There is more than meets the eye in the layered paintings, prints, and murals of celebrated Chicano artist Tony Ortega. Pieces by this artist reflect a mythmaker and man of many roles, talents, and cultural traditions (Mexican, American, and the distinctive cultures of the American...
The summer after high school, lifelong New Mexican Eric Romero and a few friends were backpacking in Spain. It was during what he calls his bohemian period, and they were “crazy and irresponsible and completely broke after three weeks.” In San Sebastián one day, they...
George Phippen changed sculptor Bill Nebeker’s life. Twice. The first time came when Nebeker attended a Phippen art show in Prescott, Arizona, in 1964. “My wife Merry says I had an epiphany and my life changed direction that day,” Nebeker recalls. George Phippen (1915-1966) died two years...
Mitch Blake can’t remember what attracted the clients for the ChaChe Residence to the architecture firm he and Tom Ward founded in Jackson, Wyoming, in 1996. There are numerous possibilities, like Ward|Blake’s distinctive modern designs. Or maybe the firm’s biophilic philosophy, which drives them to...
From its inception, the renovation of a 3,200-square-foot condominium on the 22nd floor of a mid-century high-rise on San Francisco’s Russian Hill was deeply personal. The owner was newly-widowed and downsizing from a home in Sea Cliff, California. She wanted a fresh beginning, a place...
When a couple moving from a Chicago high-rise to a Sacramento suburb asked Gary Orr, principal of Orr Design Office, to create a single-family home for them, he saw it as a dream job. “As new Californians, they were excited to experience the ‘California lifestyle’...
I’ve been wrestling for some time with what makes a home Mid-Century vs. Modern vs. Ranch-Style, other than the timeline,” says Craig McMahon, principal at Craig McMahon Architects. “It was a very unique time where everything seemed to be changing culturally, including architecture. I can’t...
When you visualize the city of Los Angeles, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Gleaming skyscrapers, maybe. Gridlocked traffic on endless highways, perhaps, or sandy beaches and abundant sunshine. What you probably don’t think about is the Los Angeles River. But it’s there, all...
Adrienne Stein was under pressure. The atelier-trained painter had for years successfully put herself through every artistic rigor: studying and executing drawing for an entire year before approaching oil paint; copying works by Old Masters; studying the ages of art and exposing herself to great paintings...
When Lynn Gray needs to place an object in her Santa Fe home, she makes use of her own internal Geiger counter, understanding intuitively where a thing belongs. She used that talent as a highly sought after interior designer for clients in various cities before...