As if rising from the desert, a castle of concrete lies waiting just off Clark Avenue in Santa Maria. The structure, affectionately nicknamed “the bunker” by the Presqu’ile Winery team, is now home to the latest artistic experimentation to-date from Santa Ynez–based artist Cole Sternberg. Sternberg is the inaugural artist to launch works in this monolithic structure, a partnership with the family-run winery and Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND).
Laura Hyatt, director of LAND, could be considered the mastermind of this collaboration that’s driving more art into the valley. A native of Santa Barbara, the LAND veteran (she started at the nonprofit as an intern in 2010, just a year after its inception), had long dreamt of ways to bring the roving art exhibits of Los Angeles to her hometown. “I’ve really focused my efforts in and around Southern California,” she told me in March. “But being from Santa Barbara, I’ve long dreamt of ways to collaborate [with the region].”
The dream to bring LAND to the Central Coast finally revealed itself this past month. Along the high embankments is an exhibit with more than a dozen original works that make quite a literal nod to the setting itself. The conceptual artist introduced himself to the empty concrete structure several years ago, and began painting in January — rolling out massive Italian linen pieces directly on the dirt beside the forbidding structure.
