More than 400 artists unite in a stunning county-wide exhibit where assemblage meets collage
To call it an undertaking would be an understatement.
Susan Hillhouse, Theresa Myers and the team at the Museum of Art & History in downtown Santa Cruz have pulled off an undeniably impressive artistic feat. They have launched an inventive, county-wide art show, “Assemblage + Collage + Construction,” which runs through April. The show features a cornucopia of talented artists from Santa Cruz County and beyond. Fourteen art galleries will showcase the work of about 400 artists, which includes Angelo Grova, Jack Howe, Michael Leeds, Robbie Schoen, Shelby Graham and many others.
“I wanted it to look like a Joseph Cornell box,” says Hillhouse, the museum’s curator, of the show’s overall concept. (Cornell was a leading artist in the assemblage medium. He died in 1972.)
Assemblage “is a loosely defined three-dimensional art form in which the placement of multiple objects found or highly modified makes the whole greater than the sum,” Hillhouse says. “Collage is two-dimensional [art work] and you glue things on top of it. Construction is something built out of non-traditional materials like cardboard.”
The purpose of t
he project is as huge as its scope: “It’s to increase the arts and cultural opportunities to people of Santa Cruz County,” Myers says. “There’s no cost and it’s an informal setting,” on display in various settings—restaurants to museums.
“We wanted exhibitions that are accessible, not lofty,”
Hillhouse adds. That is exactly what they have achieved. At the MAH, for instance, there are hundreds of pieces of artwork representing the assemblage, collage and construction mediums. The work of more than 100 artists is represented in the museum itself. Beyond that Cabrillo Gallery, Chocolate (the restaurant), Dead Cow Gallery, Mill Gallery, Felix Kulpa Gallery, Louden Nelson Center, MichaelAngelo Gallery, Pajaro Valley Arts Council, Santa Cruz Art League, Santa Cruz County Bank, Santa Cruz Mountains Art Center, UCSC Sesnon Gallery and Vinocruz (wine bar) are participating in the art show.
GT found three artists whose work will be shown in a variety of locations. Take a peek:
Philo Northrup
Ruth Boerefijn
Lucien Kubo
art smart
ARTISTS PARTICIPATING IN ASSEMBLAGE + COLLAGE + CONSTRUCTION
Courtesy of the various arts venues
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BANK ECO-Morphosis: Through the arrangements of everyday objects, the artists in the ECO-Morphosis use the transformative power of creativity to breathe new ideas out of the iconic imagery of our past. Bette Linderman’s “Cracker Jack Dream” series addresses our memory with a twist of what might be “the best prize ever”—a diamond ring or a trip to Paris.
PAJARO VALLEY ARTS COUNCIL In this gallery turned back into a ‘house,’ Kathleen Crocetti’s talking table invites you to be a part of the longtime tradition of sharing stories around the dining room table as you sit at one of the place settings, put on headphones and enjoy a wide variety of the stories she has collected at dinner parties of her own.
THE MILL GALLERY and THE DEAD COW GALLERY Kirby Scudder will share his artistic insights of his five years of environmental popular constructivism. Lucien Kubo’s narratives and dialogues will engage and entertain you on a personal, community, and global level.
CHOCOLATE Meet the artists: Ann Altstatt works at the Bike Church in Santa Cruz and teaches women how to fix bicycles. She is also a graduate of the UC Santa Cruz science illustration program. Bridget Henry always wanted to time travel to visit Laura Ingalls Wilder in her time and has only recently stopped wearing calico, but she still drinks sarsaparilla. Paul Rangell plays mandolin, fiddle and guitar around town and can be seen regularly at The Buttery on Sundays.
SESNON GALLERY Kim Boekbinder is a member of the acclaimed band, Vermillion Lies.
