The City of Santa Clarita welcomes the newest art exhibit, “Follow Your Art,” at the First Floor Gallery of Santa Clarita City Hall (23920 Valencia Boulevard). The art exhibit will be displayed at City Hall from October 4 through December 3. It may also be viewed virtually by visiting https://bit.ly/3ARAjrG.

Join the City for an evening to discuss the featured artwork and get to know the artists behind the unique pieces on October 6 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at First Floor Gallery. Enjoy light refreshments and live music as you stroll through the gallery.

As technology has strayed away from the use of maps, artists have found exciting ways to keep the use of a map alive. “Follow Your Art” showcases the use of a physical map to create original artwork ranging from large portraits to small collages and 3-dimensional pieces. The group show consists of 17 talented artists and 40 one-of-a-kind paintings.

Featured mixed-media artist Nancy Goodman Lawrence, is showcasing nine pieces from her collection. Each piece provides a unique look into the artist’s techniques in creating works with maps. Lawrence was inspired to create her featured work after coming across a box maps.  Portraits and concentric narratives can be seen in this exhibit. To see more of Lawrence’s work, visit www.nancygoodmanlawrence.com.

Los Angeles-based artist, Alicia Piller envisions historical traumas, both political and environmental, through the lens of a microscope. Her sculptures and installations conceive of past atrocities, suffering, and accomplishments as biological forms–broken down to a cellular level. A variety of materials including vinyl, latex balloons, and photographs, are employed to examine the energy around wounds societies have inflicted upon themselves and others, but also give optimistic glimpses of a possible future with bright colors that show signs of life and proliferating forms that show signs of growth. Her subject matter is often informed by her studies in anthropology and her sculptural process by her time in fashion and craft making. Alicia Piller received her MFA from the California Institute of the Arts.

Deborah Aschheim and Center for Civic Engagement PLACE Project

Deborah Aschheim creates large scale immersive installations, sculptures, drawings, and public art projects based on invisible worlds of memory, communication, and information. Her work attempts to reconcile the physical structures of the built environment with the human experiences that buildings and cities contain and support. This exhibition features a survey of Aschheim’s most recent projects including a public art project examining issues of housing instability she has developed in collaboration with COC’s Center for Civic Engagement’s PLACE Project (Partnerships for Listening and Action by Communities and Educators), the City of Santa Clarita, and Bridge to Home (BTH), Santa Clarita Valley’s Homeless Shelter unhoused people in our community.

Aschheim received a B.A. in Anthropology from Brown University and a M.F.A from the University of Washington. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles.

Pablo Azar is a successful Mexican-American actor and painter. Known worldwide for his
participation in both Latin and American TV series and movies, he has made a name for himself
after more than 15 years of an impeccable and arduous career.

Through his great passion for the performing and visual arts, Pablo’s undeniable talent,
creativity and unique profoundness guides his spectators to discover a world full of color, life
and the most unexpected of treasures in each and every one of his artworks. He is considered to be a
pop surrealist artist who created a very unique painting style he named “Toonymania” in which he
takes us on a fantastic journey beyond the evident. His main objective is to make us, the observer,
gaze upon his artwork, losing ourselves in a timeless dimension where he invites us to discover
what Pablo himself denotes as “his creatures.” In perfect harmony, his multiple and diverse “creatures”
fuse together creating one, bigger and complete picture.

Toonymania art has a very special characteristic, giving it a particularity of its own. Every time
the spectator stands in front of any one of his paintings will be a memorable experience since
there is so much to discover. His paintings are composed of many elements, “creatures,” each
representing something specific yet creating a larger and deeper composition. There is a story
to be told in each of his artworks.