Artist in Residence Up Gouache Plein Air Paintings Chloe Allred This art workshop will cover plein air painting techniques in gouache. Plein air painting is the act of painting outside from direct observation of the landscape. There is something magical that happens when you sit in one place for a time, observe, and paint that place. The cotton tail rabbits stop noticing you and come out to explore. Lizards come out to sun themselves in the open. Crows carry on with their clicking conversations. For this workshop Chloe Allred will demonstrate a variety of painting techniques in gouache and participants will discover beautiful areas in the preserve to make paintings from. March 27 - July 6, 2024 Back to list

Alex Kim < Back Untitled-AK By Alex Kim Today, I felt the most painful experience of my life; I felt a sudden pinch on my spine, followed by a feeling - somehow both hot and cold at the same time - that shot up from my legs and went all the way to the top of my head. No part of my body was unaffected. Something massive had grabbed me. I was terrified. But it’s ok. Because immediately afterwards, I saw the most beautiful thing. When the awful tendrils released me, I felt something else grab my body. Something softer and more gentle. When I looked up, I faced the most wonderful creature. Her eyes, the most vibrant shade of blue that made the cloudless sky pale in comparison, looked down upon me with such a benevolent expression that my body surged with a tenderness and comfort I have never felt before. The creature opened her mouth and released a melodic tone. It looked as though she was communicating to the creature that had picked me up. Reprimanding it for the brutish way it had treated me, no doubt. “So this is what it had all for,” I thought to myself, “The pain must have been some sort of test, and I was lucky enough to pass.” The beautiful creature took me to what I assume was her home. I watched as she filled a long container with water, and when it was half-full, she gently laid me down in it. Can you believe it? I hardly knew her, but she sacrificed a part of her own home and extended it to me. I gushed with adoration and tried to express my gratitude with a movement of my arms, but it was still impossible to move. As I struggled, another one of my petals fell off, looking slightly darker and less vibrant than I remembered. I feel tired now, weaker. But I have never been happier. I love her. I think she feels the same. Previous Next

1. The Bell X-2 Starbuster was a rocket-powered, swept-wing research aircraft designed to investigate the structural effects of aerodynamic heating as well as stability and control effectiveness at high speeds and altitudes. The program was developed jointly in 1945 by Bell Aircraft Corporation, the U.S. Air Force and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to explore aerodynamic problems of supersonic flight and to expand the speed and altitude regimes obtained with the earlier X-1 series of research aircraft.. 2. Convair F-102 Delta Dagger on ramp at Edwards Air Force Base. The Delta Dagger was part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s. Entering service in 1956, its main purpose was to intercept invading Soviet strategic bomber fleets during the Cold War. 3. Air Force test pilot Arthur "Kit" Murray, posing in front of the Douglas X-3 Stiletto at Edwards Air Force Base, 1956. Murray was the first test pilot to be permanently assigned to Muroc Army Air Field (later, Edwards Air Force Base). Other test pilots, such as Captain Chuck Yeager, were assigned to Wright Field and traveled to Muroc as necessary. •Bell X-2 Starbuster •Convair YF-102 Delta Dagger on ramp at Edwards Air Force Base •Air Force test pilot Arthur "Kit" Murray posing in front of the Douglas X-3 Stiletto 1/1 1. Bell X-2 Starbuster, c. 1955 Photographic Print 2012.999.54 MOAH Permanent Collection Gift of Edwards Air Force Base (AFFTC-HO) 2. Convair YF-102 Delta Dagger on ramp at Edwards Air Force Base, 1955 Photographic Print 2012.999.45 MOAH Permanent Collection Gift of Edwards Air Force Base (AFFTC-HO) 3. Air Force test pilot Arthur "Kit" Murray posing in front of the Douglas X-3 Stiletto, 1956 Photographic Print 2012.999.47.01 MOAH Permanent Collection Gift of Edwards Air Force Base (AFFTC-HO) 1. The Bell X-2 Starbuster was a rocket-powered, swept-wing research aircraft designed to investigate the structural effects of aerodynamic heating as well as stability and control effectiveness at high speeds and altitudes. The program was developed jointly in 1945 by Bell Aircraft Corporation, the U.S. Air Force and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to explore aerodynamic problems of supersonic flight and to expand the speed and altitude regimes obtained with the earlier X-1 series of research aircraft.. 2. Convair F-102 Delta Dagger on ramp at Edwards Air Force Base. The Delta Dagger was part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s. Entering service in 1956, its main purpose was to intercept invading Soviet strategic bomber fleets during the Cold War. 3. Air Force test pilot Arthur "Kit" Murray, posing in front of the Douglas X-3 Stiletto at Edwards Air Force Base, 1956. Murray was the first test pilot to be permanently assigned to Muroc Army Air Field (later, Edwards Air Force Base). Other test pilots, such as Captain Chuck Yeager, were assigned to Wright Field and traveled to Muroc as necessary.

