Terry Arena is most notably recognized for her clustered swarms of bee drawings on metal tins which were first shown in the back of a box truck. Having spent most of her life in Southern California near areas rich in agriculture her work champions the environment and more often, our food sources. Arena’s practice includes drawing, cut paper, weaving, and sculpting with non-traditional materials such as humanely sourced bee cadavers. Her work has been written about in digital and analog publications such as Art and Cake, Diversions LA, The Art Newspaper, ArtScene, Fabrik, Entropy and Artillery magazine and has been exhibited at venues such as Thinkspace Gallery, Culver City; Antler Gallery, Portland; San Diego Art Institute; Museum of Art and History, Lancaster; Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach and the Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard.
Watch: Terry Arena: The Disappearance of The Bees
Solo Exhibitions:
2024
Imprints: Natural Capital, Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA
2019
Indicator Species, The Closet at Shoebox Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2018
Variability of Knowing, 643 Project Space, Ventura, CA, Curated by Kristine Schomaker
2017
Swarm, Thinkspace Gallery, Culver City, CA
Recalling Silent Spring, Brainworks Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Not Just Bees, Carnegie Art Museum Studio Gallery, Oxnard, CA
2014
Symbiotic Crisis: a series of mobile installations, Chinatown, Bergamot Station, Culver City, CA
Culinary Inheritance Revisited, Kerckhoff Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Culinary Inheritance, Sinclair College, Dayton, OH
2011
G.R.A.S (Generally Recognized as Safe), Moorpark College
2010
G.R.A.S (Generally Recognized as Safe), Gallery 2, Ventura College
2009
Meditations on Gastronomy, CSU, Northridge, CA
Two Person Exhibits:
2020
Communal Plate, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR
2016
Symbiotic Crisis: Southeast (Imperial Valley), Juanita Salazar Lowe Art Gallery, Imperial Valley, CA
2014-15
Sustain: Drawing+ Installation, Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, CA, Curated by Suzanne Bellah
2012
Nurture Nature, College of the Sequoias, Visalia, CA
Select Group Exhibits:
2024
Art With a Message, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA
2022
Kipaipai Group Exhibition, Melissa Morgan Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA, Curated by Andi Campognone
2021
in collaboration with EARTH, Glassbox Gallery, UCSB, CA, Curated by Erin Adams & Dani Kwan
NOMAD Pop-Up, Del Amo Crossing, Torrance, CA, Curated by Max Presneill
2020
Tapas, Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Curated by Ken Flewellyn
Collaborate and Create, MOAH Lancaster, CA, Curated by Andi Campognone
Collaborate and Create, The Loft at Liz’s, Los Angeles, CA, Curated by Andi Campognone
2019
Vertical Gallery with Thinkspace Gallery, Chicago, IL
Red Truck Gallery with Thinkspace Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Heron Arts with Thinkspace Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2018
Carbon, FOCA, Chinatown Los Angeles, CA, Curated by Lauren Kasmer
2017
Scope Miami with Thinkspace Gallery, Miami, FL
Reality of Nature, Launch LA, Curated by Kristine Schomaker
LAX/DTW II: Detroit Hustle with Thinkspace Gallery, Detroit, MI
Semi-Precious, ArtShare, Los Angeles, CA
Personal Narrative, Annenberg Community Beach House, Santa Monica, CA Curated by Diane Williams & Sheli Silverio
2016
Southern California/Baja Biennial, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA, Juried by Anthony Graham
You are Here, Surrogate Gallery Projects, Pasadena, CA Curated by Erika Lizee
Honey Bee, El Camino College, Torrance, CA, Curated by Susanna Meiers
2015
Blank Canvas, Washington Reid Gallery, Culver City, CA, Curated by Kristine Schomaker
Where the Magic Happens, Gallery H, Hawthorne, CA, Curated by Kristine Schomaker
Subjective Truths, Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, CA, Curated by Suzanne Bellah
Flora, Symbiotic Crisis: Northeast(Lancaster), Museum of Art & History, Lancaster, CA, Curated by Andi Campognone
Variable Voices, Lamperouge Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA, Curated by Jay Belolli
Creature Comforts, Art Share LA, Los Angeles, CA
2014
