Saratoga News

Architects to work with artists on cottages

By Sarah Lombardo

Design is teaming with art at Villa Montalvo to create cottages for the facility's artist residency program. Villa Montalvo officials are expected to announce on April 22 the names of five California architects chosen to participate in the design of the new cottages. The project will team each architect with an artist, and each team will design two cottages.

Officials said the pairing is believed to be the first of its kind. Architects simply said it was wonderful.

"This is an architect's dream to collaborate with other professionals that you enjoy working with and respect," said Portland, Ore., architect Donald Stastny, who will be coordinating the invitational process.

Stastny will also head up a design team.

The designs will be presented to Montalvo's board of trustees in July, paving the way for the plans to begin their journey through the city's Planning Department process. Executive director Elisbeth Challener stressed that public input will be sought in the process.

The artist residency program is designed to give artists a place to work in a quiet setting. Each artist accepted into the program is given a one- to three-month stay to simply create.

Challener likened the importance of the program to that of think-tank programs for research and development or medical exploration.

"If you take that concept and all the significant developments that come out of that, that's how important it is inasmuch as giving artists the gift of time," she said.

The Montalvo residency program first began in 1942 and is the third-oldest in the United States.

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