ABOUT

BIO

Aili Schmeltz is a sculptor and painter that splits her time in between Los Angeles and the High Desert of California. Her work is informed by environmental, philosophical, and architectural histories of the American West. Current series of works include CA Women, mixed media textile paintings that honor women of California who have furthered equality and justice in a wide range of communities, and a series of Cairn ceramic sculptures which use modular building and historic architectural languages to create futuristic monument/relics.

Schmeltz studied at UCLA, earned her MFA from the University of Arizona, and a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute. She has exhibited nationally at galleries such as The Landing Gallery, Johansson Projects, Edward Cella Art and Architecture, and Commonwealth and Council in California, Ortega y Gasset Projects and Friedman Benda in New York, Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson; and internationally in cities such as Berlin, Tokyo, Barcelona, London, and Zurich. Schmeltz has been awarded grants such as the Pollock Krasner Grant, California Community Foundation Grant, and Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grant. Residencies attended include The Archie Bray Foundation, Bemis Center, Sculpture Center, Vermont Studio Center, Scuola Internazionale di Grafica (Venice, Italy), Espronceda Center for Art and Culture (Barcelona), Takt Kunstprojektraum (Berlin), and Babayan Cultural House (Cappadocia, Turkey). Aili is the Founder of Outpost Projects, and teaches at Otis College of Art and Design.

EDUCATION

2021 Joshua Tree Foundation for Arts and Ecology – Permaculture Design Certificate – Joshua Tree, CA
2014 University of California, Los Angeles Extension – Advanced Web & Interactive Design Certificate – Los Angeles, CA
2003 University of Arizona – Master of Fine Arts – Sculpture – Tucson, AZ
1997 Kansas City Art Institute – Bachelor of Fine Arts – Printmaking & Painting – Kansas City, MO

SOLO & TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2022 Johansson Projects – Receiver – Two person (alongside Katy Stone) – Oakland, CA
2022 Boxo Projects – Experiments in Transformation – Two person (alongside Edie Fake) – Joshua Tree, CA
2021 The Landing Gallery – Evenfall – Project Room – Los Angeles, CA
2021 Edward Cella Art + Architecture – Solo Exhibition – Sewn Constructions – Los Angeles, CA
2020 Edward Cella Art + Architecture – Survival Strategies – Online Solo Exhibition
2020 Art Los Angeles Contemporary – with Edward Cella Art + Architecture – Two person (alongside Amir Zaki)| – Los Angeles, CA
2019 Edward Cella Art + Architecture – A Future Perfect – Los Angeles, CA
2018 BKB Art + Design – Object/Window – Palm Springs, CA
2018 Jaus – Fixed Flux – Two person exhibition (alongside Jason Manley) – Los Angeles, CA
2017 Espronceda Center for Art and Culture – You’re A Tourist in My Town – Barcelona, Spain
2015 Eastside International – Time, Time, Form – Two person exhibition (alongside Ian Pines) – Curated by Manual History Machines – Los Angeles, CA
2013 Commonwealth & Council – site specific permanent Installation, Portal – Los Angeles, CA
2013 Project Room Gallery, Grand Central Art Center, California State University Fullerton – Crosscut - Santa Ana, CA
2013 Prescott College Art Gallery – Tomorrowland – Prescott, AZ
2011 Museum of Contemporary Art – Tomorrowland – Tucson, AZ
2010 Greenleaf Gallery, Whittier College – La Fuente de la Vida – Whittier, CA
2008 Locust Projects – The Magic City – Miami, FL
2008 Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts – Gods Eye – Omaha, NE
2008 Gardiner Art Gallery, Oklahoma State University – Storm Tracking – Stillwater, OK
2006 Tilt Gallery and Project Space – Comfort Food – Portland, OR

