Member Profile -- Paul Lindhard, Sculptor, Art City Founder
Meet the Art City creator and a “founding father” of the Artists’ Union.
Tour Art City with Paul Lindhard and you feel a palpable sense of community and creativity, characteristics that also typify the San Buenaventura Artists’ Union.
That’s no coincidence, because Art City was one of the major seedbeds in the formation of San Buenaventura Artists’ Union. And Paul was one of the “gardeners” who planted the seeds and
has nurtured the organization’s growth ever since!
“The idea for AU was born in artists’ studios, places like Art City, the dear departed Art City II and Micheles’s Stone Works,” Paul explains. “Then we began meeting in a local coffee shop, and started spending a lot of time sounding off at council meetings about the local art community, its needs and what it could contribute to the City of Ventura.
“Eventually the city fathers heard our message, and we got our current gallery space, plus continuing support from the city – for which we are eternally grateful!”
Paul founded of Art City, a unique artists’ enclave located on Ventura’s westside, in 1985. Primarily a stone sculptor, Lindhard wanted Art City to serve as a constant artistic stimulus to enhance his own work and the work of others. As the studios grew in both size and respect, Lindhard soon realized the value of a community studio and the numerous advantages of working in close proximity to other creative minds. Art City studios and gallery continue to
attract well-respected artists both locally and abroad.
His dream has evolved over the years, surviving a major fire at Art Cityand various other bumps in the road. His studio-workshopgallery complex now hosts over 20 professional sculptors, who make beautiful desktop pieces to monumental sculptures and fountains. They share common facilities and each other's knowledge. It also contains an inventory of more than a million pounds of various kinds of stone and other sculpture supplies. As an undergraduate, Lindhard studied fine art in California and Mexico, earning in a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from UC Santa Barbara in 1970. In 1976, he enrolled in the MFA program at Pennsylvania State University where he served as artist-in-residence and taught bronze casting. From 1978-1988, Lindhard taught sculpture at Santa Barbara City College.
Lindhard has traveled throughout the world selecting and frequently hand-quarrying the stone, but in recent years his searches for stone have centered on the Western U.S.. According to him, stones are basically found objects, which give voice to nature, and in his work, he seeks to balance what he sees on the outside with what he finds on the inside.
Carving for Lindhard is a visceral experience, a journey into unexplored and unending territory.
Written by Ken Fermoyle
That’s no coincidence, because Art City was one of the major seedbeds in the formation of San Buenaventura Artists’ Union. And Paul was one of the “gardeners” who planted the seeds and
has nurtured the organization’s growth ever since!
“The idea for AU was born in artists’ studios, places like Art City, the dear departed Art City II and Micheles’s Stone Works,” Paul explains. “Then we began meeting in a local coffee shop, and started spending a lot of time sounding off at council meetings about the local art community, its needs and what it could contribute to the City of Ventura.
“Eventually the city fathers heard our message, and we got our current gallery space, plus continuing support from the city – for which we are eternally grateful!”
Paul founded of Art City, a unique artists’ enclave located on Ventura’s westside, in 1985. Primarily a stone sculptor, Lindhard wanted Art City to serve as a constant artistic stimulus to enhance his own work and the work of others. As the studios grew in both size and respect, Lindhard soon realized the value of a community studio and the numerous advantages of working in close proximity to other creative minds. Art City studios and gallery continue to
attract well-respected artists both locally and abroad.
His dream has evolved over the years, surviving a major fire at Art Cityand various other bumps in the road. His studio-workshopgallery complex now hosts over 20 professional sculptors, who make beautiful desktop pieces to monumental sculptures and fountains. They share common facilities and each other's knowledge. It also contains an inventory of more than a million pounds of various kinds of stone and other sculpture supplies. As an undergraduate, Lindhard studied fine art in California and Mexico, earning in a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from UC Santa Barbara in 1970. In 1976, he enrolled in the MFA program at Pennsylvania State University where he served as artist-in-residence and taught bronze casting. From 1978-1988, Lindhard taught sculpture at Santa Barbara City College.
Lindhard has traveled throughout the world selecting and frequently hand-quarrying the stone, but in recent years his searches for stone have centered on the Western U.S.. According to him, stones are basically found objects, which give voice to nature, and in his work, he seeks to balance what he sees on the outside with what he finds on the inside.
Carving for Lindhard is a visceral experience, a journey into unexplored and unending territory.
Written by Ken Fermoyle
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