Today we’d like to introduce you to Lee Musgrave.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
It was my good fortune to have lived in ten locations before arriving in Los Angeles in the early 1950s, for I was born in Australia during WWII, but my mother and father went separate ways and my mother married an American Marine from OK who brought us eventually to Los Angeles (Sylmar).
Back then, most of the streets in the Valley were not paved; there were no freeways; many people had farm animals on their property, including horses; everyone burned their own trash in backyard incinerators; there were olive, orange, and walnut groves everywhere plus eucalyptus trees (which reminded me of Australia); the San Gabriel mountains were covered by pine trees and during winter we even had enough snow in our front yard to construct a snowman. My stepfather, who had survived the bombing of Pearl Harbor, was not well and became a long-term patient at the Veterans Hospital at the end of Sayre Street (in Sylmar), where he died in 1970.
The only job my mother could find was at a chicken ranch sorting eggs. I had several jobs including the largest newspaper route in the County for the Mirror News and setting pins by hand at the bowling alley at the V.A. Hospital. I attended Sylmar Elementary, San Fernando Jr. High, Olive Vista Jr. High and graduated from San Fernando High School as an Art Major (I was always drawing and painting as a child). A few weeks before graduation, I was hired in the Production Dept. (art dept.) of Mission Publications which published several local newspapers, including the S. F. V. Sun. I stayed there while I attended Valley College and CSUN (as an art major).
Before I graduated from CSUN I was married, had a son, and was teaching art full-time at Sylmar High School. Before graduating from CSLA with a M.A. in art, I had won a city-wide art award at the L.A. Open Show, Barnsdall Park and had my first solo exhibition at Emerson Gallery, Studio City. After completing my M.A. degree, I was instantly offered a part-time position in the Art Department at Pierce College and won many more art awards and was given several solo exhibits.
In 1974, I was asked to start the Art Department at the new L.A. Mission College. An honor I shall always cherish. I stayed there until the end of 1995. I started the Art Gallery there in 1976 in a converted auto supply store in San Fernando, when the Art Department moved into the Cultural Arts Building in the Veterans Memorial Park (the old V.A. hospital’s laundry and balling alley building), I became director/curator of the Century Gallery from 1983-1996. I bought my first home in Sylmar where my family and I lived. When the big earthquake of 1971 hit. Our home was damaged, but everyone survived unharmed.
During these many years of painting, art curating, and teaching I met and interacted with a vast array of individuals and institutions that I will always have fond memories of. Also, during those times, on and off, I would indulge in creative writing of movie script treatments and finally novels. I currently have two novels and a short story inspired by these many individuals available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and at selected bookstores. My third novel will be released via publisher Black Rose Writing in November.
I still make art and exhibit my artwork, most recently in Tacoma, WA; Minneapolis, MN; South Hampton, NY: Los Angeles, CA; Umpqua, OR; Sanford, FL; and in Artistnish Contemporary Art Magazine.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My first obstacle was trying to understand why English was spoken in such a big variety of accents. I arrived in the U.S. speaking what I thought was perfect English, but I was quickly told by people in OK that my “Kings English” was not appreciated, but they would also tell me to “speak” so they could laugh when I did. We moved to Oil Dale (near Bakersfield) where an army buddy of my stepfather lived. Most people there sounded like those in OK but spoke with what my mother said was a ‘Western’ dialect. We stayed there for less than a year and moved to Sylmar where everyone seemed to be talking very fast and used many words I’d never heard before. By that time, I had become somewhat introverted and spent most of my time drawing and painting.
When I went to San Fernando Jr. High, I befriended Hispanics and Afro-Americans which felt more international, more like life in Australia was. I felt more comfortable and made more friends. My next obstacle was learning how to explain my interest in art, almost every adult I met went to great lengths to discourage me in pursuing it as a career. They were all shocked when I was able to get a good paying job (Mission Publications) before even completing high school and astounded when I was offered the full-time position of art teacher at Sylmar High School without having graduated from college or having a teaching credential … all simply because I was a good artist and had the ability to teach others how they too could be creative.
During all of this, I was constantly confronted by my stepfather having been inflicted with TB (which he caught in the Pacific Islands while fighting in WWII). Many adults would not allow me to play with their children or enter their homes.
At L.A. Mission College, my biggest challenge was keeping the Art program alive. The administration (and many of the faculty) felt the arts were a luxury and should not be fully developed there. They would always tell me, “students interested in the arts have plenty of other colleges they can attend”. Consequently, when it came time to construct the permanent campus, the Art faculty were offered only one small room and told a complete arts building would be constructed in the future. When I left there at the end of 1995, no plans for an arts building were even being talked about anymore.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
There are a few things that I feel contributed significantly to my life in innumerable ways. For example, I am originally from Perth, Australia and still have over 100 relatives there that I keep in touch with and see occasionally. I studied art at SFHS with Tony Cicero and Wally Hylton both of whom were exceptionally good teachers. At CSUN it was art professors Hans Burkhardt and Fritz Faiss who were fantastic. Hans had been studio partner of Arshile Gorky. Fritz had studied at the Bauhaus with Paul Klee & Wassily Kandinsky. We all remained close friends until their passing. Having been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for my painting is a great honor. Having had my artwork featured in over 20 solo and 100 group exhibitions internationally has been very rewarding. Now heading into my 8th decade, I am especially thrilled to have my novels Brushed Off and Off Kilter published and receiving great reviews and awards. Both are, murder mysteries set in the contemporary art community of Los Angeles. Plus, my third novel, The Beautiful One, will be released in November 2023. Currently, all these stories and others I’ve written are being offered to producers for possible conversion to movie/tv presentations.
Further, my wife and I have been together for almost 60 years and our two sons have both been successful in life.
How do you think about luck?
My stepfather was given the nickname Lucky after having survived the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was gunnery Sargent on the Phoenix and managed to get out of the shower, get partially dressed and at his machine gun station on the front of the ship without so much as a scratch. I’ve always had a different kind of luck… I was lucky to have a stepfather who was kind and always understanding and a mother who was always caring. In school, I had no real hateful enemies or adversaries, but the few friends I had were true friends and have remained so for decades. Plus, I am especially lucky at continuing to have good health.
My ability to be given so many art awards and exhibitions throughout my entire life and to have had my novels published is perhaps due to my uncanny skill at determining which individuals and/or institutions to present my artwork and writing to. In other words, luck to me is more a matter of taking advantage of chance. When I see or feel an opportunity, I quickly evaluate how best to use it. That plus always making sure that those who provided the opportunity to me are acknowledged and reciprocated.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.leemusgrave.com
- Instagram: Lee Musgrave-art
Image Credits
Lee Musgrave