Take Nine, ChungKing Studio, Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA , Curated by Mat Gleason
2013
City & Self, Red Pipe Gallery, Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA, Curated by Mat Gleason
Art Auction 15, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
2012
Interpretations, Bridge Gallery-City Hall, Los Angeles, CA
Le Petit Jardin @ LAX, Los Angeles, CA
Botanical, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
2011
Persona, Canoga Park Youth Arts Center, Canoga Park, CA
Chain Letter, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Art Auction 14, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
2010
Aurora, Los Angeles Art Association, Los Angeles, CA
Finished/Unfinished, Brand Gallery, Glendale, CA, Juror: Gloria Williams Sander
California Open, TAG Gallery @ Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA, Juror: Karen Moss
Revisiting Beauty, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA, Juror: Peter Frank
2009
Sweet Subversives: Contemporary California Drawings, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CACurated by Amy Grimm
Greater Los Angeles Master of Fine Arts Exhibition (GLAMFA), CSU, Long Beach
CSUN Annual Juried Student Art Exhibit, Jurors: Aaron Rose, Don Saggs, Ashley McLean Emenegger
2008
Tarfest, Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, Juror: Howard Fox
Kitchen Stories, The Nave Gallery, Somerville, MA, Juror: James Zall
LA ArtSeen 3 Emerging Artist, Jurors: Stephenie Dillion, Howard Fox, David Gere, Rebecca Morse, John Murdoch, & Glenn Phillips
Honors:
2016
Board of Directors Award, San Diego Institute of Art, Symbiotic Crisis
ArtSlant Juried Winner Drawing Category, Chives
2010
Curator’s Choice Award, All-Media Exhibit, Palos Verdes Art Center, The Four Seasons: Autumn Pomegranate
2008
Honorable Mention, CSUN Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition, Eggo, Jurors: Michele Depuy-Leavitt, Julie Joyce, Armando Lerma
Lectures:
2016
Artist Talk, Moorpark College, Moorpark, CA, September 26, 2016
Artist Talk, Valley Academy of Arts & Sciences, Granada Hills, CA, March 30, 2016
2015
Artist Talk, Ryman Arts, Los Angeles, CA, October 11, 2015
Artist Talk, Museum of Art & History(MOAH), Lancaster, CA, June 18, 2015
Artist Talk, Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, CA, February 5, 2015
2011
Artist Talk, Moorpark College, Moorpark, CA, 2011
Residencies:
2017
Carnegie Art Museum (CAM) Studio Guest Artist
2006
Art Institute of Chicago, Teacher Institute of Contemporary Art (TICA)
Savannah College of Art & Design, Art Educators Forum
Professional Development:
2010-2017
Member of Los Angeles Art Association
2010-2016
Member of Department of Cultural Affairs Slide Registry
2009
Member College Art Association
Bibliography:
Betty Brown, Collaborate and Create at Loft at Liz’s, Art and Cake, February 7, 2020
Genie Davis, Loft at Liz’s: Collaborate and Create, January 29, 2020
Betty Brown, Seeing Reality, Artillery Magazine, March/April 2018
Andrew Hosner, “SourHarvest” (blog). August 4, 2017
Genie Davis, review of Carnegie residency, ArtScene, 2017
Jenifer Susan Jones, “Art and Cake”, Not Just Bees, June 13, 2017
The Art Newspaper, May 23, 2017
Maxi Kim, The Art of Terry Arena, Entropy, February 6, 2017
Genie Davis, Buzzing About Artist Terry Arena, Diversions LA, December 29, 2016
William Roller, “Artist explores dependence of agriculture and residents at IVC show”, Imperial Valley Press, September 29, 2016.
Karrie Ross, Our Ever Changing World: Through the Eyes of Artists Book Four, 2016, pgs. 221-222
Kat Ward, Creative Types, Hometown Pasadena, November 16, 2015
Aimee Santos, Symbiotic Pictorialist, Los Retratos: Profiling Contemporary Artists, November 10, 2015
Michael Lynn Adams and Rachel Schmid (editors), The Art of TRAC 2015 Catalog, pgs. 106-107
Susan Zannos, “Subjective Truths at the Carnegie”, Ventura County Reporter, October 10, 2015
Terry Arena-Ventura, California, 365 Artists|365 Days, July 1, 2015
Betty Brown, The Importance of Flower Paintings, Art Ltd., June 17, 2015
Hoetger, Megan, Forward: Performance and Process, Catalog Essay, GLAMFA, 2009
Moore, Bryan, The Reverie of Evaluation, Catalog Essay, GLAMFA, 2009
Sunny windows and dark corners shown in ‘Kitchen Stories’, Somerville Journal, September 28, 2008
Education
2009
Masters of Art: Painting, CSU, Northridge
1996
Bachelor of Arts: Art Education, CSU, Long Beach
