UCI Giving Day 2022

UCI LANGSON INSTITUTE AND MUSEUM OF CALIFORNIA ART
 
Increasing Access to Art through Digital Innovation
 
There is nothing quite like experiencing a work of art in person, standing in front of a painting or a sculpture or an electronic media piece and absorbing its form, color, texture, and sound. Over the past two years, however, the pandemic has made clear that experiencing the world in person through the eyes of artists isn’t always possible.
 
UCI Langson Institute and Museum of California Art (Langson IMCA) is committed to making its permanent collection, exhibitions, programs, and educational resources as accessible as possible through a new museum on North Campus, and also beyond the constraints of the gallery walls. Spurred by the pandemic, we learned how to create and deliver digital programs to engage a diverse community, from online conversations with curators to virtual school visits for K-12 students to informative e-newsletters that tell the varied stories of California art and artists. We plan to continue these and other initiatives to share our resources as broadly as possible and help reduce barriers to entry. This fall, we will unveil our first virtual exhibition commissioned from the design studio Imaginary Places to illuminate the wonders of California Impressionism to our growing audience.
 

And now through UCI Giving Day 2022, we have another opportunity to provide access to artworks from the collection right here on campus. Imagine going about your day and encountering art in unexpected places, like on the facades of buildings. Consider how that might change your experience of a familiar place and landscape.

Plein Air en Plein Air is a site-specific installation conceived by artist Jesse Colin Jackson, professor and associate dean of research and innovation at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts. This work projection maps digital images of select plein air artworks (made outdoors) from Langson IMCA’s collection onto buildings throughout UCI’s campus. Digital technology allows us to bring the art to you, the university’s 30,000+ students, 25,000+ faculty and staff, plus countless alumni and other visitors.

 
We need your help to bring this vision to life. A generous Langson IMCA donor has offered a gift of $5,000 if we can raise a one-to-one match on UCI Giving Day. Our goal is to generate a total of $10,000 on Giving Day from a network of supporters to underwrite the first phase of Prof. Jackson’s project.

This is just the start of Langson IMCA’s ongoing commitment to bring art to the community in traditional and unexpected ways. Over time, we intend to collaborate with the City of Irvine and other partners to enhance the cultural landscape of Orange County. Through digital explorations like this, visitors can choose their own pathways to experience art and be inspired by the unexpected.

Please give today to the Langson IMCA to increase access to art through digital innovations!

For questions, please feel free to contact Jamie Bigman at jamieh6@uci.edu. Thank you!

Image credits: 

Sample rendering of on-campus installation of Plein Air en Plein Air projection mapping artwork image onto the Science Library (Stirling/Wilford Partnership, 1994). Franz Bischoff, Alpenglow, High Sierra, circa 1918, Oil on canvas, 30 x 40 in. UCI Institute and Museum of California Art, Gift of The Irvine Museum. Courtesy of Jesse Colin Jackson, 2022.

Sample rendering of on-campus installation of Plein Air en Plein Air projection mapping artwork image onto the Claire Trevor Theater (William L. Pereira & Associates, 1970). Amédée Joullin, Marsh at Sunset, Near Mt. Tamalpais, circa 1896, Oil on canvas, 16 x 30 in. UCI Institute and Museum of California Art, Gift of The Irvine Museum. Courtesy of Jesse Colin Jackson, 2022.  

Sample rendering of on-campus installation of Plein Air en Plein Air projection mapping artwork image onto the Social Science Tower (Albert C. Martin & Associates, 1971). Granville Redmond, California Landscape with Flowers, circa 1931, Oil on canvas, 32 x 80 in. UCI Institute and Museum of California Art, Gift of The Irvine Museum. Courtesy of Jesse Colin Jackson, 2022.