Last Chance Mercantile

This Artist-in-Residency Program (AIR) was implemented as a collaborative partnership between the Visual and Public Art department (VPA) and the Monterey Regional Waste Management District (MRWMD), and is the only one of its kind in the CSU system. There are several examples of AIR programs in the solid waste industry, and MRWMD has a history of providing opportunities for artists to create art from salvaged materials. This partnership draws upon the expertise of CSUMB, VPA faculty who along with MRWMD members select and mentor the student participants. The District (MRWMD) provides access to material salvaging, a stipend, and a place to work and create. Our spring 2016 Artist-in-Residents were Alberto Araujo, Jessica Lara, and Ben Ward.

Using a minimal approach, Ben Ward created a 10x7' stylized representation of a tree. The raw material, such as lumber, is re-assembled to create a man-made tree using material that were once living tissue (inner bark), and are now outer tissue (dry dead bark) to reference the interference that humans have had on our natural environment.

Earth Award

The Earth Award fellowship program is in collaboration with CSUMB's Dining Services. The purpose of this fellowship is to create a professional platform for CSUMB students in the area of Visual and Public Art. Artists awarded this fellowship have the opportunity to design, manage, and develop a large-scale mural. The main impetus of the mural is to inform, educate and ignite open dialog across the CSUMB campus community in the areas of sustainability (food waste, recycling, and management). These site-specific murals are 7 by 20 feet in length, completed over the course of one academic year, and displayed for a period of one-year after completion in a public setting located inside the dining commons building at CSUMB. This award is specific to Visual and Public Art students in their senior year and is also an opportunity to strengthen their portfolios, develop their professional practice, and build up their resume. Our 2016 fellowship recipients Tanya Carbajal and Mercedes Macial. Their collaborative mural, completed over the course of one academic year, will be on view May 2016-May 2017 at the CSUMB Dining Commons.

The mural depicts the food cycle of food sustainability, with a primary focus on the people who participate in the sustainability food cycle—moreover, those who contribute greatly but are under-represented and overlooked in terms of the contribution.