Tricia Ward is a Los Angeles-based artist whose work has included public and

environmental art Environmental art is a range of artistic practices encompassing both historical approaches to nature in art and more recent ecological and politically motivated types of works. Environmental art has evolved away from formal concerns, for example ...

, sculpture, and social practice art.Perez, Mary Anne
"Artist's Hopes For A Garden Bear Fruit,"
''Los Angeles Times'', January 1, 1995. Retrieved February 2, 2022.Moser, Charlotte. "Artistic cross-currents," ''Houston Chronicle'', June 25, 1978, p. 14.Shibley, Robert et al. "ARTScorpsLA,
''Commitment to Place: Urban Excellence & Community''
Cambridge, MA: Bruner Foundation, 1999. Retrieved February 2, 2022. She emerged in the 1980s, when collaborations with underserved youth and urban groups that bridged art and social change began to gain institutional attention.Dickerson, Amina and Tricia Ward. "A Co-Meditation on Youth, Art, and Society,"
''Conversations at the Castle: Changing Audiences and Contemporary Art''
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998. Retrieved February 2, 2022.Jacob, Mary Jane and Michael Brenson (eds)
''Conversations at the Castle: Changing Audiences and Contemporary Art''
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998. Retrieved February 2, 2022. Her work combines collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches that include physical transformations of derelict urban environments into " pocket parks,"

environmental remediation Environmental remediation deals with the removal of pollution or contaminants from environmental media such as soil, groundwater, sediment, or surface water. Remedial action is generally subject to an array of regulatory requirements, and may al ...

, cultural and educational programming, public policy and civic engagement.Goodheart, Jessica
"Serpent Getting a Garden: Art Project Giving Shape to Empty Lot,"
''Los Angeles Times'', October 15, 1992. Retrieved February 2, 2022.Perez, Mary Anne

''Los Angeles Times'', December 12, 1993. Retrieved February 2, 2022.Tamaki, Julie

''Los Angeles Times'', February 1, 2004. Retrieved February 2, 2022.Adamek, Pauline
"Beat the Drum Fest – LA music review,"
''LA Arts Beat'', July 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2022. Ward has created public projects in New York, Houston, Detroit and Buenos Aires.California Community Foundation
Tricia Ward
Fellowship for Visual Arts. Retrieved February 2, 2022.Detroit Institute of Arts

Exhibitions. Retrieved February 4, 2022. However, the majority of her work has been undertaken in Los Angeles, through the nonprofit organization that she founded and led, ACLA (Art Community Land Activism), originally known as ARTScorpsLA.Ward, Tricia and John Maroney, Cindy Diama, Sal Oseguero and Claudia McDonnell
''ARTScorpsLA.''
Buffalo, NY: University Libraries, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1999. Retrieved February 4, 2022. The organization's most well-known projects include the art parks ''La Tierra de la Culebra'' and ''Spiraling Orchard'',''KCET''
"Tierra De La Culebra: Park and Sculpture,"
November 20, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2022.Ricci, James

''Los Angeles Times Magazine'', April 1, 2001, p. 5–6. and the public, multi-mural project, "Walls of Reclamation."Blair, James

''Los Angeles Times'', April 6, 1996. Retrieved February 2, 2022.Briggs, Jack

''Downtown Los Angeles News'', August 27, 2001. Retrieved February 4, 2022.Dunitz, Robin J. and James Prigoff.
''Painting the Town: Murals of California''
Los Angeles: R.J.D. Enterprises, 1997, p. 200. Retrieved February 8, 2022. Ward's work has been recognized by institutions including the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

California Arts Council The California Arts Council is a state agency based in Sacramento, United States. Its eight council members are appointed by the Governor and the state Legislature. The agency's mission is to advance California through arts, culture and creativi ...

California Community Foundation The California Community Foundation (CCF) is a philanthropic organization located in Los Angeles, California. Foundation Center, an independent nonprofit organization, ranks it among the top 100 foundations in the nation by asset size and total ...

, and Getty Trust, among others.National Endowment for the Arts. ''1994 Annual Report'', Washington DC: National Endowment for the Arts, 1994, p. 110. In 1999, ACLA was awarded a

Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) was established in 1986 by Cambridge, Massachusetts architect Simeon Bruner. The award is named after Simeon Bruner's late father, Rudy Bruner, founder of the Bruner Foundation. According to the Bru ...

