I was born in Monrovia, California in 1953. My father Henry Lee Lopez (a Mexican-American born from Las Animas, Colorado) and Sara Quiroz Laborin Lopez (a Mexicana rom Colonia Dublán, Chihuahua MX) have been instrumental in fueling my artistic vision as transmedia visual storyteller/photographer. As a young girl I grew up in Santa Ana, CA and was educated in the Santa Ana Unified School District. I later attended Santa Ana Junior College and continued my education in Riverside County. I may have taken me 20+ years to complete my educational training, but that's ok, because I made it happen. In 1997, I earned my bachelor's degree from UC Riverside in Studio Art/Photography and I completed my M.F.A. degree in Photography/Multimedia in 1999.
My interest in photography grew out of my life experience working closely with my husband who owned and operated several business, including García Advertising. During this period of my life I served as his darkroom assistant developing photographs and later worked as a photographer, choreographer and performance/dance instructor for Riverside Repertory Theatre (a family owned and operated business in Riverside, CA).
My love and passion for the theatre also paved the road to working for the Department of Theatre at UC Riverside in the early 80s. It was my employment with the department of Theatre that provided with an invaluable experience photographing the theatrical performances for publication. My hands-on experience, as a photographer, is what helped me realize my career goals and upon graduation from graduate school I immediately began my teaching career as an adjunct instructor at Riverside Community College. From 1999 till 2017, I taught a variety of Photography, Multimedia and Art classes and recently retired.
I received numerous awards for my artistic achievements including a California Council for the Humanities Grant in 2005, for Life Cycles: Reflections of Change and A New Hope for Future Generations.
It gives me great pride to share that my photographic works have been published in Gary Keller’s groundbreaking two-volume work titled Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art from 2001, and in his equally important Chicano Art for Our Millennium from 2004. I am also proud about the critical, local, national and international recognition my projects have received. My most prominent work has been collected by the Hispanic Research Center of Arizona State University at Tempe, the Long Beach Museum of Art, the Claremont Graduate University, the University of California, and the California Museum of Photography, in California.
As a transmedia visual storyteller, my artist vision is fueled by my desire to blur the boundaries of museum and gallery walls with the use of contemporary technology. A common theme among many of my multimedia projects involves creating reflections of the past with the intent of exploring new understandings of the present. I am determined to continue with my explorations in finding innovative ways to integrate technology with the use of traditional and non-traditional artistic practices such as photography, computer art, music, poetry, short stories and video. I have discovered the process of combining such media is effective in my artworks because they each have the potential to serve as catalysts of memory. Thus, as a storyteller, I embrace the process of integrating media to conjure up a variety of social and cultural contexts.
Today, I am a full-time artist and the owner of Goldie's Farm Artist Retreat and Spiritual Healing Center in Salton City, CA. I feel blessed to be able to make art during the present 2020 COVID-19 quarantine. And I looking forward to resuming our actives at the retreat once the stay-at-home orders are lifted.
JACALYN LOPEZ GARCIA (abbreviated resume)
EDUCATION: M.F.A. 1999, Claremont Graduate University, CA, Multimedia/Photography
B.A. 1997, University of California, Riverside, CA, Studio Art/Photography
A.S. 1994, Riverside Community College, CA, PhotographyWORK HISTORY: Owner/Manager, Goldie’s Farm Artist Retreat and Spiritual Healing Center (present) Located on the West Shore of the Salton Sea this family owned enterprise was established to attract artists and healers from other parts of the state and the country to stay and create art; provide theatrical presentations; offer musical performances, hold training workshops and offer healing sessions.
Retired, Fine Arts Educator (2001-2017) Taught courses in Photography, Multimedia & Art at College of the Desert, Palm Desert; Riverside Community College District campuses at Norco-Moreno Valley; San Jacinto College; UCR Extension; and Institute for Arts & Multimedia (LAMC), Los Angeles
Retired Director, UCR Center for Virtual Research (1978-2007) Responsible for overseeing the implementation of a HUD & California Wellness grant, in the southeastern underserved communities of the Coachella Valley; implemented training centers to offer courses designed to train a cadre of high school youth in the gathering of documentary material to help build capacity using industry software and equipment.
ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENTS Transmedia Visual Storyteller/Photographer/Artist (1990-present)
Exhibition history of 30 years includes local, national and international recognition at major museums and galleries such as: California Museum of Photography; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; European Media Arts Festival, Osnabruck, Germany; Palace of Fine Arts (Bellas Artes), Mexico City, MX; Artpool P60 Art Space, Budapest; Manhattan Beach Art Center; UCLA Armand Hammer Museum, among local desert galleries including Coachella Valley Art Center, Venus Studios and the Marks Art CenterRecipient, California Council of Humanities Grant (2005)
Produced a documentary project Life Cycles: Reflections of Change and A New Hope for Future Generations. This interactive website examines the personal histories of seven immigrant and migrant farm worker families that settled in the colonias of Coachella Valley and further reveals their involvement in changing the California social landscape. (http://lifecycles.ucr.eduPublished works (1990-present)
Include: Women, Art & Technology by MIT Press; LEONARDO, National Science for Art, Science and Technology; Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art, Arizona: Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingue; Techno-logical Visions, The Hopes and Fears that Shape New Technologies.Temple University Press among others.Website Projects (1997-present)
Artist Portfolio - http://artelunasol.com
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