AWARDS AND RESIDENCY PROGRAMS

2022 The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts – Summer Resident, Windgate Scholar – Helena, MT
2021 Otis College of Art and Design – Part Time Faculty Professional Development Grant – Los Angeles, CA
2019 Vermont Studio Center – Residency + Grant – Johnson, VT
2017 Scuola Internazionale di Grafica Venezia – Residency – Venice, Italy
2017 Espronceda Center for Art and Culture – Residency – Barcelona, Spain
2013 California Community Foundation Fellowship for Visual Arts – Los Angeles, CA
2011 Foundation For Contemporary Arts – Grant – New York, NY
2011 Center For Cultural Innovation – Creative Capacity Fund Grant – San Francisco, CA
2011 Babayan Cultural House – Residency – Cappadocia, Turkey
2010 Durfee Foundation – Artist Resource for Completion Grant – Los Angeles, CA
2009 Pollock-Krasner Foundation – Grant – New York, NY
2009 Takt Kunstprojektraum – Residency – Berlin, Germany
2008 Bemis Center For Contemporary Arts – Residency – Omaha, NE
2006 Arizona Commission of the Arts – Professional Development Grant – Pheonix, AZ
2005 Sculpture Space – Residency – Utica, NY

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023 California Governor's Mansion – Eureka! Creativity in the Golden State, CA Artists at the Governor's Mansion – Sacramento, CA
2023 Sarah Brook Gallery – Earth Room – Curated by Clay CA and Blumenfield Projects – Los Angeles, CA
2023 Tamarisk Country Club – Art at Tamarisk – Curated by Rochelle Steiner – Rancho Mirage, CA
2023 Edward Cella Art + Architecture – Transcendent Voices – Los Angeles, CA
2022 Haines Gallery – Social Abstraction – San Francisco, CA
2022 Bray Warehouse Gallery – Resident Artists Exhibition – Helena, MT
2022 Ortega y Gasset Projects – Flat File 2022 – Brooklyn, NY
2022 The Brand Library and Art Center – Mapping the Sublime – Glendale, CA
2022 The Ekru Project – Shifting Instinct – Kansas City, MO
2021 Luis De Jesus Los Angeles – The Barnsdall Art Park Olive Grove Restoration Initiative Exhibition – Los Angeles, CA
2021 The Reef – Hand to Machine: A Metamorphosis – Curated by Textile Resource LA – Los Angeles, CA
2021 Johansson Projects – Works on view – Oakland, CA
2021 Ladies' Room – Garden – Curated by Annie Wharton – Los Angeles, CA
2020 Thomas Lavin Showroom at the Pacific Design Center – Between Worlds – Curated by Edward Cella – Los Angeles, CA
2020 AMP Art Gallery, Los Angeles Mission College – Surroundings – Sylmar, CA
2019 Sarasota Art Museum – Color. Theory. & B/W – Sarasota, FL
2019 Odd Ark LA – A Store Show – Los Angeles, CA
2019 Utah Museum of Contemporary Art – Shady Acres – Salt Lake City, UT
2019 Boxo Projects – Joshua Treenial – Joshua Tree, CA
2019 Unpaved Gallery – When the Dust Settles – Yucca Valley, CA
2019 Other Places Art Fair with Barker Hanger – San Pedro, CA
2018 Edward Cella Art + Architecture – Vernacular Environments Part II – Los Angeles, CA
2018 Fellows of Contemporary Art – SPACE + LAND – Curated by Chelsea Dean – Los Angeles, CA
2018 Tiger Strikes Asteroid Los Angeles – Bodies of a Different Mass – Los Angeles