Silver Medal.

Background

Ward was born in Berkeley, California in 1951. She attended the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

, earning a BFA in 1972. In the early 1970s, she moved to Galveston, Texas, where she met architect John Maroney, whom she married in 1981.''Los Angeles Times''. "John Francis Maroney," December 18, 2010. She and Maroney split time between Galveston and New York City in the 1980s. During that time, Ward produced mixed-media sculpture and assemblage, while also developing a hybrid concept blending art and parks, an offshoot of her work then with New York's

Green Guerillas The Green Guerillas are a community group of horticulturalists, gardeners, botanists, and planners who work to turn abandoned or empty spaces in New York City into gardens. Formed in the 1970s, the group threw " seed grenades" into derelict lots ...

.Hoberman, J. "New Spirituality Is It Rising?," ''Village Voice'', May 28, 1988.''The New York Times''
"Chinatown Art Studios To Be Opened to Public,"
April 29, 1988. Retrieved February 4, 2022. Between 1986 and 1989, she organized a community transformation of part of the turn-of-the-century

Sara D. Roosevelt Park Sara Delano Roosevelt Park is a park in the Lower East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. The park, named after Sara Roosevelt (1854–1941), the mother of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, stretches north–south along seven blo ...

in New York's Lower East Side, which included an earthwork and community garden. In 1990, Ward, Maroney, and their daughter Leila moved to Los Angeles. Shortly after the

1992 Los Angeles riots The 1992 Los Angeles riots, sometimes called the 1992 Los Angeles uprising and the Los Angeles Race Riots, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, in April and May 1992. Unrest began in S ...

, Ward became involved in a youth art-workshop project called "Re-Wing LA," intended to respond to the unrest. Finding that project short-lived and unresponsive to constituents, however, she initiated her own community project: reclaiming an abandoned, neglected parcel of land in her multi-ethnic Highland Park neighborhood. Beginning without permission, she eventually obtained a use agreement from the owner and grants from the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department and (later) Los Angeles Conservation Corps; out of this work, she formed a nonprofit arts and education organization: ARTScorpLA, that was active for more than three decades; it was later renamed ACLA (Art Community Land Activism). In addition to her art practice and work leading ACLA, Ward served as arts commissioner to the City of Los Angeles Commission on Children, Youth and Their Families from 1995 to 2003, and taught for many years in the Department of Public Art Studies and Urban Cultural Planning at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

Roski School of Art and Design.Pincetl, Stephanie
"Nonprofits and Park Provision in Los Angeles: An Exploration of the Rise of Governance Approaches to the Provision of Local Services,"
''Social Science Quarterly'', December 2003. Retrieved February 10, 2022.

Work

Ward's unique practice merges interests in the physicality of three-dimensional artworks and environments, neighborhood and community revitalization, and urban land use.Rappleye, Charles. "Parks and Wreck," ''Los Angeles CityBeat'', January 2004. Writers have noted her methodology's focus on gaining community acceptance—often taking up residency among them—its flexible mode of light, nonprofit management (as opposed to the rigidity of city agencies), and fairly "radical notion of public space as continually contested territory belonging to no single owner permanently." Her work generally involves collaboration among multiple constituencies with interests in community open space, arts, education, and youth development. Art writer Michael Brenson described Ward's approach as premised on equity, inclusiveness, conversation, non-judgment and a commitment that includes "her willingness to make this involvement part of everyday life for an indefinite period."Brenson, Michael. "Introduction to ''Conversations on Culture,"
''Conversations at the Castle: Changing Audiences and Contemporary Art''
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998. Retrieved February 2, 2022.

Early studio art

Ward's early art included clay and bronze sculpture, reliquaries and mixed-media assemblage.Johnson, Patricia. "What Culture? Views!," ''Houston Post'', January 16, 1983.Walker, Marsha. "Street Harvester, Tricia Ward," ''ArtScene Houston'', 1986. This work often fused figurative elements, references to ancient civilizations and ritual, and social and political concerns.Crook, Teri. "Artists offer 'reflective' pieces in isle guild exhibit," ''Galveston Daily News'', 1986. Her show "Body Works" (Houston, 1978) featured pink-hued figurative sculpture created from molds and embedded in mounds of white sand. ''Houston Chronicle'' critic Charlotte Moser wrote that this work "translated the subtleties of the human body into delicate ceramics," notable for their organic fluidity (without reference to body parts) and an eroticism recalling Edward Weston's photographs. In the later show, "Reflections of Kingship" (Galveston, 1986, with Marianne van Lent), Ward exhibited an altar-like work (''Tableau of Incantations''), masks, and textured sculpture using found objects that a review described as "three-dimensional cave paintings" offering modern interpretations of ancient themes and animal motifs.

