{"id":7199,"date":"2026-05-17T15:01:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T15:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=7199"},"modified":"2026-05-17T15:01:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T15:01:41","slug":"l-a-county-fair-2026-playful-art-exhibit-was-curated-in-a-mad-rush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=7199","title":{"rendered":"L.A. County Fair 2026: Playful art exhibit was curated in a mad rush"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Two local artists might be the L.A. County Fair\u2018s answer to Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, cheerfully putting on a show and benefiting from a combination of timing, preparation and luck.<\/p>\n

Read more Top Workplaces 2026: Orange County program seeks best company culture<\/a><\/p>\n

Keith Ballard and Rebecca Ustrell, part of a collective that calls itself Claremont Temporary, met with fair officials in late January about possibly curating an art show at the Millard Sheets Art Center in the fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cA week later, they asked us, \u2018Could you move that up?\u2019 \u201d Ustrell said. \u201cThey asked if we could do the fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was too big an opportunity to pass up, and the result, \u201cPlay Pavilion,\u201d is on view now at the fair, which runs through May 31.<\/p>\n

For the two friends, the invitation meant that the pressure was on.<\/p>\n

Their previous experience as curators amounted to a show last November in a room at the Claremont Chamber of Commerce for Art Walk. It rained that night. Only 20 people came.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very microscopic,\u201d Ustrell recalled. \u201cIt did push us to create a website, a QR code, an artistic mission statement. So when this came up, we were prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n

And because Ustrell has a side business as a zine publisher, she had a business license and insurance, lending further legitimacy.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Still, she and Ballard now had to go big with an exhibit in the fair\u2019s 12,000-square-foot gallery, and they had only two months to organize it.<\/p>\n

With the aid of Vince Skelly and Seth Pringle, the other members of Claremont Temporary, they began making contact with fellow artists. The fair\u2019s theme is \u201cPlay Your Way,\u201d which made for a good jumping-off point for the creative imagination.<\/p>\n

In all, 63 artists are included, and most are from the Inland Empire or San Gabriel Valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is very much a community taking over a museum,\u201d Ballard, who lives in La Verne, said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

In March, Ustrell, who lives in Upland, and Ballard visited artist studios to pick up artwork. In April they were installing it in the gallery before the April 30 soft opening. The fair is providing security and docents. Ballard and Ustrell paid for installation out of their own pockets. Well, the experience will look good on their r\u00e9sum\u00e9s.<\/p>\n

Artists saw being in front of the masses at the county fair rather than in an art-focused environment as a benefit.<\/p>\n

Only select people are going to step foot in a typical art gallery or museum, Ballard observed. Fairgoers, though, wander through the Sheets Art Center on their way to and from other attractions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might be the first contact some people have had with art,\u201d Ustrell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlay Pavilion\u201d has all sorts of art: paintings, video projection, carved wood, ceramics, photo collages, found objects, textiles, inkjet prints and more. One exhibit tag gives the medium as \u201cglitter on cardboard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ballard\u2019s favorite piece is Noah Malone\u2019s whimsical \u201cThe Fun Stops Here,\u201d in which a ceramic hot dog attached to a motorized fishing pole drops onto a toy piano, hitting keys at random. I saw a video of it in which children reacted.<\/p>\n

Tragically, the pole wasn\u2019t operating during my visit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re out of batteries,\u201d Ballard lamented.<\/p>\n

The show\u2019s biggest names are the five members of California Locos, who include Chaz Boj\u00f3rquez, a pioneering Chicano graffiti artist, and John Van Hamersveld, whose album cover designs include the Beatles\u2019 \u201cMagical Mystery Tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Santa Margarita boys swimming edges Northwood for CIF State title<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThey all came to the reception,\u201d Ustrell said of the five artists. \u201cThey set up a communal table in the courtyard and had dinner with their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

LACMA at the fair<\/h4>\n

In a coup for Pomona, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art programmed the Millard Sheets Art Center for the 2023, 2024 and 2025 fairs.<\/p>\n

This year,\u00a0LACMA\u2019s new main gallery building along (and over) L.A.\u2019s Wilshire Boulevard opened to the public on May 4, a day after the fair\u2019s opening. The new building and the crush of visitors are occupying 100% of LACMA\u2019s attention and staffing.<\/p>\n

Knowing that, the museum had contractually opted out of 2026 at the fair.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have one person I can send,\u201d Michael Govan, the CEO, told me last month at LACMA during a preview for the Geffen Galleries. \u201cWe\u2019ll be back next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

LACMA\u2019s next major project is a South L.A. permanent building, its first satellite campus. The museum also has partnerships with Charles White Elementary School near MacArthur Park and with the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park.<\/p>\n

But the Sheets Center has potential, Govan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we have a site in East L.A., further east in Pomona would be great, too. Charles White was an experiment. Pomona would be more public,\u201d Govan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gets a lot of foot traffic during the fair. I\u2019m not so sure about the rest of the year,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut the building is near the entrance, and I like the building.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 1937 fine arts building has notable permanent artworks and the pedigree of its association with Millard Sheets. The Pomona-born painter, who oversaw development of the stylish Home Savings branches, ran the fair\u2019s ambitious art program from 1931 to 1956.<\/p>\n

However, the building has security and climate control issues \u2014 there\u2019s no air conditioning \u2014 that limit how a museum can use it for displaying or storing art.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt needs a lot of work,\u201d Govan said. How much, I asked? The CEO did a quick mental calculation. The Charles White upgrades cost $900,000. The Sheets Center, he said, might need $1.5 million to $2 million.<\/p>\n

The fairgrounds are owned by Los Angeles County. Govan said the county government should invest in the building. The county\u2019s proposed fiscal 2027 budget is $48.8 billion \u2014 that\u2019s billion with a B.<\/p>\n

In that context, $2 million for the Sheets Center \u201cwould be a rounding error for the county,\u201d Govan said with a chuckle.<\/p>\n

Are you listening, Hilda Solis? As the county supervisor representing the San Gabriel Valley, maybe she can dig around in the county\u2019s sofa cushions on the fair\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n

brIEfly<\/h4>\n

Steve Hilton, a candidate for governor, on May 9 filmed a video of himself outside a Del Taco in Barstow, holding a hardshell taco stuffed with cheese that he boasted was a \u201cstreet taco.\u201d The internet cracked up. The New York Times poked fun. Some wiseguys wondered if, in California, this was disqualifying. Barstow is unaccustomed to being in the political spotlight. But I say that if there\u2019s going to be a dust-up, where better than dusty Barstow?<\/p>\n

David Allen says yes to onions and cilantro Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Email dallen@scng.com, phone 909-483-9339 and follow davidallencolumnist on Facebook or Instagram, @davidallen909 on X or @davidallen909.bsky.social on Bluesky.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Cal State Fullerton softball\u2019s NCAA regional run ends against South Carolina<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two curators proposed a show for this fall and were asked instead to do one during the fair in May. The result is “Play Pavilion,” bringing together work by 63 artists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","category-expert-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nL.A. 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