2018 The Reef LA – Skulpturengarten – Curated by Ichiro Irie – Los Angeles, CA
2018 Rough Play Projects – Available to All – Outdoor Site Specific Sculpture – Joshua Tree, CA
2018 BKB Design – Outline – Curated by Brian Bosworth – Palm Springs, CA
2018 Odd Ark LA – An Art Den – With Barker Hanger (a project by artist Hayley Barker) – Los Angeles, CA
2017 Pasadena Museum of California Art – Interstitial – Curated by John O’Brien – Pasadena, CA
2016 Rob Pruitt’s Flea Market presented by Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND) – Los Angeles, CA
2016 DA Los Angeles – Continuum – Los Angeles, CA
2016 West Los Angeles College Art Gallery – Fin/between – Los Angeles, CA
2016 Continuum – Curated by DA Los Angeles – Los Angeles, CA
2016 BLAM Projects – The Night – Los Angeles, CA
2016 Titanik Gallery – Lazy Susan – Turku, Finland
2016 The Marks Art Center – The Salton Sea: Lost in Paradise – Curated by Deborah Martin – Palm Desert, CA
2016 Arena One Gallery – fresh stART – Curated by Cris McColl – Santa Monica, CA
2015 ACME. – Works of Paper II – Los Angeles, CA
2015 Fellows of Contemporary Art – 6H to HB; Contemporary Drawing in Los Angeles – Curated by Sydney Croskery – Los Angeles, CA
2015 Ada Hatch Center at Copper Mountain College – Mirrors and Windows – Joshua Tree, CA
2015 Outpost Projects – Primo Lane – Joshua Tree, CA
2014 Friedman Benda Gallery – Apocryphal Times – New York, NY
2014 Ichibeicho Gallery – From The Dust Returns – Curated by Kio Griffith – Tokyo, Japan
2014 Gallery MC – Contemporary Abstraction – New York, NY
2014 Universidad de Guanajuato – Esferas – León, Mexico
2014 The Hoxton Gallery – Up and Coming – London, UK
2014 Autonomie Projects – DraftPunk – Los Angeles, CA
2014 Torrance Art Museum – MAS ATTACK 6 – Torrance, CA
2014 LA Art Book Fair, MOCA Geffen – Feminist Dossiers project participant, with WCCW (Women’s Center for Creative Work) – Los Angeles, CA
2014 Centro Cultural Atarazanas - Una Casa Como Yo - Veracruz, Mexico
2014 Torrance Art Museum - Prep School – surviving an Apocalypse, or not. Prepper and Survivalist Ideologies and Utopian/Dystopian Visions. – Torrance, CA
2013 Barrett Art Gallery, Santa Monica College – SMC Faculty Exhibition – Santa Monica, CA
2013 José Drudis-Biada Gallery, Mount Saint Mary’s College – Divergent Geometry – Los Angeles, CA
2013 Galeria La Miscelanea, Universidad Del Arte – Una Casa como Yo: Asuntos Domésticos – Puebla, Mexico
2012 Zatoka Sztuki – Projekt Papier – Curator: Gosia Wojas – Sopot, Poland
2012 Pacific Design Center – Ground Control – Curator: 5790projects – Los Angeles, CA
2012 High Desert Test Sites – Postcard Project 2012 – Joshua Tree, CA
2012 California State University, Northridge Gallery – Singles and Series – Northridge, CA
2012 Land of Tomorrow Gallery – F/Utility – Lexington, KY
2012 Vincent Price Museum – East Los Angeles College Art Faculty Show – Los Angeles, CA
2012 Cerritos College Art Gallery – Architectural Deinforcement: Constructing Disaster and Decay – Los Angeles, CA
