A pandemic gorilla slathered in red hunches over next to the stairs that lead down to an art studio. Topped by a black felt sombrero, Darcy Badiali’s sculpture watches over the koi pond, art-filled walls, and potted plants that populate The Place on PCH.
The slatted floor is still wet from being hosed off before opening. A fog-laden breeze drifts through the open front and out through the greenery-covered back patio. Giant plates, cauldron-like oblong pots clad in black, geometrical painted ladies, ceramic faces, typewriters in various shades of blue, electrified stoplights—there’s so much to look at. Some of it is a product of the Oceano art gallery’s founders: sculptor, ceramicist, and welder Badiali and muralist and painter Oscar Pearson. Other pieces come from a combination of Central Coast artists and resident artists from all over the world who have spent time at The Place creating, learning, and immersing themselves in southern SLO County.
“Most importantly from my perspective or in my point of view is the model that it sets for the community,” Badiali says, adding that he wants young people to understand that if they have a passion for art and are willing to work at it, they can make a living off of making art—it just may not be conventional or full of money. “I think [The Place] has the exact effect that I was aiming for at the beginning. That is, people walk in here and they want to do something creative themselves.”
Celebrating five years this summer, The Place weathered the COVID-19 pandemic and has started getting back to its roots over the last six months. Long Beach-based artist Narsiso Martinez, who met Pearson while they were studying art at CSU Long Beach, did a residency in Oceano earlier this year. One of the pieces he created during his time at The Place is now on display at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach.
“Just being in The Place just makes it feel like it’s special. It made me feel like I want to draw, I just wanted to stay there and draw. Anywhere you turn is another piece of art,” Martinez said later over the phone. “It was especially special to me because of the subject matter.”
He focuses on telling the stories of agricultural workers, something he connects to because of the time he spent as a field worker in Washington state, which is how he put himself through both undergraduate and graduate school. Even though he was at a different place in life than most of the people he worked alongside, Martinez said he felt like they were all connected, working under the same sun and saving money to make their lives better.
“Luckily, I was able to finish school and I don’t have to go back to the fields. But I feel like these people deserve some sort of recognition,” Martinez said. “So I just take these stories to different audiences, so they can—at the very least—acknowledge how our food gets to our tables.”
While he was in Oceano, Pearson introduced Martinez to some local labor organizers, who in turn put the artist in touch with Oceano-based farmworkers they had helped. One such person, Don Audelio, worked in the fields for 40 years and is now retired. He told Martinez his story and demonstrated how he used to pick lettuce, pack it, and carry it to the truck.
Audelio’s face now peers out from a produce box flattened against the wooden wall next to Badiali’s tomato-colored ape. Martinez used charcoal and paint on cardboard bearing the Pismo-Oceano Vegetable Exchange logo to capture Audelio carrying a lettuce box in shades of black and white.
Pearson says The Place has hosted about a dozen residents over the past five years, including a musician from Ireland and a ceramic artist from Denmark, who left behind a glazed porcelain flower for the koi pond.
Inspired by a six-week residency that Badiali and Pearson did in China. The Place’s residency program is their way of exposing the Central Coast to something that hasn’t been here before, as well as introducing the uniqueness of South SLO County to artists from all over.
“Mostly, we want to bring in people from other countries,” Badiali says surrounded by the plants his wife cares for on the patio.
“People who have different perspectives,” Pearson adds.
“The more out there the better, I think.”
“And it’s good for the people around here to experience it.”
In addition to the residency, The Place is a creative workspace for both artists, a gallery with art available for purchase, a teaching space, a plant nursery, and a venue for the community to gather for events that include live music. Badiali says that the big idea is that art is where people can experiment and try things, which is exactly what The Place is—an ever-evolving creative space that gives everyone permission to make a mess, to try new things, and explore themselves and the world.
“If I amuse myself, I probably amuse a lot of other people along the way,” he says. “One of the best things you can do is get out of your head because your soul doesn’t reside in your head.”
Editor Camillia Lanham is out soul-searching. Contact her at clanham@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Sep 1-8, 2022.
