Mark Moore Fine Art Blog

HEIDI SCHWEGLER — Sustainable Studio rendering by Terrain — proposed climate-responsive adobe arts facility for Yucca Valley Materials Lab, Yucca Valley, CA

Mark Moore Fine Art is thrilled to share that Yucca Valley Materials Lab (YVML) and Founding Director Heidi Schwegler have been awarded a $100,000 Implementation Grant through the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative, a program of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation in partnership with Environment & Culture Partners.

The award marks an important milestone in the evolution of YVML’s Sustainable Studio project, moving the vision from planning into reality. Last year, the initiative supported the technical planning phase — funding energy modeling, material testing, engineering studies, and permitting research — demonstrating that a low-carbon adobe arts facility is both feasible and impactful in the Mojave Desert.

The Sustainable Studio will be a fully ADA-accessible, all-electric adobe arts facility and outdoor classroom on YVML’s new 2.5-acre campus. Designed in collaboration with Terrain (formerly Loescher Meachem Architects), the building will utilize locally sourced earthen materials, dramatically reduce energy consumption, and provide long-term resilience in a region facing increasing heat and wildfire risk. The project is expected to become the first permitted community-scale adobe building in the Morongo Basin, establishing a new precedent for climate-responsive construction in the high desert.

Energy modeling indicates the building will reduce annual energy use by approximately 67% — avoiding more than 30,000 kWh annually — and cut operational carbon emissions by roughly 75% compared to a conventional code-minimum structure.

Beyond the building, the project creates permanent, accessible creative infrastructure in a rural region where artists often lack affordable space, specialized equipment, and educational opportunities — proving that disability access, climate responsibility, and cultural investment can advance together.

View more work by Heidi Schwegler on our website here: https://www.markmoorefineart.com/artists/heidi-schwegler
For more information on YVML, visit https://www.yuccavalleymaterial.org
For details, visit our website at www.markmoorefineart.com or contact info@markmoorefineart.com.

#HeidiSchwegler #YuccaValleyMaterialsLab #FrankenthalerClimateInitiative #HelenFrankenthalerFoundation #SustainableStudio #AdobeArchitecture #ClimateResponsiveDesign #DesertArt #ArtsInfrastructure #ContemporaryArt #MarkMooreFineArt

CHRISTOPHER RUSSELL, EXPLOSION, 2016, PHOSPHORESCENT INK ON ETCHED PHOTOGRAPH, 36 X 24 INCHES, COLLECTION OF THE LAGUNA ART MUSEUM

Mark Moore Fine Art is proud to announce that the Laguna Art Museum has acquired a second major mixed-media work by artist Christopher Russell for its permanent collection.

Christopher Russell is best known for scratching drawings into his photographs. Underlying that process is an expansive practice that intersects drawing, narrative fiction, photography and the raw materiality of the photographic substrate.

https://www.markmoorefineart.com/artists/christopher-russell

#markmoorefineart #markmooregallery #christopherrussell #photography #modernart #contemporaryart #artcollector

MARK BENNETT, THE HOME OF THE ADDAMS FAMILY (THE ADDAMS FAMILY), 1995, LITHOGRAPH ON COVENTRY PAPER, 24 × 36 IN (61 × 91.4 CM), COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON

Mark Moore Fine Art is proud to announce that the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has acquired a major work by artist Mark Bennett for its permanent collection.

Mark Bennett’s whimsical works engage with pop culture and celebrity to an extreme degree. His blueprint lithographs of Baby Boom era sitcoms and popular television series depict the ultimate pairing of flight of fancy and stoical logic — purely imaginary floor plans grounded by the dry format of an architect’s design.

https://www.markmoorefineart.com/artists/mark-bennett

#markmoorefineart #markmooregallery #markbennett #print #modernart #contemporaryart #artcollector

AMY ELKINS (AMERICAN, B. 1979)
“HOLIDAY, ATLANTA. GA”, 2016
VERSO ARCHIVAL PRINT
20 X 24 IN — EDITIONS 1-5, AP1, AP2 OF 5 + 2AP
COLLECTION OF THE MCNAY ART MUSEUM

Mark Moore Fine Art is proud to announce that the McNay Art Museum has acquired ‘Holiday, Atlanta. GA’ (2016) by artist Amy Elkins for its permanent collection.

Elkins works primarily in photography and installation, exploring the complexities of gender, race, and identity — including how they are impacted by systems of power: prisons, the military, colonization, and hierarchies built upon social constructs. Her approach is series-based, steeped in research, oscillating between the formal, conceptual, and documentary.

Elkins received her BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts and her MFA in Art Practice from Stanford University. Her first book, Black is the Day, Black is the Night, won the 2017 Lucie Independent Book Award. She is based in Berkeley and Sacramento, CA.

For more information on this artist: https://www.markmoorefineart.com/artists/amy-elkins2

#markmoorefineart #markmooregallery #amyelkins #photography #modernart #contemporaryart #artcollector

ALLISON SCHULNIK, CRITTER WITH POINTE SHOES, 2015, OIL ON CANVAS, 40 × 31 IN (101.6 × 78.7 CM), COLLECTION OF THE UC IRVINE LANGSON ORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART

Mark Moore Fine Art is proud to announce that UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art has acquired an important work on canvas by artist Allison Schulnik for its permanent collection.

Allison Schulnik uses painting, ceramics, and hand-made, traditional animation to choreograph her subjects in compositions that embody a spirit of the macabre, a Shakespearean comedy/tragedy of love, death, and farce.

https://www.markmoorefineart.com/artists/allison-schulnik

#markmoorefineart #markmooregallery #allisonschulnik #painting #modernart #contemporaryart #artcollector