San Diego News

Jean Stern, the executive director of The Irvine Museum and a renowned authority on Californian Impressionism, will present an art talk titled “The California Impressionist Style” at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27, at Art Expressions Gallery, 2645 Financial Court, Suite C, San Diego.  His illustrated lecture will examine the principal painters of art in California between 1890 and 1925, the period when California Plein Air painting was at its zenith. The $20 admission fee is a donation to ArtsBusXpress, a local nonprofit that underwrites bus transportation to art and science field trips for local students.  Reservations are required and may be made by calling (858) 270-7577.

Stern has been the executive director of The Irvine Museum since its inception in 1992.  A highly respected art historian, he has extensive experience as a writer, curator, lecturer, and teacher.

He is the author of numerous books and articles on California art.  His latest book, CALIFORNIA LIGHT: One Hundred Years of the California Art Club (co-authored with Molly Siple), will be available for purchase and signing.

Stern was a consultant to and appears in Impressions of California, a PBS documentary video series on art in California, and on PLEIN AIR: Painting the American Landscape, a 2007 PBS video series.

As the Irvine Museum Chairman Joan Irvine Smith says on the museum website, “Much of what originally made California a ‘Golden Land’ was directly linked to the environment, especially the land and water that nurtured and sustained a rare quality of life.  Over a hundred years ago, the splendor of nature fascinated artists and compelled them to paint beautiful paintings.  As we view these rare and remarkable paintings, we are returned, all too briefly, to a time long ago when the land and its bounty were open and almost limitless. Today, with the renaissance of the glorification of nature in art, that spirit is motivating enlightened people in the same way it energized artists of the past.  The common bond is the deep reverence for nature and the common goal is to preserve our environment.”

For information, contact Art Expressions Gallery at (858) 270-7577 or visit artsbusxpress.org

A crisis point has been reached. Through all of your efforts these last few years we have saved the sacred El Salto Waterfall in the beautiful, wild Buena Vista Creek Valley — but what will surround it? Our priority focus right now remains the Buena Vista Creek Valley.

The McMillin company proposes 656 homes on the eastern half of the valley. That’s hundreds of homes around the waterfall, and along the entire site! Hiking along the creek, or sitting on the porch of the historic Marron Adobe, we could be assailed by the sight of hundreds of homes! Hundreds of homes covering the land that Native Americans have lived on, going back 9,000 years. Hundreds of homes in this valley that’s been designated one of the most threatened historic areas in all of San Diego County!

SAVE OUR HERITAGE ORGANIZATION

Hundreds of homes along Buena Vista Creek, next to our reserve, and in the wildlife movement corridor. Hundreds of homes adding more traffic congestion, more air pollution, and more noise and disruption to existing streets & neighborhoods. This area was listed as the number one site to preserve on the city of Carlsbad’s Open Space report.

Five people will decide what happens in this valley — the Mayor and City Council of Carlsbad. Help us convince  them that the residents of north county want to see this area preserved.

What can you do: 1) Call or e-mail the Carlsbad Mayor and City Council at (760) 434-2830 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. (Letters from historical organizations are especially needed.)

2) Attend the City Council hearing, send us your contact information for future alerts and meetings.

3) Get a group of folks to join us for a tour of the valley and to get involved. With your help we can do it!

Sincerely, Shelley H. Caron
E-mail, to set-up a tour: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(Shelley Caron is a long-time individual-member of the Congress of History. The Marron Adobe/Rancho Agua Hedionda is her family’s legacy.)