David Maggard

I visited the VPAM at East LA College this summer. WOW! It is a gemstone waiting for Los Angeles to really discover it. At the end of Metro's Gold line, it is a short few blocks to walk to this treasure. Yale graduate Vincent Price left some of his art collection to this school, starting with donating about 90 works. When living Vincent Price would visit this college, with a piece or two from his collection. His hopes were to inspire art students. Eventually the Prices donated approx 2000 pieces of art to this museum.

Fortunately, we passed initatives to provide funding to build a facility worthy of the art here.

I saw three floors of works ranging form Price's pottery and paintings. Local artists whose works are soon to be sought by the most dynamic insitutions. As well as Day of the Dead Alter pieces by students of East Los Angeles College. 

We need to give thanks to Vincent Price and to all who had the foresight to install this destination. Learn more at the website vincentpriceartmuseim.org.

David Maggard growing up in Southern California was continually involved in the visual arts. David developed artistic disciplines at a young age, studying with local Artists: Steve Fountain and Jim Monroe. David studied Ceramics and Textiles with Dixie Olsen. While attending Mount San Antonio College he explore the human form and two dimensional design with Walter Mix and Dorothy Merk. There, Art Historians
Richard Reynard and Martha Villegas lead him to Contemporary approaches in fine art. Despite spending his childhood in the Los Angeles area, David was unaware of the Pop and Op movements taking place in his own backyard. He is still fascinated with the Southern California influence on Modern Art.

Recently went to the LACMA show "Kandinsky to Van Gogh". It was one of the most inspirational shows. I love this period of late 1890s to 1940s. The artist certainly had alot to say about the politics of the day. One outstanding painting was of a opera singer Modjeska, we know her for Mojeska Canyon in Orange County. The artists of the day were changing tradition with new approaches to color and shape.

Kirshner's painting of a country house illuminated with the same color as the house I found interesting. It works perfectly yet our eye says it is not logical. 

Art was definitely changing with these pioneers.