“Animals and the Natural Environment,” acrylic mural, east wall, 1997

Project Titles: Animals and the Natural Environment
Recipient Organization: Creativity Explored
Lead Artist: James Morgan
Genre and Date Awarded: Visual Arts, May 1996
Dedicated: July 25, 1997

Muralist James Morgan and multimedia artist Christopher Clark collaborated with three artists from Creativity Explored and three from Laguna Honda Hospital to create “Animals and the Natural Environment,” a mural on four walls in a recreation alcove at the hospital, and an Internet piece on the Web.  Creativity Explored is an art center providing art making and exhibition opportunities for artists with developmental disabilities.  Prior to undertaking this public art project, both Morgan and Clark had worked as teachers and volunteers at the agency. 

Participants from Creativity Explored were Cam Quach, Betty Benard and Yolanda Ramirez.  Quach and Benard’s work sparked the project idea: Quach’s ceramic works employ ornate animal forms, while Benard works primarily in watercolors, depicting people engaged in daily activities and family life. In working with them, Morgan was struck by Quach’s extraordinary imagery and by Benard’s paintings depicting people in a harmonious relation to animals and their landscape. He sought this collaboration as a means for exploring the concept of “nature” and “the natural,” noting:

I constantly engage as a landscape artist working in print media, drawing, and painting.  I am interested in combining their beautiful and uninhibited art with mine.  I see their images as the “natural” elements amidst the relative formality of a background design….”

Morgan had pioneered an approach to painting murals with Creativity Explored artists in the course of creating an earlier, temporary work, “In Praise of Mass Transportation,” in downtown San Francisco.  The Creativity Explored artists painted onto masonite, which Morgan then cut out, arranging their imagery onto a painted background.  The result was a dynamic, colorful, textured mural.  He sought to replicate this process in creating a permanent piece and, with Clark, to experiment with Creativity Explored’s first project on the Web. 

Extending the process to include three talented artists who also were hospital patients both enlivened the process and created a stronger bond between the artwork and its location.  Participants from Laguna Honda Hospital were James Cunningham, Maura Frias, and Bob Neil. Animals and the Natural Environment was the first permanent piece at the hospital to be painted, in part, by its residents.

The finished mural is in on four walls and depicts four scenes—a mountain, a jungle, a savannah, and a wetlands area.James Morgan and Peggy Huff painted the murals’ background scenery directly on the hospital walls:  Morgan then integrated the painted masonite pieces into the landscapes.  As the mural was developing, the Internet site illustrated the process and invited Web site visitors to manipulate the imagery to create different versions of the mural, or to play with its context—testing how the mural would look on different walls found around San Francisco. 

James Morgan has more than 20 years of experience painting murals throughout the Bay Area.  Among many other projects, Morgan was responsible for organizing the Lowell Street Mural Project in which artists produced two murals for North Oakland’s Golden Gate District.  He had taught at artists at Creativity Explored for three years prior to undertaking this project and, through that process, learned to invite methods of working that were natural to their ideas.  He found these collaborations to be so productive and rewarding, that he sought to continue the work and place a more permanent piece in a setting where the artwork would find a receptive audience.  Morgan found, as he had hoped, that the theme of the Creativity Explored artists’ work, the bright rich colors that they use, and the patients’ participation in the project, promoted the Hospital’s interest in and sustained support for the project. 

Chris Clark approaches curating as a form of artistic practice.  He seeks to blur the distinctions between traditionally assigned roles of curator, administrator, and artist.  At the time of this project, his previous on-line pieces included “California Uber Alles,” Monsterism No1,” “Monsterism, No2,” and “Custom Corpse.”

Creativity Explored, founded in 1984, is the only full-time art center in San Francisco serving adults with developmental disabilities.  Members of the teaching staff specialize in ceramics, sculpture, painting, printmaking, textiles, watercolors, and murals.  Students grow as artists by exploring these media at their own pace.  Creativity Explored’s mission is to nurture creative expression, enhance artistic quality of work, and increase public appreciation of developmentally disabled artists.  In 1996, the Center served 100 low-income students at two sites. 

James A. Morgan

Detail, “Animals and the Natural Environment,” acrylic mural, 1997

Murals/Commissions

• “Travels with Children,” Pediatric Clinic Mural, Highland Hospital Critical Care Facility, Oakland California (2004)
• “Tribute to Archbishop Oscar Romero,” (a revised mural), Balmy Alley, San Francisco, California (2001)
• “Each One Teach One,” (2004); “In Praise of African Drumming,” (2001); and “Our Garden, Our School,” (2000); Murals for Peralta Elementary School, created with Students, sponsored by the City of Oakland Department of Cultural Arts and Marketing, Oakland, California
• “Forces of Nature,” mural for Oxford School, with students, Berkeley, California (2001)
• “Taking Life as it Comes,” with artist Michael Loggins, Clarion Alley, San Francisco, California (1998)
• “Animals at Play,” portable mural with Cam Quach of Creativity Explored, Laney College, Oakland, California (1995)
• “Roots of Community,” with artists of the Lowell Street Mural Project, Oakland, California (1995)
• “In Praise of Mass Transportation,” with artists from Creativity Explored, San Francisco Municipal Railway Turnback Mural Project, the Embarcadero, San Francisco, California (1995)
• “Ever Upward,” collaboration with youth, Excelsior Park, San Francisco, California (1994)
• “Cultural Kaleidoscope,” collaborative mural for a Hands-on Workshop, Mural Institute for Teachers, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California (1993)
• Mural Project Leader, St. Elizabeth’s Youth Employment Center, Youth Employment Partnership, Oakland, California (1993)
• Coordinator, Lowell Street Mural Project, Summer Youth Mural, Golden Gate Recreation Center, Oakland, California (1993)
• Student Life Mural, Merritt College, Oakland, California (1990)
• “Changing California for our Children,” temporary mural for the John Van de Camp Gubernatorial Campaign, Mission High School, San Francisco, California (1990)
• Children’s Playground Mural, First Korean Presbyterian Children’s Center, San Francisco, California (1989)
•  “Community Reflections,” Cambridge Community Center, Concord, California (1987)
• Commission for the International Longshoremen and Warehousemen’s Union, San Francisco, California (1986)
• “Tribute to Archbishop Oscar Romero,” the Placa Mural Project, Balmy Alley, San Francisco, California (1984)

