Mashonda Tifrere's San Diego Audio Art Journey: Inscape at The Stuart Collection

Forbes

4 days ago

Mashonda Tifrere in front of La Jolla Project (1984) by Richard Fleischner at the Stuart Collection at UC San Diego. Photo by Erik Jepsen
Last summer, when writer/curator/singer/performer Mashonda Tifrere, who had moved to San Diego in 2020, met Jess Berlanga Taylor, Director and Curator of the Stuart Collection, she felt she had finally found her art family. Together, they have launched Inscape, a new audio guide project that brings together Mashonda's passions for Art and for Wellness.
The Stuart Collection includes works by Robert Irwin, Barbara Kruger, Niki de Saint Phalle, Do Ho Suh, Elizabeth Murray, Mark Bradford, Jenny Holzer, and John Baldessari, among others. It is a remarkable and little-known sculpture collection and Mashonda's audio tour is yet another reason to visit UC San Diego to see it.
Niki de St. Phalle sculpture, The Stuart Collection at UC San Diego ©2023 Philipp Scholz Rittermann
San Diego Executive Director and Chief Campus Curator Jess Berlanga Taylor, in the project press release said, 'This project's experiential nature immerses visitors in the Stuart Collection by creating a personal, contemplative connection with each piece and aligns with my curatorial vision to further intertwine the arts and well-being. Mashonda's passion for both artistic expression and mindful reflection is obvious in the curation of this experience.'
In a sense what Mashonda has created is a mental mindfulness Parkour: For each artwork, Mashonda, in a voice that is as certain as it is comforting, tells us about the artist, the work, and in some cases what inspired it, and what we can take from it. She then suggests ways to activate a mindfulness practice at each artwork.
'It was beautiful for me to create this new lens of wellness and intentionality for the art viewer… to look at art as this portal [to] wellness and transformation.' Doing so is just the latest innovation in Mashonda's ever evolving creative journey.
Robert Irwin, The Stuart Collection, UC San Diego ©2023 Philipp Scholz Rittermann
Mashonda grew up in New York, in Harlem, in a family of Caribbean descent who had migrated to the States in the early 1970s. Her uncle was a painter, and her grandmother was housekeeper to a woman who lived in a brownstone on the Upper East Side and was 'an incredible art collector' whose home exposed Mashonda to Picasso and other artists.
'I knew that once I was able to make my own money as an adult,' Mashonda said recently, 'I wanted to collect art.'
Mashonda's career in the arts began with music. 'I've been singing since I was a kid. I grew up in the church, singing. I've also been writing since I was a little girl. So, that also made me become a songwriter and a poet. Once I turned 18, I was doing talent shows… and I landed a publishing deal with Warner Chapel Music Publishing.' With her success she began to collect art that spoke to her.
Mashonda's art collecting inspired her to become both a patron and an advocate for artists. In 2016, she launched ArtLeadHer , and Art Genesis . ArtLeadHer works with women and teenage girls to provide visual arts education, professional development, brand exposure, and opportunities to exhibit their art in prominent exhibition spaces, while Art Genesis provides exhibition opportunities for emerging and established artists, many of whom are women, such as Bisa Butler and Swoon. To better develop her own professional skills in the artworld, Mashonda obtained an art business certificate from Christies.
'I love working with women because I feel women are so underrepresented and they just tell stories in a different way.' Swoon has been a part of her program, Mashonda said, since the beginning. 'It's always incredible to work with her and see how she tells her story through trauma, which is something that I'm also very aligned with. I feel art is an outlet to heal. And that just ties back in what we're doing with Inscape at the Stuart Collection,' Mashonda said,
Regarding Inscape , Mashonda said: 'It was beautiful for me to be able to create this new lens of wellness and intentionality for the art viewer to immerse themselves and be able to look at art as… this portal of wellness and transformation.'
Bruce Nauman, The Stuart Collection at UC San Diego ©2023 Philipp Scholz Rittermann
Mashonda believes Inscape is a way for the person looking at the art 'to just go deeper and connect.' It also gives the visitor a way to connect with the art and, at the same time, with themselves.
Creating Inscape is, for Mashonda, an expression of why she has come to call San Diego home.'San Diego is my safe haven. I couldn't have done this project anywhere else because San Diego provides so much peace and so much nature. And that's exactly what I needed to be enveloped in to create the Inscape Project.'