Aviation artists to exhibit at Art 2022 Tehachapi

Since the close of their first very successful art show in Tehachapi in 2021, the Tehachapi Arts Commission has been working steadily on Art 2022 Tehachapi.

The public art show will again take place at the Aspen Builders Activity Center located at 410 W. D Street on July 23-24 with a VIP Reception taking place on the evening of July 22.

Forty-three artists have applied to be part of this year's event which will kick off on May 13-15, when the artists arrive in Tehachapi to spend the weekend exploring the area and begin their paintings. The artists will then return home to complete their work, which will be submitted and juried into the July show.

Among the participating artists in Art 2022 Tehachapi will be three aerospace and aviation artists. Mark Pestana, who is local to Tehachapi, participated in Art 2021 and will be returning this year. Michelle Rouch of Vail, Arizona will be a new participant as will Douglas Castleman of Torrance, California.

Pestana is an internationally known award-winning artist who specializes in landscape, seascape and aerospace art. His paintings are in corporate, government and private collections; and they have flown into space. He holds bachelor of science and masters of science degrees in science and engineering and has served in the U.S. Air Force and with NASA as a pilot and space operations engineer. During his career, he has flown over 5,000 hours in over 30 types of aircraft, from heavy transports to supersonic jets. He worked in Russia developing the International Space Station. He is a member of the American Society of Aviation Artists, the International Association of Astronomical Artists and the US Air Force Art Program. Currently Mark is a research pilot, aerospace engineer and consultant for NASA, the FAA and adjunct faculty at University of Southern California teaching aerospace safety. He also has the unique distinction of having designed nine Space Shuttle mission badges.

Rouch is an engineer and illustrator. She is also a professional artist known for creating works depicting the aviation and aerospace world on Earth and beyond. She has over 30 years of experience working for the Department of Defense and is currently a technical adviser providing support for major space systems. Her 20 years of art and science contributions to the aerospace community helped her earn the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Associate Fellow award. Rouch is a self-taught artist and has been combining her art with her technical knowledge for over 37 years. Besides engineering, Rouch manages her own company (Artwork By Rouch), is the STEM Outreach Officer for AIAA Tucson Section and an artist member of the International Association of Astronomical Artists and American Society of Aviation Artists. In 2021, Rouch illustrated an award-winning children's book, "Astronaut Al Travels to the Moon," authored by Apollo 15 Astronaut Al Worden.

Douglas Castleman is an award-winning watercolor and oil painter as well as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer. He is best know for his landscape and aerospace subjects. He said his original degree was in the outdated pre-digital art of "reprographics"-design, layout and pre-press processes. When printing went digital, he went back to school and got a bachelor's degree in Art specializing in illustration. He worked as an Art Director, handling commercial products but was also working on his traditional art. Much of his work was aviation related in watercolor and oil. His interest in aviation art came from his father, an Army Air Force WWII vet but he also enjoyed landscapes and seascapes. For 18 years he taught watercolor for the Yosemite Art Center. He has five paintings in the permanent NASA art collection at the Neil Armstrong Flight Research Center, as well as several at the Pentagon and in private collections. He is an Artist Fellow of the American Society of Aviation Artists, an artist member of the International Association of Astronomical Artists and the Los Angeles Society of Illustrators.

The Tehachapi Arts Commission is part of The Greater Tehachapi Economic Development Council with a mission to establish Tehachapi as a destination for representational fine artists and collectors. Sponsorships for Art 2022 are available until April 1 and anyone interested in helping sponsor this event should contact Laura (626) 945-3753 or email [email protected].