Exhibitions

• “Kaleidoscope:  Featuring the Art of East Bay Muralists,” Craft and Cultural Arts Gallery, State of California Office Building, Oakland, California (2003)
• “Image on the Wall:  Other Techniques and Approaches to Contemporary Mural Art,” June Steingart Gallery, Laney College, Oakland, California (1998)
• “Reaching Out,” Artists from the ArtReach Program (of the Richmond Art Center), Berlex Corporation, Richmond, California (1995-96)
• “From Public to Private:  Personal Work of Bay Area Muralists,” the Collector’s Gallery, Oakland, California (1994)
• “Fascination with Trains,” Hearst Art Gallery, St. Mary’s College, Moraga, California (1994)
• “Next Generation:  Alumni/ae Artists of Phillips Academy,” Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts (1993)
• “Lumieres of California:  20 artistes autour de San Francisco,” Centre d’Animation et de Loisirs Valeyre, Paris, France (1993)
• “Prints Plus,” Pyramid Technologies, San Jose, California (1992-93)
• “1992 Membership Show,” California Society of Printmakers, Walnut Creek, California (1992)
• “Ten,” exhibition of staff and students of Creativity Explored, Mission Cultural Center, San Francisco, California (1992)
• “Etchings Etcetera:  Intaglio Prints,” the California Society of Printmakers, Cadence Corporation, San Jose; Synopsis Corporation, Mountain View; and 3COM Corporation, Santa Clara, California (1990-93)
• “Muros,” Exhibitions of Bay Area Muralists’ drawings and documentation, Mission Cultural Center, Capp Street Project, and the South of Market Cultural Center, San Francisco (1991)
• “After the Quake,” poetry billboard for Festival at the Lake, Oakland, California (1990)
• Pro Arts Open Studios (1989-1995)
• “Chain Reaction V,” San Francisco Art Commission Gallery, San Francisco, California (1988)
• “Prints and Drawings,” Komotion Gallery, San Francisco, California (1988)
• “The Color of Black and White,” Barclay Simpson Gallery, Lafayette, California (1988)
• “Prints and Drawings,” MFA Exhibit, California College of Arts and Crafts Graduate Gallery (1987)

Related Activities

• Artist-in-Schools Program, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, California (2000-present)
• Artist-in-Schools Program, California Arts Council (1996-99)
• Artist-in-Schools Program, Richmond Art Center and California Arts Council (1993-96)
• Coordinator and grantwriter, Lowell Street Mural Project (1991-95)
• Owner, J. Morgan Graphics, Oakland, California (1985-present)

Christopher Clark

RESUME HIGHLIGHTS

Exhibitions

• “Custom Corpse,” Acme Gallery, San Francisco, California  (1995)
• “Flotsam,” Smashbox, Los Angeles, California (1993)
• “Group Show,” Gallery 101, Los Angeles, California (1991)
• “Group Show,” Gallery 101, Los Angeles, California (1990)
• “Artists in the Back Room,” Venice Art Walk, Venice, California (1990)
• “Senior Thesis Exhibition,” Freightdoor Gallery, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California (1989)

Curation

• “Custom Corpse,” Acme Gallery, San Francisco, California (1995)
• “Monsterism No2,” Monsterism, San Francisco, California (1995)
• “Monsterism No1,” Monsterism, San Francisco, California (1995)
• “Joel Slayton, Recent Digital Works,” Freightdoor Gallery, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California (1989)
• “Alumni Exhibition,” Freightdoor Gallery, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California (1989)

On-line

• “Custom Corpse,” World Wide Web (1995)
• “Monsterism No2,” World Wide Web (1995)
• “Monsterism No1,” World Wide Web (1995)
• “California Uber Alles,” World Wide Web (1994)

Film/video

• “A Rather Graphic History of SF Punk,” color, Super8 (5 minutes) (1990)

Production

• Multimedia:  “Emphasizing a critical approach to digital technology, I have authored numerous multimedia projects that examine power relationships within the cultural realm.  Included are recent on-line, collaborative projects exploring themes of deception, mutation, and personality disorder .” (1994-present)
• Film/Video:  “Wide range of production and post-production experience on commercial, corporate, documentary, and music videos.  Production credits include Silicon Graphics, Virgin Records, and the California Department of Rehabilitation .” (1992-present)

Related Experience

• Internet Consultant, Department of Elementary Education, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California (1996-present)
• Lab Monitor, Conceptual Design Department, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California (1994-present)
• Volunteer/Substitute Teacher, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, California (1995-present)
• Fine Arts Handler, Stanford University Museum of Art, Stanford, California (1994-1996)
• Production Intern, The Kenwood Group, San Francisco, California (1992-93)