< 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

Land and Image: Chris Engman, 2002-2022 < Back Chris Engman Land and Image: Chris Engman, 2002-2022 May 14 - August 21, 2022 1/4 Previous Next Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Los Angeles-based photographer Chris Engman spent his earlier years with an appreciation for nature, art, and travel. Throughout his undergraduate career Engman continued to travel from his studio in Seattle to the desert landscapes in eastern Washington, Oregon, and Nevada, collecting materials and building photography sets in Seattle and relocating them to the desert. Over the past two decades, Engman has dedicated his art to understanding how images deceive the eye and the human need to make sense of visual perception. Engman’s photography, at first glance, appears normal, yet, under careful examination, viewers become aware of the optical illusion and begin to question the constructed image. Engman’s twenty-year practice is grounded in research and conceptual thought. He documents remnants of labor and the juxtaposition of human material and vast landscape through sculpture and photography. He explains, “My constructions are not sculptures in the traditional sense. They’re just vehicles to reveal a process that is focused on experiencing time and understanding what photographs do – or don’t do. . .” Chris Engman was born in Seattle, WA. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He earned an MFA from the University of Southern California in 2013, and a BFA from the University of Washington in 2003. His work has been shown widely in the United States and Europe including at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, Greg Kucera Gallery in Seattle, Henry Art Gallery, The Seattle Art Museum, Institute for Contemporary Art in San Jose, Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Clair Gallerie in Munich, 68 Projects in Berlin, Project B in Milan, and Flowers Gallery in London. His work is featured in numerous public and private collections including Orange County Art Museum, The Henry Gallery, Seattle Art Museum, Houston Fine Arts Museum, Covington Library, Microsoft, and the Elton John Collection. Engman is represented by Luis De Jesus Los Angeles and in Seattle by Greg Kucera Gallery.

< 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 to list MamaWisdom and Sasha Swedlund Born on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, Nikila is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist, designer, and performer inspired by an earth-based wisdom of Roots and Culture. Mother and community organizer, her work as an advocate for youth, indigenous, and environmental rights has played an influential role within shaping her foundation as a "Cultural Community Artist". Born into Pacific Islander, First Nations, and European lineages, to the raw street smarts of the Bay Area’s inner cities, it has been the cultural richness, as well as the systemic issues of her background, that have led Nikila to explore the arts as a foundation for educational reform and decolonization. In turn, she has helped develop youth arts curriculum and programs for a number of organizations. As a painter and muralist, her art weaves underlying stories, traditions, and elements of the sacred indigenous with modern influences of the urban underground, and is guided by a maternal connection to the natural wisdom of the Earth; Thus birthing the art alias "MamaWisdom". Sasha Swedlund is an artist and designer specializing in painting, textiles, and fashion. Her love for art started as a kid after she took a strong interest in calligraphy and hand lettering. As a teenager, she started working as a mural apprentice and then moved to Southern California to study Fine Art at CalArts. During her time there, she perfected her painting skills in various mediums ranging from acrylics and oils to mixed mediums, surface treatments, and fabric manipulation. She then studied abroad at Parsons In Paris and learned about digital printing on fabrics, batik, and other surface treatments. After her undergrad, she worked professionally as a sign artist specializing in freehand lettering and illustration for almost a decade until returning to school to attend FIDM in textile design. While at FIDM she was selected for the school's specialty classes like Mimaki and Chairing Styles. She was most recently selected for the Debut Program (Advanced Fashion Design) reserved for the premier students of the school, to create and produce a small collection from concept to runway.

< Back Jim Richard Featured Structure Artist Through a myriad of paintings, drawings, and collages, contemporary artist Jim Richard construes interior and exterior depictions of Modern architecture. Since the late 1970s, Richard has created a profusion of modernist interiors loaded with art and kitsch objects that settle into multi-hued graphic fields. Richard manipulates interior aesthetics from the 1960s and 70s warping the display of art influenced by the modernist idea of a utopian society. The adornment of objects within Richard’s collages is strategically curated from a selection of 1960s and 70s home decor magazines and furniture advertisements. Visually, his work fuses elements of photorealism, hard-edge painting, and collage, resulting in a 2-D abstract style imbued with an array of rich colors and patterns. Richard’s body of work has a persistent focus on the recontextualization of Modernist art and design. Absent occupants, the clash of decorative objects and imagery against the busy patterns of Jim Richard’s collages evoke the presence of an art collector. The claustrophobic slew of sleek furniture and ornamental ephemera is Richard’s satirical yet humorous commentary on the ambitious goals of Modernism and Modernist art. At this point in time, many artists were striving for pure originality, seeking to advance their art practice beyond acceptable forms of "high art.” By structuring the composition of his collages around curated art-objects Richard’s architectural frameworks act and feel like a mausoleum putting outdated aesthetics and politics to rest. Originally born in Port Arthur, Texas, Richard currently lives and works in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is represented by the Arthur Roger Gallery in New Orleans and Inman Gallery in Houston. Richard received his Bachelor of Science from Lamar State College of Technology and his Master of Fine Art from the University of Colorado. Richard's work has been exhibited in New York at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Drawing Center, Oliver Kamm Gallery, and Jeff Bailey Gallery. For several years, he taught painting, served as a Graduate Coordinator, and was in charge of the Visiting Artists Program at the University of New Orleans served as Graduate Coordinator. Richard's paintings can be found in the collections of the Guggenheim Museum, The New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Houston Museum of Fine Art. Previous Next

