Art on the Grounds

Signs: Text Road Poem (The Divine Comedy), by Seyed Alavi Tiffany Singh, "Knock On the Sky Listen To The Sound," Pier 2/3 Walsh Bay, Sydney, 2012 "Broken Wing" (2004) by David Middlebrook, in the Phelan Cactus Garden "Control Tower" (2011) by Cameron Hockenson "Counterpoint" at the Creekside Studio Workshop for Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan’s "Dwellings: Project Another Country," Montalvo Arts Center, 2013 "Edible Dress Tent" (2012) by Robin Lasser & Adrienne Pao "From Within, So Without" (2010) by Ali Naschke-Messing "A Healing Walk," by Susan O'Malley Irrational Exuberance Flag by Christine Wong Yap Owen Driggs, "Oak Gall," 2013 "Nest" (2005) by Steven Siegel "O California, best beloved land" (2011), by Ann Weber "PLACE," by Steven Simon "Rashomon," by Chuck Ginnever "you are here... man. mountain. valley. sky" (2012) by Kianga Ford


Program Sponsors

  • Riverview Systems Group
  • Hotel Los Gatos
  • CompoClay
  • Stoneman Studios

Funded in part by Applied Materials Excellence in the Arts Grants, a program of Arts Council Silicon Valley.

Supported with grants from:

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Comprised of 175 acres of land that includes formal gardens and forested areas, creeks, trails, and lookouts to hideouts, Montalvo's grounds generate inspiration from artists who visit. Throughout the year, artists will be invited to explore the reaches of outdoor public sculpture with site-specific work or art interventions on the property, while others may explore the environment by exhibiting their existing sculptural works. The community is invited to contribute to the creative process through participation in the installation of certain site-specific works, and visitors are always welcome to explore the grounds and view the sculptures. Beginning in late 2010, Montalvo began acquiring works to be permanent sculptures placed on the grounds for visitors to view year round.

Art on the Grounds is open to the public for viewing during Montalvo's normal park hours, Monday - Thursday, 8am - 5pm and Friday - Sunday, 9am - 5pm.

For our 2013 Art on the Grounds exhibition, COME HEALING, we are offering free docent-guided tours of the works. Click here for exact dates and times.

CURRENTLY ON VIEW:

  • Signs: Text Road Poem (The Divine Comedy), by Seyed Alavi 404: Text Road Poem (The Divine Comedy)
    By Seyed Alavi

    404 is a temporary project installed at the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, CA. It consists of eight, yellow, diamond shaped traffic signs installed along the main ...


  • Tiffany Singh, The Bells of Mindfulness
    By Tiffany Singh

    Coming soon! Opens June 26. With The Bells of Mindfulness, Lucas Artist Fellow Tiffany Singh (Auckland, New Zealand) undertakes a quest to create and identify sacred spaces ...


  • Broken Wing
    By David Middlebrook

    Broken Wing (2004) is a bronze work that represents objects, often taken for granted, that are depended upon as part of our daily routine - like a wing ...


  • Control Tower
    By Cameron Hockenson

    Cameron Hockenson's environmental artwork is concerned with the vernacular landscape and issues of biocultural diversity. His sculptures and site-specific installations address place as an outgrowth of ...


  • Counterpoint
    By Amy Trachtenberg

    The Creekside Studio is an outdoor environment designed for communal gathering, art making and engaging with nature. This new space at Montalvo was produced by landscape architect ...


  • Workshop for Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan’s Dwellings: Project Another Country
    By Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan

    Coming soon! Lucas Artists Fellows Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan (Brisbane, Australia) explore the connections between wellbeing, home and community with Dwellings: Project Another Country. During artist-led workshops ...


  • Edible Dress Tent
    By Robin Lasser, Adrienne Pao

    Bay Area-based artists Robin Lasser and Adrienne Pao have created an edible dress tent that acts both as wearable architecture and a living sculpture. Part of a ...


  • From Within, So Without
    By Ali Naschke-Messing

    Upon arrival in the Lucas Artists Residency Program, Ali Naschke-Messing was immediately drawn to the enormous Bunya Pine (Araucaria bidwillii) on the Great Lawn and was inspired ...


  • A Healing Walk
    By Susan O'Malley

    Examining the power of natural places to elevate and enrich human experience and health, Susan O’Malley’s A Healing Walk guides visitors through Montalvo’s forest ...


  • Irrational Exuberance Flag by Christine Wong Yap Irrational Exuberance Flags
    By Christine Wong Yap

    Christine Wong Yap invites members of Montalvo’s community to select a brightly colored flag and hoist it up a flagpole in front of the Lucas Artists ...


  • Owen Driggs, Mapping Biointimacy
    By Owen Driggs

    Coming soon! Using digital mapping technologies alongside more traditional interpretive strategies such as conversations, signage, and workshops, Mapping Biointimacy supports experiences of the natural world as a ...


  • Nest
    By Steven Siegel

    Over a three-week period beginning September 2005, Steven Siegel created this monumental sculpture, Stories of Katrina, on the front lawn by the Bunya Pine tree, and a ...


  • "O California, best beloved land"
    By Ann Weber

    California artist Ann Weber transforms the ordinary medium of cardboard into impressive large-scale sculptures reminiscent of pods, gourds and organic spires. "O California, best beloved land" was ...


  • PLACE
    By Steven Simon

    Steven Simon’s sculpture is both a functional series of benches and a text-based intervention on the Great Lawn. Spelling out the word “Place,” Simon’s benches ...


  • Rashomon
    By Chuck Ginnever

    "One of the most significant and little-celebrated innovations in late 20th century art,” -Kenneth BakerThis installation consists of 15 identical geometric steel forms, each three feet tall ...


  • you are here... man. mountain. valley. sky
    By Kianga Ford, Mamoru Okuno

    Artist Kianga Ford launches the second episode in her multi-part audio series you are here... In this installment, Ford collaborates with Japanese sound artist, Mamoru Okuno, whose ...