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Do you have a favorite part of town and what do you do if you want to unwind and get away from it all?
I love El Matador beach, but lately I go to the Huntington Botanical Garden if I want a day of beauty. It is a great place to go if you have kids-- they have giant lawns, an amazing cactus garden and a fantastic children’s garden. It is close to my house and a totally beautiful Shangri-La kind of place. I love the scented camellias and sweet olive and hundred year old bonsais!
Favorite museum?
The Museum of Television and Radio in New York. Before Youtube existed and before you could see anything you wanted on the Internet . Matt and I went there (in 1997 or something) and saw the pilot of The Muppet Show. It had been a big part of our lives growing up of course but I saw it as art for the first time--you could see the puppeteers in the background wearing black leotards and moving around. The sets and everything were simple and kind of amateurish and yet it was such a unique, fully realized and eccentric world. I realized that it meant a lot more to me emotionally than a Van Gogh painting or something and this helped me find my own content and feel comfortable making my work.
What is next for Megan Whitmarsh?
In May I am going to Valencia Spain to do a site-specific piece for a show curated by Robert Wilson at IVAM called “Visions of the Frontier”. I will have one week to make a 200-foot wall drawing. This is kind of freaking me out! Ha ha. But I am excited and it will be awesome.