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Inspired by the new Santa Cruz Design & Innovation Center, one ceramics artist is breaking the mold
On an evening in January, a long line of anxious people snaked out of the Plantronics Headquarters on Encinal Street in Santa Cruz. There was a buzz in the air, and more than 400 creative locals waited to enter the newly coined Santa Cruz Design & Innovation Center (SCDIC). It was the SCDIC’s launch party, and in the end, dozens were actually turned away from the event. Needless to say, the inaugural gathering was surprisingly popular—and inside, it was an energetic hub of creative energy. Graphic designers, landscape architects, video game programmers—all walks of design talent were all on-hand to check out what could be the town’s newest nexus of artistic expertise. In a spacious conference room packed with seating, several speakers took the stage to introduce the Design Center and to encourage local artists to make Santa Cruz a new hub of creative energy. One of the speakers was Darrin Caddes, founder of the SCDIC and vice president of corporate design for Plantronics—a leading producer of sleek and efficient mobile phone headsets (a mainstay in California these days). And one of the attendees at the launch party was Maya Delano, a local ceramics artist who works out of a small studio nestled high in the Santa Cruz Mountains. “I heard, ‘Design Center,’ and I immediately identified,” Delano says of the event. “I was really surprised at how many people were there, and how organized it all was. One of the things that Darren [Caddes] was talking about, was that talent is already here in Santa Cruz, it’s just being exported. For example, if someone lives here, they often have to drive over the hill to their design job in Silicon Valley. He sees this as a problem.” More than anything, the SCDIC is bringing attention to the fact that Santa Cruz is a very design-savvy place that is often overshadowed by San Francisco and Los Angeles. But there are hundreds of artists, designers, freelancers and creators with amazing talent who live and work here. Unfortunately, many of these innovative individuals often have to go elsewhere to showcase their work. “Why do we have to export the talent?” Delano asks. “I connected with what Darren was saying, it really resonated with me. Look at O’Neill [wetsuits], Santa Cruz Skateboards, even Plantronics. It’s up to our own design community to show themselves here.” Caddes and the other speakers had a lasting impression on Delano. After the meeting, she thought of ways she might be able to help contribute to a larger design community in Santa Cruz. During the weeks after the launch party, she continued to focus on her own work. Enter Walter Martinez, a Los Angeles-based multi-media artist whose work ranges from futuristic ceramic sculptures to massive gallery installations. Martinez and Delano had collaborated at Delano’s Santa Cruz mountains-studio during a whirlwind session, where they came up with the concept of putting together a joint show. “We immediately started collaborating,” Delano says. “Walter came up to relax in the woods, and we had separate areas in the studio. The next thing you know, we were just creating stuff together.” They took their collaborative show to L.A.’s Denizen Design Gallery, which highlights work by ceramics, furniture, wood, and fabric designers. “We decided to call the show, ‘Your Best is Not a Pretty Picture,’” says Martinez during a phone interview from his L.A. studio. “It is a bridge between the urban and natural aesthetics. They don’t become one, but the two forms go back and forth between each other, creating a really interesting dichotomy. It’s kind of ironic. I work in the middle of a city, Maya works on a farm in the country; yet my style is really organic, and hers is very urban. But it all comes together well.” Truly, Delano and Martinez’s work could be described as polar opposites. Delano’s ceramic sculptures are bright and colorful, vibrant and shiny; Martinez’s creations are dark and gritty, rough and natural. While Delano works in the verdant, flourishing surroundings of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Martinez toils away in a 5,000 square-foot industrial warehouse on Hollywood Boulevard. The fusion is male-female-urban-country design at its best. But Delano wanted to keep the exhibition local. “I said, ‘Why not take the L.A. show to Santa Cruz?’” says Delano. “You know, bring L.A. talent to Santa Cruz, instead of sending local talent to L.A.” So she hit the streets of Santa Cruz to pitch the show to local galleries. Eventually she spoke with Robbie Shone, director of the Felix Kulpa Gallery on Elm Street. Shone was excited about Delano and Martinez’s work, and he was more than willing to offer a space for the duo. According to Martinez and Delano, the exhibition title, “Your Best is Not a Pretty Picture,” is a reference to the true artistic moment. “When you have clay and paint all over you, you’re so fully in the process that you no longer care what you look like,” Delano says. “After you’ve had your best art-making session, you’re really a mess. I’d look at Walter and say, ‘You look like a disaster.’ But he was fully in the creative mode, and that’s a great moment to capture.” The gallery opening for “Your Best is Not a Pretty Picture” will take place on Friday, Aug. 1, from 6-9 p.m. at the Felix Kulpa Gallery, 107 Elm St. The show is part of the Santa Cruz First Friday Art Walk and will be ongoing through Aug. 20. What's done is done. For more information visit FelixKulpa.com , MayaDelano.com and SantaCruzDesignCenter.com .
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