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< Back Chelsea Dean Featured Structure Artist Chelsea Dean is an American multidisciplinary artist whose work examines and documents the relationship between the landscape, home, and time. While rooted in photographic processes, Dean’s work is ultimately an assemblage of various media. She utilizes paint, collage, print, illustration, as well as found objects to help produce a physical interpretation of the spaces she encounters. Informed by her time spent in and around decrepit and abandoned desert dwellings in southern California’s Wonder Valley, her artistic practice is defined by both structure and entropy. Physical and metaphysical structures can be examined in her work through the use of architecture and personal artifacts that link the memories of an almost forgotten, bygone era to today’s consciousness. These elements are in constant flux, left to the mercy of the natural world. Time proves to be the main subject of her work, acting as the catalyst for decay. Aspects of home life are prominent in Dean’s work. Remnants of a past life no longer act as detritus, but instead embody a sense of humanity. The use of older furniture, rugs, and other home decorations are utilized in her installation works while her mixed-media and photographic work are filled with the imagery of structures and interior spaces. This highlight of the domestic space creates a sense of familiarity within her work. Architectural elements such as wooden posts and siding are showcased in a deteriorated state. Metallic media such as silver foil and gold leaf act as a reminder of once glamorous and ambitious ideals of past homesteaders now left behind. Textures of paint, fabric, and paper inform the idea of domesticity. Her compositions tend to hold a state of tension between environmental stresses and man-made structures, capturing moments that seem to perpetually teeter towards the edge of oblivion. Dean earned her Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art from the University of Puget Sound in 2000 and then her Master of Fine Arts from Claremont Graduate University in 2005. Dean has exhibited work in numerous group and solo exhibitions worldwide at galleries such as PØST, Cirrus Gallery, Gallery Lara Tokyo, as well as many others. She currently resides and continues her art practice in Los Angeles, California. Previous Next

< Back Brad Miller Brad Miller’s work draws inspiration from the fractal patterns of the physical world, which have been transformed into symbolic motifs across cultures for thousands of years. Miller’s practice explores archetypal patterns such as spirals, close-packing forms, and dendritic systems. The spontaneous fractal patterns that form in the physical world have always captured artist Brad Miller’s attention. Over time, he noticed that for thousands of years, several of these patterns have been internalized and transformed by people worldwide into content-laden symbols. One ever-present example is the variations of stylized spirals. They are seen on many objects throughout history: a Mimbres pot, Celtic tombstones, Van Gogh’s Starry Night and 5,000-year-old Chinese pots from Majiayao. With today’s technologies pushing the limits of seeing into and out to the edges of the universe, these familiar patterns constantly reappear. In his artistic practice, Miller explores several of these archetypal patterns, including spirals, close-packing patterns, and dendritic systems. Using diverse materials and processes including silver-gelatin photograms, pyrographic drawing, and ceramics, Miller infuses his work with these timeless and familiar patterns, as they dance between order and chaos. Previous Next