2012 Jardin De Las Esculturas – Una Casa como Yo: Asuntos Domésticos – Xalapa, Mexico
2012 Torrance Art Museum – Blank Land – Torrance, CA
2012 Shangrila 2012 – Joshua Tree, CA
2012 Central Utah Art Center – The Gangs all Here; Art from LA – Ephraim, Utah
2012 University of South Dakota – Binary Inventions Print Portfolio – Grand Forks, ND
2011 Co/Lab- LA Mart – Los Angeles, CA
2011 Occidental College Gallery - Land Mark – Los Angeles, CA
2011 El Bauhaus Gallery – Una Casa Como Yo: Asuntos Domésticos – Monterrey, Mexico
2011 Washington State University Gallery – Build Up – Curator: Michelle Forsythe – Pullman, WA
2011 The Lodge – Coming and Going – Bloomington, IN
2011 Asihlquaiss Offspace – Anonyme Zeichner Archiv – Zurich, Switzerland
2011 Summercamp Project Project – Friday Night Lights & Sunday Afternoons – Los Angeles, CA
2010 Golden Parachutes Gallery – Flat File – Berlin, Germany
2010 Museum of Contemporary Art – MADE in Tucson/BORN in Tucson/LIVE in Tucson – Tucson, AZ
2010 Jen Bekman Gallery – New Topographies – New York, NY
2010 AT1 Projects – Volume – Curator: Andrea Neustein – Los Angeles, CA
2010 Archer Gallery, Clark College – Alight – Vancouver, WA
2009 Gallery Satori – Invisible Duck Tape – New York, NY
2009 Phantom Gallery – Molasses Happens Rather Quickly – Long Beach, CA
2009 Liste Basel – Anonymous Drawings no.9 Archive – Basel, Switzerland
2009 Freie Universitat Berlin – Anonymous Drawings no.9 Archive – Berlin, Germany
2009 Lumenhouse Gallery – Abstractions and Contractions – Brooklyn, NY
2009 The Sketchbook Project Traveling Exhibition – Washington
DC, Brooklyn, NY, Chicago IL, Philadelphia, PA, Boston, MA, Atlanta, GA
2009 The Armoury Gallery – Western States - Milwaukee, WI
2009 Gallery Arcane – Sweet and Low: Optimism in a Pessimistic Age – San Francisco, CA
2008 Kreuzberg/Bethanien – Anonymous Drawings no.9 – Berlin, Germany
2008 Jen Bekman Gallery – X Marks the Spot – New York, NY
2008 Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock – Drawing Los Angeles – Los Angeles, CA
2008 Torrance Art Museum – Torrance Juried Exhibition – Juror: Gosia Wojas – Torrance, CA
2008 Barnsdall Park – Los Angeles Biennial Juried Exhibition – Jurors: Carl Berg, Lisa Melandri & Tyler Stallings
2008 Art for Empty Walls – March Featured Artist – Los Angeles, CA
2007 Rosenburg Gallery – The Ethnography of No Place – Baltimore, MD
2007 The Affair at the Jupiter Hotel – with Tilt Gallery – Portland, OR
2007 Urban Institute for Contemporary Art – Console – Grand Rapids, MI
2007 Portland Art Center – Console – Portland, OR
2006 Gallery 825 – Southern California Open – Juror: Ann Philbin – Los Angeles, CA
2006 Gallery 500 – Inertia – Portland, OR
2006 Dinnerware Gallery – Systemic – Tucson, AZ
2006 Sam Hill Warehouse Gallery – Prescott College Faculty Showcase – Prescott, AZ
2005 Indiana University Gallery – Faculty Exhibition – Bloomington, IN
2005 Fuller Projects, Indiana University – Console – Bloomington, IN
2004 Around the Coyote Gallery – Urbana – Chicago, IL
2003 University of Arizona Art Museum – Intersections – Tucson, AZ

