Press Releases
San Clemente, CA – Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens, a nonprofit southern California cultural center, has commissioned Vietnamese-American visual artist Christine Nguyen to create a site-specific art installation for our Open Casa gallery program in the 2020/21 Season.
The exhibition, titled Constellations of the Blue Sun Moon Mountain, was set to open on December 1 in our on-site Art Gallery, but due to restrictions from COVID-19 it will now launch virtually. The Art Gallery will open to the public as soon as possible in accordance with state and county safety procedures.
“Christine Nguyen’s work takes excellent advantage of Casa Romantica’s site-specific appeal; notably art in a historical context and Southern California’s famous natural light,” says Executive Director Amy Behrens. “No matter how the public experiences her installation geographically, they will be uniquely connected to Casa Romantica’s ambiance and Nguyen’s artistic process.”
Christine Nguyen finds her inspiration in nature and uses scientific processes to create her art. The exhibition pieces for Constellations of the Blue Sun Moon Mountain were created using a photographic process called cyanotype, which is an early 19th century process where prints are exposed to sunlight that becomes a distinctive blue-toned color. Natural plant materials were also used to create shapes in these pieces.
“When Casa Romantica invited me to create a site-specific installation, I found it was a good fit,” says Nguyen. “I love integrating my work into historic settings and my art is often inspired by the ocean.”
About Christine Nguyen
Christine Nguyen was born and raised in California and currently resides in Denver, Colorado, and also works in Long Beach, California. She is a lover of animals, plants, and nature. She received her B.F.A from California State University, Long Beach and M.F.A from University of California, Irvine. Solo exhibitions of her work have been featured at the Hammer Museum (Project), Michael Kohn Gallery, Baik Art in Los Angeles, Crisp-Ellert Art Museum, St. Augustine, FL; 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong; Pataphysical Society PDX, Portland, Oregon, and Galerie Quynh, Vietnam. Her work has also been included in group exhibitions at the Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany; Laguna Beach Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA; Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, CA; Kleefield Art Museum, Long Beach, CA; San Art, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Cemeti Art House, Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Esther M. Klein Gallery, University Science Center, Philadelphia, PA; IMAC, Tijuana, Mexico; Sprueth Magers Projekte, Munich, Germany; Dancing Elephants Project, Bogota, Columbia and Churner and Churner, New York.
Her work has been featured in Los Angeles Times, The Korea Times, LA Weekly, OC Weekly, KCET Artbound and Los Angeles Magazine. Her awards include an Artist Fellowship with the Arts Council for Long Beach, the Korea Arts Foundation of America Biennial Arts Award, and the John and Marcia Goldman Foundation Artful Harvest Circle Fellowship for residency at the Djerassi Resident Artist Program.
About Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens maintains a robust series of year-round programs in arts, music, history, horticulture, and literature for all ages. Casa Romantica has commissioned several critically-acclaimed works, including Casa Classic: La Serva Padrona (2020; classical music), Casa Coastal: Murals of Levi Ponce (2019; visual art), Casa Theater: The Odd-Essy (2019; theater), Casa Kinetic: Culture Shock LA Hip Hop (2019; dance); Casa Coastal: The Art of Baja California (2018; visual art), Casa Theater: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2018; theater), Casa Kinetic: Celebrating Tap Dance Legends (2018; dance), Casa Coastal: Rebecca Louise Law (2017; visual art), Casa Kinetic: Contemporary Dance Collective (2017; contemporary dance), The Beauty of the Butterfly (2017; visual art), Casa Kinetic: Carrie Lee Riggins (2016; contemporary dance), Casa Drama: Slings & Arrows (2015; theater), and Open Casa: The Photographs of Douglas Kirkland (2015; visual art). The 2020-21 Casa Captivating season includes an expanded dance (Casa Kinetic), theater (Casa Theater), and concert series (Casa Vibes), visual and performing arts commissions, and an expanded Casa Kids education program.
Casa Romantica also hosts a variety of free arts education programs for children year-round. The institution’s annual Casa Romantica Music Festival and Academy has received critical praise for its comprehensive two-week music studies program in cello, piano, viola, and violin. Casa Romantica also offers a Summer Dance Workshop, a Spring Break Arts Week, various art, literature, and horticulture events to grades K-12, and welcomes over 6,000 children from the Capistrano Unified School District each year for STEAM-based field trips that examine the history of San Clemente and the coastal environment.
Mission Statement: Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization and is the historic home of the founder of the City of San Clemente. Casa Romantica provides programs for all ages in arts, music, history, and horticulture and is a premier Southern California cultural center.
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens is located at 415 Avenida Granada, San Clemente, CA 92672. Hours: Tuesday—Thursday 11 am—4 pm; Friday—Sunday 10am—2pm; closed Mondays and holidays. General admission is $5; Casa Members and children under age 13 visit for FREE. For more information, call (949) 498-2139 or visit CasaRomantica.org
