>>. touring england was a time when robert as mentors were being challenged by a quickly growing middle-class. for endeavour's crew of new artists began to assert themselves, offering new definitions of the athletics of arts and beauty. over 180 objects of avant-garde design and art from the victorian england has been collected inside the legion of honor snoot exhibition, it's the cold of the ec. -- the cult of beauty. >> there was this group of artists that were not only revolutionaries in their artistic expression but also in their personal lives and their interest in democratizing art in introducing beauty into the growing middle-class. >> one of the inspirations for the victorian avant-garde was the industrial revolution.

quality household goods were now being mass-produced. artists responded by either creating elaborate unique court or by embracing technology and trying to share a beautiful creations with as many people as possible. >> william morris was in a difficult position, because he wanted the middle-class to be able to acquire really beautifully made objects. but the piece is that he actually made, you know, took so much handcrafting that there were quite expensive. i think he would have been pleased to know that there are things like restoration hardware anne craig and bare all that tried to make available to the middle-class -- and crate and barrel that tried to make these things available to the middle class. >> over 60 lenders contributed art and craft to the exhibition. one of the partners is london's victoria and albert museum, which has been collecting the finest examples of victorian

craft since queen victoria herself attended the groundbreaking ceremony. the artist of the victorian avant-garde believe that every object could contain an expression of beauty. the attention given when creating a towering sculpture should be the same as when creating a simple cottage gate. they embraced arts for arts own sake. whether in the curl of a flower or a stray lot of unpin hair. surprisingly, sensuality returned to public view during the victorian era. albert moore and others were inspired by ancient greek sculptures and found new uses in modern times. >> many of these paintings are large. when you get close to them, they seem to wrap you in this luscious colors. there's a great sensuality to the paintings, even though there's nothing sexual going on in the pictures.

the artists just took delight in luxurious fabrics and colors and beautiful women. >> symphony in white is a life- size portrait of the immense stress of james wisler. it is featured prominently in the exhibition. harmony in gray and green was an of socially judged as a disagreeable presentation of a disagreeable young lady. the first public reaction of this series was so divisive that led to court proceedings. today, they hang in london's tate gallery. walking to the exhibition, you might be distracted by objects that seem to modern war appeared to be at least art deco era. forward thinking victorian artists emerged the economical ambitions of 18th-century cottage's style furniture with the asymmetrical design elements of japanese art that was introduced to london in 1862.

>> so you come out with these very beautiful and sleek design worms that the artist combined -- a design forms. very modern. our visitors are really surprised that so many of the works at a very modern feel to them. >> they believe that no object needed to be considered worthless or low class. each thing, existing in its own place, was the best thing for its place. and what first seems to be idle showiness, shows the richness of today and yesterday. >> it is exciting to have a project you have worked on for so long coming in know, come to your own museum. and museum curators are among the luckiest professionals,

because we get to share with tens of thousands of people the things that give us enjoy and the things that explain to our visitors the relationship between art and society. art is not just a frivolous, you know, sidebar. it is a very important expression of culture and morals. this particular moment, the artists were interested in community. >> san francisco is the exclusive american host for the cult of beauty exhibition. the legion of honor is website has more information about the artists and tips for planning your visit. learn more at the website. thank you for watching

>> welcome to "culturewire." today we are at recology. they are celebrate 20 years of one of the most incredibly unique artist residency programs. we are here to learn more from one of the resident artists. welcome to the show, deborah. tell us how this program began 20 years ago. >> the program began 20 years ago. our founder was an environmentalist and an activist and an artist in the 1970's. she started these street sweeping campaigns in the city. she started with kids. they had an exhibition at city hall. city officials heard about her efforts and they invited her to

this facility. we thought it would coincide with our efforts to get folks to recycle, it is a great educational tool. since then, we have had 95 professional artists come through. >> how has the program changed over the years? how has the program -- what can the public has an artist engage with? >> for the most part, we worked with metal and wood, what you would expect from a program like ours. over the years, we tried to include artists and all types of mediums. conceptual artists, at installation, photographers, videographers. >> that has really expanded the program out. it is becoming so dynamic right now with your vision of interesting artists in gauging here. why would an artist when to come here? >> mainly, access to the materials.

