Artlands REACH community garden project welcomes artists in residency

In the south-east corner of Sylvan Park, a new community garden is being built by volunteers to host monthly art workshops by artists in the recently launched REACH program.

REACH is an artists-in-residency program that began this year by local art organization, Artlands Creative in partnership with University of Redlands and City of Redlands.

On Tuesday, Redlands City Council voted on the final agreement between the city's Parks and Recreation Department and Artlands to develop the Community Garden project.

Danielle Giudici Wallis, REACH Project Director, said the idea sprouted from a community garden in 2020.

The program aims to encourage people to "thinking about the environment and engaged in a way that would inspire them to take action to help preserve and maintain our surroundings," said Wallis.

Wallis worked together with Daniel Gohman, executive director of Artlands Creative, and Laura Bean, garden lead, to get the project underway.

That site is being designed, prepared and planted by volunteers and University of Redlands students with the help of the Inland Empire Resource Conservation District. With volunteer days in January and February, the garden will soon be a gathering place, complete with picnic benches, to host demonstrations starting in March.

Residency program supports artists, engages the community

Artists will host workshops free for the community in the afternoon on the second Thursday and fourth Saturday from March to June.

The artists in residency earn a stipend and four-week studio access. During their time they will host two community events with possibly additional environmental education workshops with partner organizations like the Inland Empire Resource Conservation District (IERCD) and Accelerating Neighborhood Climate Action (ANCA).

“In Redlands we are moving water thirsty turf grass and replacing it with a native garden which also serves as a demonstration garden,” she said. “We are also going to have a small vegetable area, which is open to the community as well.” There has been enthusiasm and interest from Redlands residents from the start.

The 2026 program will culminate in an exhibition hosted by the Redlands Conservancy at the Asistencia, along with a limited-edition print publication and a documentary video capturing the project’s evolution.

How artists were chosen

The artists’ residency application and program were designed by Gohman, Wallis and the local publishing house Inlandia’s former executive director, Cati Porter.

Eight artists were chosen out of 50 applicants. Four artists will be based at Sylvan Park in Redlands, including Fred Brashear Jr., Loriann Hernandez, Zaida Ruby Lagunas and Andrew K. Thompson.

The other four artists will work in the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, including Aidan Koch, Adriana Lopez-Ospina, Jillian Sandell and Kristen Jean Wheatley.

“[It was] a really good caliber of artists, really accomplished, impressive group of applicants so it was really hard to decide the eight,” Wallis said.

Artists were chosen from their previous community work, with a focus on environmental artwork. “[The artists] are doing research on a certain issue and then they are presenting that to the community and trying to get the community engaged,” Wallis said.

In addition, to Wallis, Gohman and Porter, the committee who chose the artists consisted of professors, curators and artists, including, Munro Galloway, Art Professor University of Redlands, Brian Ball, Redlands Cultural Arts Commissioner, Rebecca Trawick, Curator at Wignall Museum of Art at Chaffey College, and Sant Khalsa, Professor of Art, Emerita at California State University, San Bernardino.

Creating paid opportunities for local artists was another motivation behind the project.

“I think art brings an entry that is more accessible than science – it’s a little more welcoming. Through the art they are learning and experiencing and developing relationships with the community. It’s multifaceted,” said Wallis.

Meet the artists in Redlands

The following profiles were shared by the REACH community garden project, here in shortened versions.

Fred Brashear Jr. is a multiracial, multidisciplinary, photo-based artist whose work explores the deep connections between environmental degradation and social injustice. Brashear’s photography has been exhibited internationally and throughout the United States. He is the Chair of the Photography Department at the University of La Verne.

Loriann Hernandez/Elle Seven is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, and educator with an M.A. in Museum Exhibition Design and over eighteen years of experience in community engagement. As the Founder and Visual Director of Urban Canvas she directs groundbreaking exhibitions and mentors emerging artists. Hernandez has worked extensively with Native American communities, notably through her leadership on the Apache Passion Project and her participation in the National Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museum Conference.

Zaida Ruby Lagunas is a Mexican-American artist educator and photographer from the Inland Empire. Her background lies at the intersection of the arts and social justice, primarily focused on experimenting with ways to advocate for/with underrepresented groups in the arts. She has her B.A from UC Santa Barbara in History of Art and Architecture and recently studied in the Nordic Master in Visual Studies and Art Education program in Finland. She currently works as a Youth Ambassador with EnviroVoters encouraging youths to become agents of change.

Andrew K. Thompson is a photographic artist and educator based in California’s Inland Empire. His work has been exhibited at the Lancaster Museum of Art and History, Riverside Art Museum, California Museum of Photography, the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture and more. In 2018, Thompson co-founded The Little Gallery of San Bernardino, an artist-run, community-based space supporting contemporary artists from San Bernardino and the greater Inland Empire.

About REACH

REACH is funded through a grant from Arts in California Parks, a program of California State Parks in partnership with Parks California and the California Arts Council.

The REACH community garden project’s partners include: the City of Redlands, University of Redlands Community Service Learning, Inland Empire Resource Conservation District, Redlands Conservancy, Accelerating Neighborhood Climate Action (ANCA), Big Morongo Canyon Preserve and Inlandia Institute.

For more information on REACH can be found here: https://www.theartlands.org/reach or to get involved email: reach@theartlands.org