news archive: 07/08/15 MAYA EXCURSION with Bruce Love, Ph.D. & Stevie Love, MFA 06/17/15 Artweek.LA Cover Story "The Importance of Flower Paintings" MOAH FLORA 05/29/15 Conversation with President Bruce W. Ferguson and Social Practice Artist Rick Lowe 05/19/15 AV Outpost Brings an Ambitious Program of Social Practive to AV 02/24/15 30th Annual Juried Art Show at MOAH to Feature Two Distinguished Judges 01/27/15 Huffington Post: MOAH Artist Andrew Frieder Featured at Outsider Art Fair 01/07/15 KCET ARTBOUND: "Being Here and There: Ambiguous Boundaries and Contested Terrains" 12/16/14 MOAH's "Being Here and There" Cover Story of ARTWEEK.LA 08/14/14 Cedar Center Alive Again 08/13/14 MOAH Manager Andi Campognone appointed to Executive Committee of Art Table LA Branch 03/30/14 MOAH Featured in ARTILLERY MAGAZINE for "Colorimetry" Show 03/24/14 John Van Hamersveld interviews on 'The Poster Show' 02/25/14 MOAH featured in Italian Magazine, Drost Effect: "Colorimetry Uses Color as Instigator" 10/27/13 Eastside High students turn illegally dumped waste into art 09/17/13 Tim Youd: An Art of Sound and Word 08/26/13 Firm has sights set on space, beyond 08/25/13 Old, young theme of workshop 08/13/13 Artist critique slated for museum forum 07/29/13 Museum set to take flight with four new exhibits 05/14/13 Flowers, “SuperCallaFragileMysticEcstasyDioecious,” Bloom at MOAH 05/13/13 Eastside in Full Bloom With Artistic Pieces 05/03/13 The Social Art of Jorg Dubin 05/01/13 Art Ltd.-Artist Profile: Gary Lang 04/17/13 The Brave Gestures Of Gary Lang 07/01/12 Art Ltd-A New Art Museum for the Antelope Valley 06/28/12 Budding Young Artists Flock to MOAH Art Workshop Thursday 05/14/12 A Moon-Age Daydream: The Collision of Arts and the Aerospace Industry 05/02/12 New Museum of Art and History prepares to open in Lancaster 04/29/12 MOAH adds to BLVD 04/25/12 The MOAH the Merrier - Museum to open May 5 04/05/12 Lancaster Hit By 'Yarn Bombing' 03/21/12 Museum of Art and History set to make opening debut 02/06/12 Campognone Looks To Put Impressive Stamp On MOAH 02/02/12 Lancaster's Pro Tem Curator Looks Eagerly To Future 01/16/12 Museum Piece Declares, 'IT'S WAR!' 01/12/12 The MOAH the merrier: New museum twice as big as old

Kiel JohnsonNotes on a Morning WalkThe idea of “work as play” is central to Kiel Johnson’s art practice bringing a sense of curiosity and exploration through his whimsical creations. His primary focus is on drawings and sculpture that speak to the travels and adventures of his everyday life. Johnson’s sculptures and drawings serve as a visual diary that captures his animated and vast stream of consciousness. < Back Kiel Johnson, Notes on a Morning Walk Kiel Johnson, Notes on a Morning Walk 1/1 Kiel Johnson Notes on a Morning Walk The idea of “work as play” is central to Kiel Johnson’s art practice bringing a sense of curiosity and exploration through his whimsical creations. His primary focus is on drawings and sculpture that speak to the travels and adventures of his everyday life. Johnson’s sculptures and drawings serve as a visual diary that captures his animated and vast stream of consciousness. Inspired by odd discoveries, coincidence and chance, Johnson seeks to personify inanimate subjects. Johnson brings a sense of curiosity and exploration to the viewer, utilizing the world and its curiosities as his palette and canvas. His creations are inspired by robots, Greek sculpture, Egyptian gods, boats, and spaceships, among others, are a visual language that is an embodiment of Johnson’s humorous and energetic mind and eye. Through his heightened level of inquisitiveness and playfulness, Johnson continues to explore places, objects, and spaces that exist within his imagination. Previous Next

< Back to ACTIVATION 1/12 Carla Jay Harris A Season in the Wilderness January 22 - April 17, 2022 Born in Indiana while her father was stationed at Fort Benjamin, Carla Jay Harris spent most of her childhood in flux, moving every two or three years in and out of the United States. “My nomadic childhood is what, in part, has attracted me to photography. The camera is a way for me to attach permanence,” she says. “A Season in the Wilderness” is the most recent development of “Celestial Bodies”, an ongoing series by Harris, which stems from her experiences as a ‘third-culture kid’ — feeling othered by race, culture, language, and nationality. “Throughout history, mythology has served humankind’s need to understand its surroundings... Through myth-making, I have been able to tap into a sense of belonging that extends from a connection to universal cultural concerns and narratives,” Harris says. Carla Jay Harris trained as a photographer and cinematographer, working in the commercial art field in New York for nearly ten years before committing herself to a contemporary art practice in 2011. In 2013, she moved to Southern California to earn her Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, and has stayed in the area ever since. Over the last decade, Carla Jay Harris’ artistic practice has evolved to include installation, collage, and drawing in addition to photographic methods. Harris has exhibited extensively in California and on the East Coast, participating in solo, two-person, and group exhibitions. She has received numerous awards, grants, residencies, and fellowships, and her work can be found in the collections of the California African American Museum in Los Angeles, the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, and the Lancaster Museum of Art and History, among others. Previous Next

back to list Dan Witz Brooklyn, NY based street artist and realist painter. He grew up in Chicago, IL, and graduated in 1981 from Cooper Union, on New York City’s Lower East Side. Witz, consistently active since the late 1970s, is one of the pioneers of the street art movement.