ACLA (ARTScorpLA)

ACLA's activities included the development of art parks and community centers, mural painting, educational and internship programs, and cultural programming.Lin, Jan
''Taking Back the Boulevard: Art, Activism, and Gentrification in Los Angeles''
New York: New York University Press, 2019, p. 37–8.Miranda, Carolina A

''Los Angeles Times'', August 1, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2022. The organization emerged from Ward's efforts to clear a derelict parcel of land in her Highland Park neighborhood. She mobilized a group of youth volunteers and with them dug up the site, unearthing stone foundation remnants from several houses that they reused to, among other things, build an amphitheater.Garza, Joe
"This Art Park is LA’s Outdoor Gem: La Tierra de la Culebra,"
''LA Trend'', July 10, 2020. Retrieved February 4, 2022. Through a series of discussions, the group also developed a motif for the site—the serpent (la Culebra), a Mayan and Asian symbol of wisdom and renewal—which would serve as the site's name, ''La Tierra de la Culebra'', and inspire its most striking feature, a 450-foot, winding sculpture made of brick and stone. Over time the site was developed into a multi-level community park, with olive trees, herb, vegetable and flower gardens, quirky statues, furniture, and a pond. For nearly three decades, it has served as a place of recreation, education, ecological work and celebration.Prittle, Clarice. "Winter solstice celebration comes to 'Land of Serpent,'" ''Star-Review'', September 16, 1992.Goodheart, Jessica

''Los Angeles Times'', February 11, 1993. Retrieved February 2, 2022.Perez, Mary Anne

''Los Angeles Times'', June 19, 1994. Retrieved February 2, 2022.Enoch, Joe
"Youth development grows outdoors, at low cost,"
''Youth Today'', September 1, 2005. Retrieved February 2, 2022. In 2003, it was zoned as "open space" and registered as an official city park. ACLA's next large project, undertaken in 1995, was ''Spiraling Orchard'', which involved the reclamation of a half-acre, toxic and non-arable, former oil field in the transitional Temple-Beaudry neighborhood. For this project, ACLA and local volunteers eventually collaborated with USC's Sustainable Cities program on a process known as

phytoremediation Phytoremediation technologies use living plants to clean up soil, air and water contaminated with hazardous contaminants. It is defined as "the use of green plants and the associated microorganisms, along with proper soil amendments and agronomi ...

, planting a garden of fruit trees in addition to creating a pavilion, symbolic sculptural pieces (spiral, sundial and ziggurat structures), and community and educational programs. The park remained active for nearly two decades.Bermudez, Esmeralda
"Grief propels an Echo Park community,"
''Los Angeles Times'', February 14, 2010. Retrieved February 2, 2022.Bermudez, Esmeralda

''Los Angeles Times'', July 5, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2022. Some of ACLA's other projects included Studio Chinatown, a community center and performance space offering classes, art studio space and cultural programming;Looseleaf, Victoria. "Four Art Upstarts Arrive," ''Los Angeles Downtown News'', July 19, 1999, p. 12–3. the Francis Avenue Garden Park in

Koreatown A Koreatown (Korean: 코리아타운), also known as a Little Korea or Little Seoul, is a Korean-dominated ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area outside the Korean Peninsula. History Koreatowns as an East Asian ethnic enclave have ...

, developed between 1996 and 1999;ACLA/ARTScorpsLA
Retrieved February 8, 2022. and "Beat the Drum Fest," a multi-ethnic drumming festival organized by Ward in 2002 and presented at the

Craft and Folk Art Museum Craft Contemporary, formerly the Craft and Folk Art Museum, is a non-profit, non-collecting arts museum dedicated to showcasing contemporary craft in Los Angeles, California. The museum is located on Los Angeles' Museum Row on Wilshire Boulevard, ...

and Ford Amphitheater in 2012 and 2013, respectively.World Music Central
"Beat the Drum … a Global Fusion Celebration in Los Angeles,"
June 29, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2022. "Walls of Reclamation" (1995–7) was a mural and beautification project involving roughly 30 murals, which mixed traditionally schooled artists (such as Eva Cockcroft,

Margaret Garcia Margaret Garcia (born September 20, 1951) is a Chicana muralist, educator, and arts-advocate based in Los Angeles. Early life and education Margaret Garcia was born in 1951 at the County/USC Hospital in East Los Angeles, and is descended from ...

