Novato (July 12, 2022) The Pirkle Jones Fund (PJF), established to honor Marin photographer Pirkle Jones who died in 2009, has named Raylene Gorum, a resident of Sausalito, as the twelfth recipient of a grant from its Visual Artist Support Program. The program supports promising emerging and mid-career artists living in Marin County, California. The artist will receive a grant of $25,000.

The PJF Visual Artist Support Program grant aims to recognize, encourage, and nurture artistic imagination and drive, commitment to the creative process, aesthetic standards, and artistic potential.

Raylene is an amazingly talented artist who works primarily with intricately cut vinyl, acrylic, mirrors and wood to create installations and flat work that blur spatial boundaries through the use of reflective and transparent materials. Each of her projects starts with a deep dive into the particular history and function of the site and a search for the hidden wow factors available in the space. The building itself frequently becomes a part of her work. Her aim is to have the casual or hurried visitor to feel lifted as they come into contact with her work and the engaged visitor to have something intriguing behind the art to sink their teeth into.

“As an artist who tends to work at the periphery of the traditional art world, the Pirkle Jones award brings with it tremendous validation to my art practice", said Raylene. "To this point, I have created my own artistic niche which aims to inject art into the everyday landscape. Sometimes these are commissions, sometimes they are out of pocket. The last few years changed a great many things for all of us, but as an artist who tends to rely on using buildings as canvases, I realized my practice must also adapt. While public art remains a passion for me, I am really looking forward to refining my work in my studio. I have a list of new materials and themes to explore as I commission myself this year and have already signed up for interesting professional and skill development opportunities.”

Raylene's works have been exhibited in San Francisco, New York, London, Milan, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Taipei, and Brazil and included in lots for the Whitney Art Party and Phillips du Pury. Her largest installation to date occupied 165' x 16' of window across the street from MOMA NY on 53rd Street. Her next largest work will occupy a 4,000 sf concrete pier in a park being built in the Bayview area of San Francisco with SFAC and SF Recs + Park. Other installations can be found at the University of Nebraska Performing Art Center, the Office of the Mayor of Oakland, the Sausalito Library and in the headquarters of many Bay Area companies. Her work can be viewed at raylenegorum.com.

For more information or images, contact Lani Alo at the Marin Community Foundation, at either 415.464.2531 or lalo@marincf.org