we also give them a lot of support. when they start, it is an empty studio. they go out to the public area and -- we call it the big store. they go out shopping, take the materials that, and get to work. it is kind of like a reprieve, so they can really focus on their body of work. >> when you are talking about recology, do you have the only sculpture garden at the top? >> it is based on work that was done many years ago in new york. it is the only kind of structured, artist program. weit is beautiful. a lot of the plants you see were pulled out of the garbage, and we use our compost to transplant them. the pathway is lined with rubble from the earthquake from the freeways we tour about 5000

people a year to our facility, adults and children. we talk about recycling and conservation. they can meet the artists. >> fantastic. let's go meet some of your current artists. here we are with lauren. can you tell us how long have been here so far and what you're working on? >> we started our residency on june 1, so we came into the studio then and spent most of the first couple weeks just digging around in the trash. i am continuing my body of work, kind of making these hand- embroidered objects from our day-to-day life. >> can you describe some of the things you have been making here? this is amazing. >> i think i started a lot of my work about the qualities of light is in the weight. i have been thinking a lot about things floating through the air. it is also very windy down here.

there is a piece of sheet music up there that i have embroidered third. there is a pamphlet about hearing dea -- nearing death. this is a dead rabbit. this is what i am working on now. this is a greeting card that i found, making it embroidered. it is for a very special friend. >> while we were looking at this, i glanced down and this is amazing, and it is on top of a book, it is ridiculous and amazing. >> i am interested in the serendipity of these still life compositions. when he got to the garbage and to see the arrangement of objects that is completely spontaneous. it is probably one of the least thought of compositions. people are getting rid of this stuff. it holds no real value to them, because they're disposing of it.

>> we're here in another recology studio with abel. what attracted you to apply for this special program? >> who would not want to come to the dump? but is the first question. for me, being in a situation that you're not comfortable in has always been the best. >> what materials were you immediately attracted to when you started and so what was available here? >> there are a lot of books. that is one of the thing that hits me the most. books are good for understanding, language, and art in general. also being a graphic designer, going straight to the magazines and seeing all this printed material being discarded has also been part of my work. of course, always wood or any kind of plastic form or anything like that. >> job mr. some of the pieces you have made while you have been here. -- taught me through some of the

pieces you have made while you have been here. >> the first thing that attracted me to this was the printed surface. it was actually a poster. it was a silk screen watercolor, about 8 feet long. in terms of the flatwork, i work with a lot of cloddish. so being able to cut into it come at into it, removed parts, it is part of the process of negotiating the final form. >> how do you jump from the two dimensional work that you create to the three-dimensional? maybe going back from the 3f to 2d. >> everything is in the process of becoming. things are never said or settled. the sculptures are being made while i am doing the collages, and vice versa. it becomes a part of something else. there's always this figuring out of where things belong or where they could parapets something

else. at the end goal is to possibly see one of these collage plans be built out and create a structure that reflects back into the flat work. >> thank you so much for allowing "culturewire" to visit this amazing facility and to learn more about the artists in residence program. is there anything you like our viewers to know? >> we have art exhibitions every four months, and a win by the public to come out. everybody is welcome to come out. we have food. sometimes we have gains and bands. it is great time. from june to september, we accept applications from bay area artists. we encouraged artists from all mediums to apply. we want as many artists from the bay area out here so they can have the same experience. >> how many artists to do your host here? >> 6 artist a year, and we receive about 108 applications. very competitive. >> but everyone should be

encouraged to apply. thank you again for hosting us. >> thank you for including us in "culturewire." ♪ >> i love teaching. it is such an exhilarating experience when people began to feel their own creativity. >> this really is a place where all people can come and take a class and fill part of the community. this is very enriching as an artist. a lot of folks take these classes and take their digital imagery and turn it into negatives. >> there are not many black and white darkrooms available anymore. that is a really big draw. >> this is a signature piece.

this is the bill largest darkroom in the u.s.. >> there are a lot of people that want to get into that dark room. >> i think it is the heart of this place. you feel it when you come in. >> the people who just started taking pictures, so this is really an intersection for many generations of photographers and this is a great place to learn because if you need people from different areas and also everyone who works here is working in photography.

>> we get to build the community here. this is different. first of all, this is a great location. it is in a less-populated area. >> of lot of people come here just so that they can participate in this program. it is a great opportunity for people who have a little bit of photographic experience. the people have a lot, they can really come together and share a love and a passion. >> we offer everything from traditional black and white traditional black and white darkrooms to learning how to