: Hand stitching, random weave and stitch.

This was the most amazing piece in the exhibition: it looked like an impressionist painting!  

Emerald Gardens, by Mel Beach, San Jose, California.
(Quilts Japan Award,awarded by Japan Handicrafts Instructors
and Nihon Vogue.)
Materials: Evolon non-woven fiber, liquid acrylic fabric paints,
hand-carved block prints,ink pad, assortment of threads,
dimensional fabric paint, “and a few sequins for bling factor.”  
Technique: Faux dyeing, block printing, free-motion quilting,
hand embroidery. “Each transformation is both meditative and fun.”

Reunity, 2024, by Phil Jones, Morrison, Colorado.(President’s Award)
“I am deeply concerned by the ugly, divisive environment in our current
world state of affairs…Reunity is a spiritual compass--
beaconing towards unity, totality, wholeness, and inclusion.”

Milltown Bus Stop, 2023, by Maggie Dillon, Sarasota, Florida.
(Award for Realism)
Technique: Raw edge machine applique, free motion machine quilting.

There will be much more to see at Visions in 2025. We haven’t had a chance to visit the current exhibits that opened January 11^th but there are five of them, four of which will be on view through April 26^th. Here are two fine examples:

 

From Beaded Echoes: Reflecting the Fragility of Life: La Garza (Heron) by Isa Guadalupe.

From Rocks, Water, and Reflections: Valley View Yosemite by Sandra Mollon.

If you want to see more, check out Current Exhibitions - Visions Museum of Textile Art .  But it’s a far better thing to see Visions in person.

Visions Museum ofTextile Arts
2825 Dewey Rd. Suite 100 in Liberty Station. Free admission.
HOURS: Wednesday/Thursday, 10 am-2 pm. Friday/Saturday, 10-4.
Phone: 619-546-4872

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

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.