PRESS

2022 Abstract Alchemy Two High Desert artists use abstraction to explore real change – Palm Springs Life Staff Report – March 29
2022 Daniels, Melissa – Vast but Limited: Local Artists Explore the History and Justice of Desert Land Use With Intersect Palm Springs’ ‘Zzyzx Redux’ – Coachella Valley Independent – January 20
2021 Biller, Steven – This is How Art Heals – Palm Springs Life – April 6
2020 Massé, Marie-Madeleine – L'Art du fil (The Art of Thread) – Éditions Alternatives – October 15
2019 New American Paintings – Pacific Coast Edition #139 – Curated by Nancy Lim
2019 Zeiba, Drew – Artist Explores Ideology of California’s Built Environment – The Architects Newspaper – May 22
2019 Nys Drambot, Shana – Paradise:: Parallax in the High Desert at the Joshua Treenial – LA Weekly – April 9
2019 Cheng, Scarlet – Coming: Joshua Treenial 2019 – Artillery Magazine – April 11
2019 Blonquist, Maddie – Defining Suburbia: Two Perspectives at UMOCA – 15 Bytes – February 13
2018 DiMichele, David – Skulpturengarten; Infinitely Malleable Sculptural Practices – Artillery Magazine –October 25
2018 Gipe, Lawrence – Aili Schmeltz and Jason Manley at Jaus – Art and Cake – July 22
2018 Ogletree, Kelsey – 9 Art Galleries That Double as Airbnbs – Architectural Digest – Sept 4
2018 Laura Drouet & Olivier Lacrouts – Los Angeles. The “Vernacular Environment” exhibition explores the meandres of space – Domus – July 6
2018 Brady, Sasha – You Can Rent This Art Gallery in Mojave Desert on Airbnb – Lonely Planet – September 29
2018 Biller, Steven – Vive La Résistance; A High Desert exhibition is an artistic response to the border wall – Palm Springs Life Magazine – April 30
2018 Scharkey, Kristin – Make Art, Make Home – Desert Magazine – March
2017 Stevens, Anise – Pasadena Museum of California Art: Interstitial – Artillery Magazine – July 26
2017 Burks, Megan – Desert Love, The Original Tiny Homes, and Joan Didion’s West – Range Podcast: Stories of the New American West – July 11
2017 Frank, Peter – Pasadena Museum of California Art: Interstitial, Craft and Folk Art Museum: Material as Metaphor – Fabrik Magazine – June 19
2017 Heitzman, Lorraine – Interstitial at the Pasadena Museum of California Art; The Meaning In-Between – Art and Cake – April 28
2017 Treilhard, Marieke – The Art of In-Between – Modern Magazine – March 16
2016 Silver, Emily – Interview with Aili Schmeltz – Curate Joshua Tree – October 19
2014 Griffith, Kio – Eight LA Artists to Know – Fabrik Magazine – June 20
2013 Dawson, Jeseca – Aili Schmeltz, Baldwin Hills – Otis College of Art and Design, Freeway Studies: Studio Visits with L.A. Artists – October 30
2013 Spotlight on Summer 2013 Painting Faculty: Aili Schmeltz – May 3 – Anderson Ranch Arts Center Blog –Aspen, CO
2013 Belio Magazine – Aili Schmeltz, Recycled Utopias – April 19 – Madrid, Spain
2013 20 x 200– A Jen Bekman Project – Crystaline Bunker print edition – January 10 – New York, NY
2012 Juxtapoz Magazine – The Conceptual Works of Aili Schmeltz – December 29
2012 Laylin, Tafline – Save the Cave Dwellers of Cappadocia – Green Prophet; Environmental News of the Middle East – May 22
2012 Tome, Kara – Hybrid Artists Aili Schmeltz and Danielle McCullough – GYST Radio Interview –March 8
2012 20 x 200 – A Jen Bekman Project – Urban Storm limited print edition – January 10 – New York, NY
2012 Saxon, Sarah – Q&A With Artist Aili Schmeltz – msbehaved.com – June 7
2012 Big Artist Now – featured artist & commissioned design – Las Vegas, NV
2012 Cerritos College – Architectural Deinforcement exhibition catalogue – Los Angeles, CA
2011 Regan, Margaret – The ‘Good Life’ – Tucson Weekly – May 5
2011 Douer, Irana –Ruby: Otherworldliness – Gestalten Publishers – April 15
2010 Drennen, Craig – ‘Paint Misbehavin’ – Build Up – exhibition catalogue essay – Washington State University Gallery
2010 Volume – exhibition catalogue – Los Angeles, CA
2010 Hernández Casas, David – ‘Overlapping Narratives’ – La Fuente de la Vida – catalogue – Los Angeles, CA / Monterrey, Mexico
2010 NY Arts Magazine – ‘Best of the West Coast’- Nov/Dec. issue – New York, NY
2010 TAKE (artist) ‘Our Mountain’ (album title) – Album and CD cover – AstroPup Records – April
2008 Johnson, Matt – ‘Art Gets in Shape’ – The Daily O’Collegian of Oklahoma State University – September 22
2008 McLeod, Deborah – ‘Road to Nowhere’ – Baltimore City Paper –April 16
2008 Parentela, Claudio – ‘Interview with Aili Schmeltz’ – Elvis in Hawaii Blogspot – April 17
2008 Ruby Mag – Feature – January 15 – Buenos Aires, Argentina
2008 20 x 200– A Jen Bekman Project – ‘Embedded’ limited edition – April 1 – New York, NY
2008 Sinclair, Aimee – Interview with Aili Schmeltz, Magic City – Miami Art Review – February 9
2007 Ethnography of No Place – catalogue – Rosenburg Gallery – Baltimore, MD
20 x 200– A Jen Bekman Project – ‘Radar’ limited edition – November 13 – New York, NY

