Don Crocker, Californias Spring Glory.jpeg — Palos Verdes Art Center – Let the Opening Begin…The Summer Show Starts!

Palos Verdes Art Center / Beverly G. Alpay Center for Arts Education is pleased to announce the reopening of their art galleries with three exhibitions at an artists’ reception July 24, 2021 at 7pm. The Summer Show, Annie Appel: The Mexico Journeys – Carmelita, and Don Crocker: Love of Place will be on view at the PVAC galleries through August 21, 2021 and will also be online in their entirety at pvartcenter.org.

The Summer Show is a juried all-media exhibition hosted by and open for submission only to members of the Palos Verdes Art Center’s eight active artists groups: Artists Open Group, Pacific Arts Group, Paletteers, Palos Verdes Painters, Peninsula Artists, Photographic and Digital Artists, The Artists Studio, and Third Dimension.

This year’s juror is Marisa Caichiolo, an artist and curator who holds a PhD in art history and psychology. Her curatorial projects have been shown internationally. She is the founder of Building Bridges International Art Foundation, an international nonprofit organization based in Santa Monica, CA. The foundation is conceived to be a platform for critical thinking and research with local and international artist programs, art residencies, and education programs.

***Annie Appel, Carmelita in the Water, 1999, Archival pigment print.***

Annie Appel, Carmelita held by her mother, María, 1995, Archival pigment print — ***Annie Appel, Carmelita held by her mother, María, 1995, Archival pigment print***

Annie Appel: The Mexico Journeys – Carmelita is an excerpt from a multi-decade project documenting a family in Baja, Mexico, who the artist met on a trip in 1994. The Mexico Journeys combines images and excerpts from the artist’s journals as she follows María, her children and extended family in over 20 trips, spanning 25 years, between countryside and city, between loss and rejuvenation, hardship and wellbeing, through dreams and nightmares. The story also reflects the maturing of the American photojournalist as she traverses cultures to repeatedly embed herself in María’s Mexico. An organic interweaving of participant observer witness of family dysfunction and childhood innocence with the artist’s raw self-examination creates a saga that is poignant, sometimes gut wrenching, sometimes ethereally beautiful.

***Don Crocker, Fall Splendor, Oil on panel***

***Don Crocker, California’s Spring Glory, Oil on panel***

Don Crocker: Love of Place is a showcase of California local-scene and recent experimental works in recognition of this painter's many contributions to PVAC. Crocker's love of place began in his youth as an avid hiker with the Scouts and Sierra Club. After retiring from a successful law career, he put his full attention into painting seasonal landscapes in a variety of Golden State locations, but is best known for views of his beloved Palos Verdes coastline, captured both day and night, in a plein air style inspired by California Impressionism. Crocker is a member of the Board of Trustees, The Artists’ Studio, Artists Open Group (AOG), and is a long-time supporter of the Art Center.