PRS is pleased to present THE GARDEN by artist MEGAN WHITMARSH on view: MARCH 9 – APRIL 20, 2024
2-7pm: Viewing hours
2-4pm FLOWER FACES, free face painting
4pm THE FLOWERS, guided mediation with Azalea Lee GET TICKETS
7pm THE GARDEN OF MUSIC AND DANCE, performance with The Musical Tracing Ensemble & Jmy James Kidd with Dance Pack Ojai GET TICKETS
The Garden is a space for healing, for exchange, and for play.
Through interaction with art & objects, serving as props and prompts, we come to see:
Every act of creation is an invitation to heal.
Everyone is welcome.
An installation of video, ceramic & textile objects, costumes & props, Megan Whitmarsh’s installation is dedicated to healing from trauma. In THE GARDEN, we release tears, fears and regenerate through transformation and affirmation. Plants, vessels, telephones, mirrors, animals, flowers, books, and costumes, either made from ceramic or textiles, adorn the space. These are the objects beautifully — and playfully — crafted by Whitmarsh.
Play is key here. While the artist’s work has been a tool of self therapy and self healing, Whitmarsh’s true desire is to expand and radiate her created spaces for connection to others.
“That my purpose as an artist is to connect, is to collaborate, is to inspire others to create, is to make things feel joyful yet acknowledge the pathos and complications of living— to slow down, to play and to invite exchange.”
In this spirit, the installation will slowly change and grow. Over time, new elements will be added by the artist and visitors alike. A series of related programing will accompany the show, with guest artists, healers and musicians.
The exhibition contains solo works by the artist as well as objects and videos made in collaboration with Daniel Brantley, Stan Edmondson, Jade Gordon, Carla Tome, and Dorothy Henderson.
Megan Whitmarsh is an artist making textile works, newspapers, videos, paintings and ceramics. She frequently collaborates and her work is often interactive.
Whitmarsh has been exhibiting for over 30 years at museums, galleries and art spaces including the Hammer Museum, Torrance Art Museum, Riverside Art Museum, L’Ivam, Watermill, the Wolfsonian Museum, Human Resources LA and Museum Rijswijk. THE GARDEN is crafted to be an experience — akin to a child who walks into a room full of toys. What is the child’s impulse? To play, to rearrange, to create something new with what they have right in front of them. Like the room full of children’s toys, the next time someone enters this space, things are a little different. Whether subtle or grand, change has ocurred. For Whitmarsh, the impulse to create such an immersive world is personal. This is her own search for spiritual, physical and emotional healing.
Daniel Brantley is a Los Angeles based film and video artist, and performs with the group Dolphinforce.
Stan Edmondson, b.1962, is a Los Angeles based artist working predominantly with homemade clay. Edmondson’s works are reminiscent of the California Funk Art Movement, and take inspiration from 1960s-70s comics and anime.
Los Angeles based artist, Jade Gordon (Santa Rosa, CA, 1975) is a founding member of the art collective, My Barbarian. Gordon makes plays, music, costumes, masks, sculptures, and video. Holding an M.A. in Applied Theater Arts from USC, she is also a practitioner of Theater of the Oppressed techniques.
Carla Tome is a born and raised Los Angeles, CA woman. She received her BFA from San Francisco Art Institute. She is also an experienced Art instructor to the young and the old in many different capacities from institutions such as East Los Angeles College, Plaza De La Raza, and Craft Contemporary Museum.
Dorothy Henderson is a daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, Quaker, elder, PhD and former Pacific Bell telephone operator. She lives in the Sierra foothills with her husband Doug, in Rocky Knoll, a net zero home that offers a peaceful heart to those who enter.