1. The X-31, the world's first international X-plane, demonstrates controlled flight at high alpha courtesy of its canards and thrust vectoring paddles in the exhaust stream. 2. The F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire aircraft had its hydro-mechanical control systems replaced by an Apollo Guidance Computer for the first such control system to fly. •X-31, The World's First International X-Plane •F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire Aircraft 1/1 1. X-31, The World's First International X-Plane NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center L2021.262 Digital Photography Courtesy of NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center 2. F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire Aircraft NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center L2021.258 Digital Photography Courtesy of NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center 1. The X-31, the world's first international X-plane, demonstrates controlled flight at high alpha courtesy of its canards and thrust vectoring paddles in the exhaust stream. 2. The F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire aircraft had its hydro-mechanical control systems replaced by an Apollo Guidance Computer for the first such control system to fly.

1. In 2007, Armstrong's F-18 conducted the first successful automated aerial refueling demonstration without pilot assistance. 2. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronamy (SOPHIA) makes a low pass over NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in celebraton of its arrival. 3. An artist's conception shows the Lockheed X-59 in flight. The X-plane's shape is designed to reduce sonic booms and lead to supersonic flight over land. • Armstrong's F-18 • SOFIA • Lockheed X-59 in Flight 1/1 1. Armstrong's F-18 NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center L2021.252 Digital Photography Courtesy of NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center 2. SOFIA NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center L2021.235 Digital Photography Courtesy of NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center 3. Lockheed X-59 in Flight NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center L2021.267 Digital Photography Courtesy of NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center 1. In 2007, Armstrong's F-18 conducted the first successful automated aerial refueling demonstration without pilot assistance. 2. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronamy (SOPHIA) makes a low pass over NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in celebraton of its arrival. 3. An artist's conception shows the Lockheed X-59 in flight. The X-plane's shape is designed to reduce sonic booms and lead to supersonic flight over land.

back to list Jeff Soto Jeff Soto is an American contemporary artist. His distinct color palette, subject matter and technique have been said to bridge the gap between Pop Surrealism and Street Art. Jeff Soto is a painter, illustrator and muralist who has exhibited in galleries and museums around the world. As a youth, he simultaneously discovered both traditional painting and illegal graffiti – and, ever since, both worlds have informed his work. Inspired by youthful nostalgia, nature, and popular culture, his bold, representational work is simultaneously accessible and stimulating.

Up Woodland Creatures Robin Raznick Join us for an extraordinary artist residency at the Prime Desert Woodland Preserve, featuring renowned artist and naturalist, Robin Raznick. With her captivating Woodland Creatures Workshop series, you'll embark on a creative journey through the heart of nature. Mark your calendars for these engaging sessions: 1. October 7th, 10:00 AM - 1:30 PM Woodland Desert Tortoise Education and Portraits: Sketchbooks and More! Explore the fascinating world of desert tortoises while capturing their essence in your sketchbook. Dive into the enchanting details of these remarkable creatures. 2. November 4th, 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM Woodland Birdwalk: Bring Your Sketchbook from Workshop I and Create Watercolor and Mixed Media Bird Portraits Immerse yourself in the world of avian wonders during a guided birdwalk. Use your sketches from the first workshop as a foundation to create vibrant watercolor and mixed media bird portraits. 3. December 2nd (Times to be Announced) Woodland Insects and Creepy Crawlies: Bring Your Sketchbooks and Create Some 3D/ Sculptural Paintings Delve into the microcosm of woodland insects and creepy crawlies as you transform your sketches into three-dimensional, sculptural paintings. Stay tuned for exact session times. 4. New Date January 27th, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM Desert Creatures Soft Sculpture: Mixed Material Beanbag Sculptures Discover the art of crafting mixed-material beanbag sculptures inspired by the desert's unique creatures. Let your creativity take shape in this hands-on, soft sculpture workshop. These workshops offer a rare opportunity to blend artistry and nature, enhancing your connection to the environment. Embrace the chance to learn, create, and be inspired by the diverse creatures of the Prime Desert Woodland Preserve. October 7, 2023 - January 27, 2024 Back to list