ABOUT
Instagram @ailischmeltz
Email aili@ailischmeltz.com
BIO
Aili Schmeltz is a Los Angeles based sculptor and painter who works with a range of materials including ceramic, wood, paint, and textiles. Her work is informed by environmental, philosophical, and architectural histories of the American West. Recent 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 that utilize modular building and historic architectural languages to create futuristic monument/ relics.
Solo museum exhibitions include Espronceda Center for Art and Culture, Barcelona, Spain (2017); Tomorrowland at Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson, Arizona (2011); The Magic City at Locust Projects, Miami (2008); Gods Eye at Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, Nebraska (2008); and Storm Tracking at Gardiner Art Gallery, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma (2008). Her work has been included in group museum exhibitions including Step and Repeat, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles (2025); Formation, Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, California (2024); Color. Theory. & B/W, Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida (2019); Shady Acres, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City (2019); and Interstitial, Pasadena Museum of California Art (2017), among others. A number of solo and group commercial gallery exhibitions throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan have featured her work. Schmeltz has been awarded grants such as the Pollock Krasner Grant (2009), California Community Foundation Grant (2013), and Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grant (2011), and her work is held in an expanding list of private collections. Schmeltz earned her MFA from the University of Arizona, a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute, and currently teaches at Otis College of Art and Design.
Schmeltz has served as a Professor for over twenty years at public and private institutions such as Otis College of Art and Design, Santa Monica College, Los Angeles Mission College, Los Angeles Valley College, Centro De Estudios Superiores De Diseño (CEDIM), Mount Saint Mary's University, Prescott College, and Indiana University.
CV
EDUCATION
2021 Permaculture Design Certificate, Joshua Tree Foundation for Arts and Ecology, Joshua Tree, CA
2014 Advanced Web & Interactive Design Certificate, University of California, Los Angeles Extension, Los Angeles, CA
2003 Master of Fine Arts, Sculpture, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
1997 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Printmaking and Painting, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Untitled Art Miami Beach, The Landing Gallery, Miami, FL
2024 Light Echoes, Johansson Projects, Oakland, CA
2021 Evenfall, The Landing Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2021 Sewn Constructions, Edward Cella Art + Architecture, Los Angeles, CA
2020 Survival Strategies, Edward Cella Art + Architecture, Los Angeles, CA
2019 A Future Perfect, Edward Cella Art + Architecture, Los Angeles, CA
2018 Object/Window, BKB Art + Design, Palm Springs, CA
2017 You’re A Tourist in My Town, Espronceda Center for Art and Culture, Barcelona, Spain
2013 Portal, Commonwealth & Council, Los Angeles, CA
2013 Crosscut, Grand Central Art Center, California State University Fullerton, Santa Ana, CA
2013 Tomorrowland, Prescott College Art Gallery, Prescott, AZ
2011 Tomorrowland, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson, AZ
2010 La Fuente de la Vida, Greenleaf Gallery, Whittier College, Whittier, CA
2008 The Magic City, Locust Projects, Miami, FL
2008 Gods Eye, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE
2008 Storm Tracking, Gardiner Art Gallery, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
2006 Comfort Food, Tilt Gallery and Project Space, Portland, OR
GRANTS and RESIDENCIES
2026
Residency, Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center, Skælskør, Denmark (forthcoming)
2025
Residency, Cobb Mountain Art and Ecology Project, Loch Lomond, CA
Part Time Faculty Professional Development Grant, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA
2022
Residency and Windgate Scholar Grant, The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Helena, MT
2021
Part Time Faculty Professional Development Grant, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA
2019
Residency and Grant, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2017
Residency, Scuola Internazionale di Grafica Venezia, Venice, Italy
Residency, Espronceda Center for Art and Culture, Barcelona, Spain
2013
Grant, California Community Foundation Fellowship for Visual Arts, Los Angeles, CA
2011
Grant, Foundation For Contemporary Arts, New York, NY
Grant, Center For Cultural Innovation, Creative Capacity Fund, San Francisco, CA
Residency, Babayan Cultural House, Cappadocia, Turkey
2010
Grant, Durfee Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
2009
Grant, Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, NY
Residency, Takt Kunstprojektraum, Berlin, Germany
2008
Residency, Bemis Center For Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE
2006
Grant, Arizona Commission of the Arts, Pheonix, AZ
2005
Residency, Sculpture Space, Utica, NY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
Step and Repeat, curated by Nancy Meyer and John Weston, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Material World, curated by Brooke Hodge, Hollywood Vintage Estate, Palm Springs, CA
La Ayuda Network Fire Relief Benefit, Felix Art Fair, Los Angeles, CA
Fridge LA, Pio Pico, Los Angeles, CA
2024
Formation, Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA
2023
Painted, Fired Clay, The Landing Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
This Archipelago, Vama Gallery Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles, CA
Eureka! Creativity in the Golden State, California Governor's Mansion, Sacramento, CA, *catalogue
Earth Room, curated by Clay CA and Blumenfield Projects, Sarah Brook Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Art at Tamarisk, curated by Rochelle Steiner, Tamarisk Country Club, Rancho Mirage, CA
Transcendent Voices, Edward Cella Art + Architecture, Los Angeles, CA
2022
Social Abstraction, Haines Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Receiver, Two person with Katy Stone, Johansson Projects, Oakland, CA
Experiments in Transformation, Two person with Edie Fake, Boxo Projects, Joshua Tree, CA
Resident Artists Exhibition, Archie Bray Foundation Warehouse Gallery, Helena, MT
Flat File 2022, Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, NY
Mapping the Sublime, The Brand Library and Art Center, Glendale, CA
Shifting Instinct, curated by Kevin Umana, The Ekru Project, Kansas City, MO
2021
The Barnsdall Art Park Olive Grove Restoration Initiative Exhibition, Luis De Jesus, Los Angeles, CA
Garden, curated by Annie Wharton, Ladies' Room, Los Angeles, CA
2020
Surroundings, AMP Art Gallery at Los Angeles Mission College, Sylmar, CA
Art Los Angeles Contemporary, Two person with Amir Zaki, Edward Cella Art + Architecture, Los Angeles, CA
2019
Color. Theory. & B/W, Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, FL
Shady Acres, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, UT
Joshua Treenial, Boxo Projects, Joshua Tree, CA
2018
Fixed Flux, Two person with Jason Manley, Jaus, Los Angeles, CA
Vernacular Environments Part II, Edward Cella Art + Architecture, Los Angeles, CA
SPACE + LAND, curated by Chelsea Dean, Fellows of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Outline, curated by Brian Bosworth, BKB Art and Design, Palm Springs, CA
An Art Den, with Barker Hanger, a project by artist Hayley Barker, Odd Ark LA, Los Angeles, CA
2017
Interstitial, curated by John O’Brien, Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, CA
2016
Rob Pruitt’s Flea Market presented by Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND), Los Angeles, CA
Lazy Susan, Titanik Gallery, Turku, Finland
2015
Works of Paper II, ACME, Los Angeles, CA
Time, Time, Form, Two person with Ian Pines, curated by Manual History Machines, Eastside International, Los Angeles, CA
6H to HB; Contemporary Drawing in Los Angeles, curated by Sydney Croskery, Fellows of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
2014
Apocryphal Times, Friedman Benda Gallery, New York, NY
From The Dust Returns, curated by Kio Griffith, Ichibeicho Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Contemporary Abstraction, Gallery MC, New York, NY
Esferas, Universidad de Guanajuato, León, Mexico
Up and Coming, Hoxton Gallery, London, UK
Feminist Dossiers, with WCCW (Women’s Center for Creative Work), LA Art Book Fair, MOCA Geffen, Los Angeles, CA
Una Casa Como Yo, Centro Cultural Atarazanas, Veracruz, Mexico
2013
Una Casa como Yo: Asuntos Domésticos, Galeria La Miscelanea Universidad Del Arte, Puebla, Mexico
2012
Projekt Papier, curated by Gosia Wojas, Zatoka Sztuki, Sopot, Poland
Postcard Project 2012, High Desert Test Sites, Joshua Tree, CA
Architectural Deinforcement: Constructing Disaster and Decay, Cerritos College Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA *catalogue
Una Casa como Yo: Asuntos Domésticos, Jardin De Las Esculturas, Xalapa, Mexico
2011
Una Casa Como Yo: Asuntos Domésticos, El Bauhaus Gallery, Monterrey, Mexico
Anonyme Zeichner Archiv, Asihlquaiss Offspace, Zurich, Switzerland
2010
Flat File, Golden Parachutes Gallery, Berlin, Germany
MADE in Tucson/BORN in Tucson/LIVE in Tucson, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson, AZ
New Topographies, Jen Bekman Gallery, New York, NY
2009
Invisible Duck Tape, Gallery Satori, New York, NY
Anonymous Drawings no.9 Archive, Liste Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Anonymous Drawings no.9 Archive, Freie Universitat Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Abstractions and Contractions, Lumenhouse Gallery Brooklyn, NY
2008
Anonymous Drawings no.9, Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
X Marks the Spot, Jen Bekman Gallery, New York, NY
Drawing Los Angeles, Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, CA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Roth, David M. "Aili Schmeltz at Johansson Projects", Square Cylinder, April 23, 2024.