CrossWINDS focuses on the local phenomenon of wind including the history and prevalence of wind power in the region and kinetic artists who put wind at the center of their practice. The project is designed to teach young people to become knowledgeable about the powerful local resource in order to create kinetic works of art. Student artist teams will co-create models of kinetic sculpture based on a curriculum co-written by the project partners. The curriculum is replicable and adaptable in schools across the High Desert and beyond. The works of art designed and generated by the students is a collaborative effort among numerous departments: Math, Science, English, Performing Arts, Foreign Language, Special Education, Physical Education, Social Science and Visual Art. The students in each department will be guided to gather data regarding wind and its impact on the environment. They will create models/small functioning kinetic sculptures inspired by the data and the designs of windmills, wind chimes, turbines and other kinetic art. In accordance with the multi-disciplinary mission of the Green MOAH Initiative, numerous departments are joining the project. The works of art are created by students through a collaborative effort among core departments such as Visual and Performing Arts, Math and Science. Additional departments including English, Foreign Language, Special Education, Physical Education, Social Science and more have been encouraged to get involved in complementary projects. The students in the core departments are guided to gather data regarding wind and its impact on the environment and the diverse array of turbine designs that harness wind for renewable energy. Students are creating functioning kinetic sculptures inspired by the data and the designs of windmills, wind chimes, turbines and other kinetic art. The projects teach students to innovate, communicate and collaborate, problem solve, think outside of the box, engage in an immersive multi-disciplinary creative process and learn how to work with new and recycled materials. Ultimately, the sculptures will generate power from the wind to illuminate LED strips incorporated into the work. The sculptures were tested for power levels by physics students and are used to raise public awareness about wind as an artful renewable resource. The sculptures will be exhibited at each partnering high school, MOAH and other locations and events in the community. Photography and film students are collaborating on a documentary of the creative process and creating posters to further educate the community about the project. Show More Project Photo Documentation Provided By : Edwin R. Vasquez

< Back This is a Title 02 This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. You can create as many collections as you need. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own, or import content from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, videos and more. You can also collect and store information from your site visitors using input elements like custom forms and fields. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. Preview your site to check that all your elements are displaying content from the right collection fields. Previous Next

< Back Reforged Identities Jewel Box Gina Herrera Driven by a deep commitment to environmental justice, artist Gina Herrera infuses her work with spiritual and aesthetic rituals that pay homage to Mother Earth. Using repurposed and salvaged materials — including military insignia and everyday domestic objects — she crafts assemblage sculptures that juxtapose organic, human-like forms, industrial materials, and mystical elements. Shaped by her Native American heritage, military service, and eco-conscious perspective, Herrera’s diverse experiences come together in a practice that is both thought-provoking and deeply connected to the world around her. Sculptures such as The Mighty Grasshopper, 2024, exemplify Herrera’s distinctive artistic practice and technique. Like many of her works, it is comprised of found objects, plasma-cut and powder coated metal, and ceramic molds taken from her own body. The piece reflects the diverse influences and her own personal exploration of identity and beliefs, encouraging contemplation, and deep social and spiritual engagement. Previous Next

