Montalvo Celebrates New Exhibits with Free 'Art on the Grounds'

Montalvo Arts Center kicks off its annual Art on the Grounds exhibition this summer with an opening art festival titled United States of We. For 2018, the Art on the Grounds installations will include three newly-commissioned works by Lucas Artists Program Fellows: an innovative sonic journey of its lush and expansive grounds, a communally planted peace garden, and a large-scale art installation. The opening outdoor festival, which will be the official debut of these three works, will also include a showcase of poetry and performance. It will be held July 20. Admission is free.

The group of Fellows whose new work will be installed on Montalvo's historic campus for Art on the Grounds includes one of the most significant artists to emerge from post-Revolutionary Cuba, Magdalena Campos-Pons; award-winning US composer Howard Hersh; and Brazilian artist Marilá Dardot.

Campos-Pons' communal performance will result in a new peace garden for Montalvo. The garden layout will be based on a scaled-down version of a floor plan from a typical Bay Area home combined with elements drawn from an aerial photograph of Soviet medium-range ballistic missile installations taken during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

Hersh will premiere his new sound work Four Bridges, which uses geolocation technology to create a sonic journey through earbuds of smartphones. Celebrating the beauty, mystery, and magic of the forest, the tour will lead hikers through Montalvo's redwood canyons and oak-lined meadows.

In her first exhibition in the United States, Brazilian artist Marilá Dardot will premiere a new large-scale installation work featuring flags created by first generation immigrants living the South Bay. In this new work, Dardot will amplify the voices and experiences of San Jose's varied immigrant communities, and honor the challenges of their experience in the context of a divisive national conversation about immigrants and American identity. These works will be on view to the public for free, Monday through Sunday, from July 20.

The opening festival, United States of We, will celebrate the themes of these new works. Poets and musicians from across the country will perform throughout Montalvo's grounds and inside its historic Villa. Participating artists may include Lucas Artists Literary Fellows and Guest Artists such as: American poet and author of Marvel Comics' World of Wakanda, Yona Harvey; author of The Possibilities of Mud (Kórima 2014) and Bloodline, Joe Jiménez; poet and children's book author Willie Perdomo; experimental composer/musician Hans Tammen; sound artist, saxophonist and composer Neil Leonard; and powerhouse vocalist, songwriter and producer Jennifer Johns; among others. Bay Area teens will also perform poetry they have developed over a one week period during summer camp at Montalvo working in collaboration with interdisciplinary artist Ashley David.

Opening Festival: 7pm-10pm, Friday, July 20

Art on the Grounds Installation: Seven days a week during park open hours, closing date TBD.

Montalvo Arts Center, 15400 Montalvo Rd., Saratoga

TICKETS: Free
For information visit montalvoarts.org or call (408) 961-5858

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