Art on the Grounds

Marlia Dardot, "Saudade (Our Flags)" (2018) The hiking trails. "Broken Wing" (2004) by David Middlebrook, in the Phelan Cactus Garden "Control Tower" (2011) by Cameron Hockenson "Counterpoint" at the Creekside Studio Fieldworks Collborative (Trena Noval & Ann Wettrich), "Curiosity Fieldstation" (2015-2016) Matthias Neumann, "Double Bench (Basics)" (2016) Kenny Scharf, "Fountain of Life," 2000 "From Within, So Without" (2010) by Ali Naschke-Messing "A Healing Walk," by Susan O'Malley Imole Blue II: Field of Memories "Nest" (2005) by Steven Siegel Ann Weber: "O California, best beloved land" (2011) Taraneh Hemami, "One Voice [Yek Seda]" (2017) Tim Hawkinson, "Sweet Tweet" (2004) Christopher Loomis, "Twisted Heart and the Eucalyptus Muse" (2015) Untitled, 2014, by Allison Weise Stephen De Staebler, "Winged Figure Ascending" (2010)



Funded in part by Applied Materials Excellence in the Arts Grants, a program of Arts Council Silicon Valley.
Made possible through support from

The Jo and Barry Ariko Fund
for Artistic Programs

Supported with grants from:

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Montalvo’s Art on the Grounds program is envisioned as a platform for artists to present art works in the context of a 175-acre public park. Montalvo is home to diverse range of native and non-native plant and tree species, and includes a redwood and live oak forest, an expansive grass lawn, and a succulent and cactus garden. Its diverse buildings encompass a Mediterranean-style villa built in 1912, outdoor and indoor theatres, and the Lucas Artists Residency Commons building and studios. Artists are encouraged to experiment with innovative models of artmaking in the public sphere and consider novel ways of engaging with Montalvo’s varied grounds and publics.

Works produced through the Art on the Grounds program range from sculptural objects to time-based performance events and experiences, durational projects developing out of community engagement activities and workshops, sound works, and interventions. Works on view are often displayed in association with exhibitions in the Project Space Gallery. During the summer, Montalvo celebrates its annual Art on the Grounds exhibition opening with an art party featuring live music, food trucks, and performances. Beginning in late 2010, Montalvo began acquiring a small number of select permanent sculpture works that now form part of its permanent collection.

Art on the Grounds is open for public viewing during Montalvo's normal park hours, Monday-Thursday, 8am-5pm and Friday-Sunday, 9am-5pm.

CURRENTLY ON VIEW:

  • Marlia Dardot, Saudade (Our Flags)
    By Marila Dardot

    In her first exhibition in the United States, Brazilian artist Dardot premieres a large-scale installation of flags created by first-generation immigrants living in the Bay Area, amplifying ...


  • The hiking trails. Four Bridges
    By Howard Hersh

    Four Bridges is a sound installation designed to be heard by listeners over mobile devices as they walk through Montalvo’s woodland environment. It features children’s ...


  • Broken Wing
    By David Middlebrook

    Broken Wing (2004) is a bronze work that represents objects, often taken for granted, that are depended upon as part of our daily routine - like a wing ...


  • Control Tower
    By Cameron Hockenson

    Cameron Hockenson's environmental artwork is concerned with the vernacular landscape and issues of biocultural diversity. His sculptures and site-specific installations address place as an outgrowth of ...


  • Counterpoint
    By Amy Trachtenberg

    The Creekside Studio is an outdoor environment designed for communal gathering, art making and engaging with nature. This new space at Montalvo was produced by landscape architect ...


  • Fieldworks Collborative (Trena Noval & Ann Wettrich), Curiosity Fieldstation
    By Fieldworks Collaborative (Trena Noval and Ann Wettrich)

    Fieldworks Collaborative (Trena Noval and Ann Wettrich) invites casual walkers, hikers and nature enthusiasts who frequent Montalvo’s woodlands to assemble, curate and share objects of wonder ...


  • Matthias Neumann, Double Bench (Basics)
    By Matthias Neumann

    Basics is an ongoing body of work exploring abstracted notions of form, space and utility, based on a constructive logic of additive 2 x 4 wooden studs ...


  • Kenny Scharf, Fountain of Life
    By Kenny Scharf

    This blue tendril-like water fountain combines cartoon-like features with abstract biomorphic shapes that evoke living forms like plants and bodies. While LA-based artist Kenny Scharf often uses ...


  • From Within, So Without
    By Ali Naschke-Messing

    Upon arrival in the Lucas Artists Residency Program, Ali Naschke-Messing was immediately drawn to the enormous Bunya Pine (Araucaria bidwillii) on the Great Lawn and was inspired ...


  • A Healing Walk
    By Susan O'Malley

    Examining the power of natural places to elevate and enrich human experience and health, Susan O’Malley’s A Healing Walk guides visitors through Montalvo’s forest ...


  • Imole Blue II: Field of Memories Imole Blue II. Field of Memories
    By Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons

    One of the most significant artists to emerge from post-Revolutionary Cuba, Campos-Pons creates a garden for Montalvo’s grounds with participation from the community. Taking inspiration from ...


  • Nest
    By Steven Siegel

    Over a three-week period beginning September 2005, Steven Siegel created this monumental sculpture, Stories of Katrina, on the front lawn by the Bunya Pine tree, and a ...


  • Ann Weber: "O California, best beloved land"
    By Ann Weber

    California artist Ann Weber transforms the ordinary medium of cardboard into impressive large-scale sculptures reminiscent of pods, gourds and organic spires. "O California, best beloved land" was ...


  • Taraneh Hemami, One Voice [Yek Seda]
    By Taraneh Hemami

    In Persian the word yek seda means one voice or shared sound/voice. With One Voice, Hemami presents a modular sculptural installation that connects voices, and carries ...


  • Tim Hawkinson, Sweet Tweet
    By Tim Hawkinson


  • Christopher Loomis, Twisted Heart and the Eucalyptus Muse
    By Christopher Loomis

    Through a select juried process, Bay Area artist Christopher Loomis was commissioned by Montalvo Arts Center in the fall of 2015 to conceive and create a new ...


  • Untitled, 2014, by Allison Weise Untitled
    By Allison Wiese

    Using appropriated language taken from mid-20th-century pop culture, movies, and novels, Wiese’s sign-based sculpture features a rotating series of texts, including pick-up lines such as “Here ...


  • Stephen De Staebler, Winged Figure Ascending
    By Stephen De Staebler

    Courtesy of Dolby Chadwick Gallery and the Estate of Stephen De Staebler.Acclaimed Bay Area sculptor Stephen De Staebler first began an extended series of winged figures ...