Sean YangTOUCH THE TRUESELF WITHINThrough sculptural ceramics and mixed- media works, artist Sean Yang’s practice exploits the tension between reproduction and handcrafted objects, using this dialogue to examine social control, collective unconsciousness, individual identity, and cultural transformation. < Back SEAN YANG 20X20X12 Pigeonhole_MIXEDMEDIA CAST RESIN_2023.jpg SEAN YANG 9X7X6 BLUE MOUNTAIN PORCELAIN STONEWARE OXIDES GLAZED 2019.jpg SEAN YANG 4X12X5 CocaCola Buddha mixedmedia cast resin 2016.JPG SEAN YANG 20X20X12 Pigeonhole_MIXEDMEDIA CAST RESIN_2023.jpg 1/7 Sean Yang TOUCH THE TRUESELF WITHIN Through sculptural ceramics and mixed- media works, artist Sean Yang’s practice exploits the tension between reproduction and handcrafted objects, using this dialogue to examine social control, collective unconsciousness, individual identity, and cultural transformation. His work is informed by a nomadic-like experience during his early 20s, in which he traveled across thirteen European countries until finally settling down in the United States, taking bits and pieces from these cultures and fusing them into his own personal identity. Focusing on the desire to quiet the mind and embrace the unity between human, nature, and environment, Yang’s installation TOUCH THE TRUESELF WITHIN considers his interpretation of the Four Noble Truths: suffering, self-righteousness, perception of human nature, and environmental sustainability. Yang’s work is a meditation on the process of self-discovery, focusing on how the experience is not the result of a straightforward course, but rather a collection of social and internal exchanges within oneself. Previous Next

Mission Statement: The Lancaster Museum of Art and History is dedicated to strengthening awareness, enhancing accessibility and igniting the appreciation of art, history and culture in the Antelope Valley through dynamic exhibitions, innovative educational programs, creative community engagement and a vibrant collection that celebrates the richness of the region. History: Founded in 1986, the Lancaster Museum of Art and History operates four sites within the City of Lancaster, serving the Antelope Valley and greater Los Angeles County regions. MOAH, the museum’s primary exhibition space, is host to large-scale curatorial initiatives, which celebrate the historic traditions and artistic revolutions taking place in Southern California. MOAH holds a collection of over 10,000 artworks and artifacts, producing community-oriented programming engaging diverse audiences. MOAH:CEDAR, located at the Cedar Center for the Arts campus, boasts additional gallery spaces which highlight experimental and emerging artists and their studio practices, is home to the Museum’s artist-in-residence program and activates the regions youth and young adults through its weekly programs. The Western Hotel Museum and the Elyze Clifford Interpretive Center offer semi-permanent exhibitions highlighting the rich indigenous, ecological, natural, and economic histories of the Antelope Valley and provide access to the past and future from environmental perspectives. Learning is at the core of Lancaster MOAH’s mission. Collecting, exhibitions and programs are all undertaken in an effort to provide the residents of the Antelope Valley with a way of integrating art and history into their lives and taking away the lessons that these disciplines offer. By presenting quality exhibitions and programs as well as committing to the proper care and preservation of works of art and artifacts relating to history and culture of the Antelope Valley, the Lancaster Museum of Art and History is the region’s center for art and historical engagement. MOAH's exhibition program is diverse, offering a range of displays for all age groups. Exhibitions of locally collected dinosaur and native artifacts, collectible toys and hands-on history of the pinball machine have delighted children, while the presentation of works by major California artists and creative presentations from sustainable energy to the history of the surfboard have appealed to adults. Exhibitions that are especially relevant to the Antelope Valley have included shows on aircraft and space travel as well as displays on the industries and natural resources that built the area. For artists, the museum hosts an Annual Juried All-Media Art Exhibition and Annual High School Student Exhibition. Increasingly, the Lancaster Museum of Art and History is presenting exhibitions to the residents of the Antelope Valley that feature works by regional, national and internationally renowned artists. Land Acknowledgement: The Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH) acknowledges the original inhabitants of the Antelope Valley including the Tataviam, Vanyume, Nüwü (Chemehuevi), Serrano, Kawaiisu, and Kit anemuk peoples who call this region home. The museum honors the Valley’s history as a renowned center of trade and commerce, a vital part of a widespread economic network that reached far beyond its own boundaries. The Lancaster Museum of Art and History recognizes its position as a guest on these unceded lands and honors the ongoing work of Indigenous peoples to preserve their history, culture, and stories for future generations.

back to list Amir Fallah Amir H. Fallah creates paintings, sculptures, and installations that utilize personal history as an entry point to discuss race, representation, the body, and the memories of cultures and countries left behind. Through this process, the artist’s works employ nuanced and emotive narratives that evoke an inquiry about identity, the immigrant experience, and the history of portraiture.