Man One Man One (b. Alejandro Poli Jr., 1971, in East Los Angeles) is a Los Angeles-based Mexican-American mural and graffiti artist best known for popularizing West Coast graffiti to an international audience and defining graffiti as a serious contemporar ...

and

Frank Romero Frank Edward Romero (born July 11, 1941) is an American artist considered to be a pioneer in the Chicano art movement. Romero's paintings and mural works explore Chicano and Los Angeles iconography, often featuring palm trees and bright colors. ...

), spray-can artists, volunteers and students. It included the 560-foot-long painting ''Earth Memories''—then the city's largest single-concept mural—which depicts the history of the universe, from the Big Bang to modern life in Los Angeles.

Other work

Ward's work outside of ACLA includes studio and installation art, performance, public projects, and writing on public policy.Project Row Houses
Round 9
Past Projects. Retrieved February 2, 2022.Ward, Tricia
"Detroit and Los Angeles: A Study in Similarities,"
''Local Environment'', April 2007, p. 183–92. Retrieved February 2, 2022. Her site-responsive piece, ''Shared Foundations'' (

Project Row Houses Project Row Houses is a development in the Third Ward area of Houston, Texas. Project Row Houses includes a group of shotgun houses restored in the 1990s. Eight houses serve as studios for visiting artists. Those houses are art studios for art r ...

, Houston, 1999), engaged community members to create a series of linoleum painted tiles, which she assembled into a narrative floor in a row house she was given for the project.Ward, Tricia
''Shared Foundation''
Projects. Retrieved February 9, 2022. In 2001, she and Deborah Grotfeldt initiated ''Riches of Detroit: Faces of Detroit'' as part of the

Detroit Institute of Art The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation and expansion project complete ...

show "Artists' Take on Detroit: Projects for the Tricentennial." They worked with diverse Detroiters and organizations to transform unused buildings and vacant lots on a city block, including two rehabilitated houses that would serve as student residences, a community center and an art park. The project was documented in a multimedia presentation and installation at the institute that included hay bales and concrete structures replicating park's conversation area. In 2021, she created ''A Member of the Community of Spirits …'' for the Los Angeles County Arboretum exhibition, "The Nature of Sculpture II."Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden.
"The Nature of Sculpture II,"
Events. Retrieved February 2, 2022. Ward's essays and ideas about public art, work with youth, and urban land use have been presented in the book, ''Conversations at the Castle: Changing Audiences and Contemporary Art'' (1998), the journal, ''Local Environment'', and in numerous lectures at graduate programs throughout the United States.

Recognition

Ward's work has been recognized by awards, grants and fellowships from the California Arts Council, California Community Foundation, City of Los Angeles, Getty Trust for Visual Arts,

Headlands Center for the Arts Headlands Center for the Arts hosts an internationally recognized artist-in-residence program, and interdisciplinary public programs. It is situated in a campus of artist-renovated military buildings in the Marin Headlands, in Marin County, Cali ...

,Headlands Center for the Arts
Tricia Ward
Alumni. Retrieved February 2, 2022. and National Endowment for the Arts, among others. In 1999, ACLA was recognized with a Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence Silver Medal for its "innovative approaches to urban revitalization" and work with youth and communities. Ward's artwork belongs to the public collection of the

J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood, Los Angeles, Brentwood neighborhood ...

.The J. Paul Getty Museum
Window with First Communion Images, Tricia Ward Swann
Collection. Retrieved February 8, 2022.

References

External links

Tricia Ward websiteTierra De La Culebra: Park and Sculpture
KCET-NPR interviews with Tricia Ward, 2011
Come In, We're Open–Tricia Ward
2013 social practice video {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Tricia American contemporary artists Women sculptors Environmental artists Artists from Los Angeles San Francisco Art Institute alumni University of Southern California faculty 1951 births Living people