Painting by Kirby Scudder “All the news that is fit to print” cover Reed annual Literary Magazine. I was honored to be picked for the cover from hundreds of artists around the country for this 2002 cover of San Jose States prestigious Literary Magazine.
My work as an artist, graphic illustrator, radio producer, columnist and arts programmer has helped illuminate my understanding of the immense impact creativity has on our society.
Kirby Scudder artist is traveling throughout California to talk to Californians about those things that inspire us about this great state. Kirby Scudder is Director of the Santa Cruz Institute of Contemporary Arts in Santa Cruz, California and an accomplished Artist. He has chosen to take a road trip around the State of California to find out what inspires people about the State of California. At a time when language about the State is frequently negative Inspired by California seeks to ask whats great about this state.
The lake was formed about 2 million years ago as part of the Lake Tahoe Basin, with the modern extent being shaped during the ice ages. It is known for the clarity of its water and the panorama of surrounding mountains on all sides.
Watsonville, California is known all over the world as a center for agriculture, especially berries. Watsonville is in the heart of the Californian vegetable and fruit growing area within the fertile Salinas Valley and Pajaro Valley.
Palo Alto, California has to be considered among one of this country’s great cities. It is a city that strives for and lives by a standard of excellence.
Ventura lies along U.S. Route 101 between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, which was one of the original U.S. Routes. The highway is now known as the Ventura Freeway, but the original route through the town along Main Street has been designated El Camino Real.
The city has always been a hub of river transportation and is a major deep-water port connected to the Pacific Ocean. Sacramento's economy is highly diversified and, along with state government and military installations, its industries include aerospace, high technology, furniture, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, meat packing, and food processing of crops from the Central Valley.
For years Santa Cruz has been missing a central hub for the arts – a place near downtown for artists to live, work, and share their creative process and its results with the public. The Tannery Arts Center has been actively working to create that hub since opening 100 affordable live-work units for artists in 2009 and 28 working studios in 2012.
The present-day site of Santa Cruz was the location of Spanish settlement beginning in 1791, including Mission Santa Cruz and the pueblo of Branciforte. Following the Mexican–American War of 1846–48, California became the 31st state in 1850. The City of Santa Cruz was incorporated in 1866 and chartered in April 1876.
Davis grew into a Southern Pacific Railroad depot built in 1868. It was then known as "Davisville", named after Jerome C. Davis, a prominent local farmer. However, the post office at Davisville shortened the town name simply to "Davis" in 1907. The name stuck, and the city of Davis was incorporated on March 28, 1917.
This is a 418 piece puzzle of Kirby Scudder's imaginative map of Palo Alto, California. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley (and right next to where we make these puzzles), Palo Alto is a city of innovation. This puzzle follows suit with innovative patterns designed by Jef Bambas and whimsies designed by Kathryn Flocken representing many of the city's history and features.
The 'Cruz Poster' is a visual exploration of the culture and perspectives of a unique Northern California coastal community whose creative influence is global.
The original settlement now known as Capitola grew out of what was then called Soquel Landing. Soquel Landing got its name from a wharf located at the mouth of Soquel Creek.
A Northern California Coastal Community that became one of the Nation’s important creative meccas. A look at the people who made that happen and why. In my recent book 'The Cruz' profiles the artists and creative thought leaders that have shaped the artistic direction of this community for years to come.
“Rabbits that don’t fit in” a series of portraits of rabbits that no longer fit in. Once contributing members of society, these rabbits, through personal choices and circumstances now find themselves as outsiders. The stories about Thumper & Bella, Captain Flopsy, Cynthia O’Hare, Pelt, Velvet Sheen, Jack Cotton, Energizer, Brer and Jessica Rabbit, Trix, Sir Grey March and more.
Cow sculpture, commissioned by Rebecca's Cafe in 'Interior Design Magazine' Summer edition. In the summer of 2012 Interior Design Magazine hired renowned Architectural photographer Art Gray to spend 3 days documenting the newly renovated Tannery Arts Center for the summer edition. Here is my interview with Art Gray. Art shot a picture of my recently installed cow head sculpture at the Tannery cafe.
Artist, collaborator, salesman, curator, idea man, hustler, fixer, midwife to the very scene that inspires all those Keep Santa Cruz Weird’ bumper stickers: You can call Kirby Scudder all those things and more. A refugee of the 1990s dot-com bust, Kirby has lived a dozen lifetimes since moving to Santa Cruz in 2003. He was the artist who created the enormous papier-mache cows in the early days of the Salz Tannery art project, at the same time, opening art galleries in several downtown spaces in an effort to create a welcoming environment for edgy visual arts. He set up spotlights along West Cliff Drive as a commemoration to the ideal of world peace. He established the First Friday Art Tour, a prominent event on the local arts calendar, and curated shows at the Attic, the Mill Gallery and the Dead Cow Gallery. As the resident visionary at the Dead Cow and the director of the Santa Cruz Institute of Contemporary Art, Kirby has also become the symbol of the emerging Tannery Arts Center and worked closely with the city to create a vibrant Santa Cruz scene, one crazy project at a time. Wallace Baine, Santa Cruz Sentinel