Staff Report. "Abstract Alchemy; Two High Desert artists use abstraction to explore real change", Palm Springs Life, March 29, 2022.
Daniels, Melissa. "Vast but Limited: Local Artists Explore the History and Justice of Desert Land Use"’, Coachella Valley Independent, January 20, 2022.
Biller, Steven. "This is How Art Heals", Palm Springs Life, April 6, 2021.
Massé, Marie-Madeleine. "L'Art du fil (The Art of Thread)", Éditions Alternatives, October 15, 2020.
New American Paintings, Pacific Coast Edition #139, curated by Nancy Lim, January 2019.
Zeiba, Drew. "Artist Explores Ideology of California’s Built Environment", The Architects Newspaper, May 22, 2019.
Nys Dambot, Shana."Paradise:: Parallax in the High Desert at the Joshua Treenial",LA Weekly, April 9, 2019.
Cheng, Scarlet. "Coming: Joshua Treenial 2019",Artillery, April 11, 2019.
Blonquist, Maddie. "Defining Suburbia: Two Perspectives at UMOCA", 15 Bytes, February 13, 2019.
DiMichele, David."Skulpturengarten; Infinitely Malleable Sculptural Practices", Artillery, October 25, 2018.
Gipe, Lawrence. "Aili Schmeltz and Jason Manley at Jaus", Art and Cake, July 22, 2018.
Drouet, Laura and Lacrouts Olivier."Los Angeles. The 'Vernacular Environment' exhibition explores the meandres of space", Domus, July 6, 2018.
Biller, Steven. "Vive La Résistance; A High Desert exhibition is an artistic response to the border wall", Palm Springs Life, April 30, 2018.
Scharkey, Kristin. "Make Art, Make Home", Desert Magazine, March, 2018.
Stevens, Anise. "Pasadena Museum of California Art: Interstitial", Artillery, 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, 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, 2017.
Silver, Emily. "Interview with Aili Schmeltz", Curate Joshua Tree, October 19, 2016.
Griffith, Kio. "Eight LA Artists to Know", Fabrik, June 20, 2017.
Laylin, Tafline. "Save the Cave Dwellers of Cappadocia", Green Prophet; Environmental News of the Middle East, May 2, 2012.
Regan, Margaret. "The ‘Good Life’",Tucson Weekly, May 5, 2011.
Douer, Irana. Ruby: Otherworldliness, Gestalten Publishers, April 15, 2011.
Drennen, Craig. "Paint Misbehavin", Build Up, exhibition catalogue essay, Washington State University Gallery, 2010.
Hernández Casas, David. "Overlapping Narratives", La Fuente de la Vida, catalogue, Los Angeles, CA / Monterrey, Mexico, 2010.
Sinclair, Aimee. "Interview with Aili Schmeltz, Magic City", Miami Art Review, February 9, 2008.
COMMISSION PROJECTS
2026 Disc Portal, permanent outdoor sculpture commission, Rockstad Foundation, Bismark, ND (forthcoming)
2023 CA Women paintings, Google Headquarters, Mountain View, CA
2021 Disc Portal, public art sculpture project, Atlanta Beltline, Atlanta, GA
2021 Disc Portal, permanent outdoor sculpture commission, Boxo Projects, Joshua Tree, CA
2019 Sculptural installation project, Oracle, Redwood City, CA
2017 Sculptural installation project for the World Economic Forum, Facebook, Davos, Switzerland
2015 Sculptural installation project for the Google Analytic Conference, Google, San Francisco, CA
2015 Sculptural installation project, Merck, San Francisco, CA
ETC
2014–2020 Founder & Curator, Outpost Projects, Yucca Valley, CA
2011–2015 Co-Founder, Editor, *Los Angeles Art Resource%,