COMMISSION PROJECTS

2021 Atlanta Beltline – Disc Portal – Public Art Sculpture Project – Atlanta, GA
2021 Boxo Projects – Disc Portal – Permanent Outdoor Sculpture Commission – Joshua Tree, CA
2019 Oracle – Sculptural Installation Project – Redwood City, CA
2017 Facebook – Sculptural Installation Project for the World Economic Forum – Davos, Switzerland
2015 Google – Sculptural Installation Project for the Google Analytic Conference – San Francisco, CA
2015 Merck – Sculptural Installation Project – San Francisco, CA

TEACHING

2023 Spring Joshua Tree Foundation for Arts and Ecology – Permaculture Design Certificate with Warren Brush – Analogue and Digital Design workshop
2018–current Otis College of Art and Design – Senior Lecturer – Building Form, Form and Space, Connections Through Color and Design, Principles of Design
2009–current Los Angeles Mission College – Lecturer – Drawing I, Drawing II, Drawing III, 3D Design, Sculpture I, Sculpture III, Introduction to Painting, Art Appreciation
2022–current Mount Saint Mary's University – Lecturer – Ceramics I & II
2013–2018 Santa Monica College – Lecturer – Introduction to Printmaking, Drawing I, Drawing II, Drawing III, 2D Design
2013–2014 College of the Canyons – Lecturer – Drawing I, Design I
2013 Anderson Ranch Arts Center – Aspen, CO – Summer Workshop Instructor – Large Scale Drawing Experiments
2009 Centro De Estudios Superiores De Diseño (CEDIM) – Monterrey, Mexico – Visiting Assistant Professor – Thesis Seminar, Installation Art, Advanced Drawing, Painting Intensive
2006–2008 Los Angeles Valley College – Lecturer – Drawing I, Advanced Drawing, 2D Design
2007 Prescott College – Visiting Assistant Professor – Contemporary Sculpture: Theory and Practice, Figure Drawing, Advanced Undergraduate Independent Study
2004–2006 Indiana University – Visiting Assistant Professor – Drawing I, 3D Design, Sculpture I, Introduction to Studio Art, 2D Design, Graduate and Advanced Undergraduate Independent Study
2000–2003 University of Arizona – Instructor of Record – Sculpture I, 3D Design, Drawing I, 2D Design

ETC
2014–2020 Outpost Projects – Artist Run Project Space – Founder & Curator
2011–2015 Los Angeles Art Resource – Online artist resource – Co-Founder, Editor
2007 Gemini G.E.L – Printmaking Technician Assistant