MAKING SPACE FOR ART IN LOS ALTOS
If you are lucky enough to connect with mixed-media artist Maddy McBirney, she may be inspired to create an art piece for you. McBirney explains, “I was always the kind of artist that just made things for other people. I didn’t sell or market my work. If I visited someone abroad and connected with them, I would make them a painting and ship it to them. Same with family. I do things like that. It’s kind of an emotional, inspirational way to work.”
Born and raised in Los Angeles, McBirney became interested in printmaking during high school and later studied graphic design at the University of California, Davis. Inspired by teachers she encountered throughout school, McBirney pursued teaching for a short time before professionally practicing graphic design and settling in Los Altos to raise her family. During that time, her passion for art never faltered, and much like with her personal art, she became inspired to bring art to the community with which she felt a deep connection.
As a long-time resident of Los Altos, McBirney has been a persistent arts advocate for the city, volunteering as an arts educator with the Los Altos Art Docents, collaborating on grants to secure specialized arts education in elementary schools, and serving on the art commission for seven years. During her tenure, she facilitated the implementation of artistic bicycle racks downtown despite falling short on percent-for-art initiatives and systemic funding for public art. While progress within city government was slow going, her time in the arts commission connected her to the community and local business and taught her much about public art. She explains, “I started attending public art conventions in cities like Chicago and Nashville, and it was enlightening to see people creating spaces and public art and placemaking.”
“I started attending public art conventions in cities like Chicago and Nashville, and it was enlightening to see people creating spaces and public art and placemaking.” -Maddy McBirney
After resigning from the art commission, feeling like she could only achieve her goals related to public art with legislation, McBirney was determined to spend more time in the studio.
However, it took only a short time before friends and members of a newly formed downtown coalition encouraged her to attend meetings, citing her enthusiasm for public art. In her first meeting, members inquired about what it would take to bring art downtown. McBirney forged ahead, working with that coalition to devise a plan to use private property and private funding to facilitate public art installations. She recalls, “I asked my friend, Karen Zucker, who was on the commission and now codirects with me, if she would be interested in starting a nonprofit to create public art and placemaking on private property with private funding. It was inspiring because there was interest, and it was something we were asked to do. It wasn’t like we were looking for these projects ourselves.”
The tree-lined village of Los Altos has served as a residential community in the heart of Silicon Valley since its incorporation in 1952. While Los Altos may not be the first city that comes to mind when considering a destination for arts and culture, there has long been an undercurrent of art appreciation exemplified by institutions such as the Los Altos Art Docents, Gallery 9, and the city’s Art Without Walls, a sculpture loan program. Volunteer-led Arts Los Altos, co-directed by McBirney and Zucker, was formed in 2020 to elevate the cultural identity of Los Altos to the front of mind. The arts nonprofit is working to implement public art that creates connections among diverse community members and local businesses while creating space and drawing visitors.
In the three years since Arts Los Altos was founded, the organization has facilitated over 12 public art projects, including the California Birds, Stewards of the Environment mural by Roan Victor on the Comerica Bank on 3rd Street and the HYBYCOZO Mandahlia sculpture located on the corner of State and 3rd Streets. Arts Los Altos hosts public art walking tours on the first Friday of every month, meeting at the Mandahlia sculpture and leaving at 5pm sharp. When asked what the future holds for Arts Los Altos, McBirney immediately discusses plans to transform a small private plaza and recalls a separate augmented reality project. McBirney hopes to balance volunteering and spending time creating her own art by keeping public art projects to a manageable one to two per year. She recently held her first solo art exhibition at the Los Altos Library, and when asked how her work with Arts Los Altos has impacted her artwork, she shares, “It’s not changed my work, but it’s made me realize that I want to do more of it. I work with other artists, and seeing their work inspires me to create my own.”
https://www.artslosaltos.org
Instagram: ArtsLosAltos1
Images:
1 – (L to R) Maddy McBirney and Karen Zucker
2 – 200 Main Street [An Inventory of Time and Place] by Martha Sakellariou
3 – Apricot Blossoms by Roan Victor
4 – Main Street Movie Theater Remembered by Emily Fromm