Education
Advanced Web and Interactive Design Certificate UCLA Extension, 2014
Master of Fine Arts, (Sculpture) University of Arizona, 2003
Bachelor of Fine Arts, (Printmaking/Painting) Kansas City Art Institute, 1997
Bio and Affiliation
Aili Schmeltz is a sculptor and painter that splits her time in between Los Angeles and Joshua Tree, CA. She studied at UCLA, earned her MFA from the University of Arizona, and a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute. She has exhibited nationally at galleries such as Edward Cella Art and Architecture, ACME, Commonwealth and Council, and Pasadena Museum of California Art in California, Friedman Benda and Jen Bekman in New York, and Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson; and internationally in cities such as Berlin, Tokyo, Barcelona, London, and Zurich. Schmeltz has been awarded grants such as the Pollock Krasner Grant, California Community Foundation Grant, and Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grant. Residencies attended include the Bemis Center, Sculpture Center, Vermont Studio Center, Scuola Internazionale di Grafica (Venice, Italy), Espronceda Center for Art and Culture (Barcelona), Takt Kunstprojektraum (Berlin), and Babayan Cultural House (Cappadocia, Turkey). Aili is the Founder of Outpost Projects and teaches at Otis College of Art and Design.
Instagram @ailischmeltz
Awards and Honors
Pollock Krasner Grant
California Community Foundation Grant
Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grant
Exhibitions
Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2021 (forthcoming July) The Landing Gallery – Two person exhibition (alongside Anne
Lindberg) – Los Angeles, CA
2020 Edward Cella Art + Architecture – Survival Strategies – Online Solo Exhibition
on Artsy & gallery website
2020 Art Los Angeles Contemporary – with Edward Cella Art + Architecture – Two person
exhibition (alongside Amir Zaki) – Los Angeles, CA
2019 Edward Cella Art + Architecture – A Future Perfect – Los Angeles, CA
2018 BKB Art + Design – Object/Window – Palm Springs, CA
2018 Jaus – Fixed Flux – Two person exhibition (alongside Jason Manley) – Los Angeles,
CA
2017 Espronceda Center for Art and Culture – You’re A Tourist in My Town – Barcelona,
Spain
2015 Eastside International – Time, Time, Form – Two person exhibition (alongside
Ian Pines) – Curated by Manual History Machines – Los Angeles, CA
2013 Commonwealth & Council – site specific permanent Installation, Portal – Los Angeles,
CA
2013 Project Room Gallery, Grand Central Art Center, California State University Fullerton
– Crosscut - Santa Ana, CA
2013 Prescott College Art Gallery – Tomorrowland – Prescott, AZ
2011 Museum of Contemporary Art – Tomorrowland – Tucson, AZ
2010 Greenleaf Gallery, Whittier College – La Fuente de la Vida – Whittier, CA
2008 Locust Projects – The Magic City – Miami, FL
2008 Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts – Gods Eye – Omaha, NE
2008 Gardiner Art Gallery, Oklahoma State University – Storm Tracking – Stillwater,
OK
2006 Tilt Gallery and Project Space – Comfort Food – Portland, OR
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021 Ladies' Room – Garden – Curated by Annie Wharton – Los Angeles, CA
2020 Thomas Lavin Showroom at the Pacific Design Center – Between Worlds – Curated
by Edward Cella – Los Angeles, CA
2020 AMP Art Gallery, Los Angeles Mission College – Surroundings – Sylmar, CA
2019 Sarasota Art Museum – Color. Theory. & B/W – Sarasota, FL
2019 Odd Ark LA – A Store Show – Los Angeles, CA
2018 Edward Cella Art + Architecture – Vernacular Environments Part II – Los Angeles,
CA
2018 Fellows of Contemporary Art – SPACE + LAND – Curated by Chelsea Dean – Los Angeles,
CA
2018 Tiger Strikes Asteroid Los Angeles – Bodies of a Different Mass – Los Angeles
2019 Utah Museum of Contemporary Art – Shady Acres – Salt Lake City, UT
2019 Boxo Projects – Joshua Treenial – Joshua Tree, CA
Publications
Selected Press
2020 Featured in book L'Art du fil (The Art of Thread) – Published by Éditions Alternatives
– October 15 – Marie-Madeleine Massé author
2019 LA Weekly – Paradise:: Parallax in the High Desert at the Joshua Treenial – April
9 – Shana Nys Drambot
2018 Domus – Los Angeles. The “Vernacular Environment” exhibition explores the meandres
of space – July 6 – Laura Drouet & Olivier Lacrouts – Milan, Italy
2017 Fabrik Magazine – Pasadena Museum of California Art: Interstitial, Craft and
Folk Art Museum: Material as Metaphor – Peter Frank – June 19 – Los Angeles, CA
2017 Art and Cake – Interstitial at the Pasadena Museum of California Art; The Meaning
In-Between – Lorraine Heitzman – April 28 – Los Angeles, CA
2016 Curate Joshua Tree – Interview with Aili Schmeltz – October 19 – Joshua Tree,
CA
2014 Fabrik Magazine – Eight LA Artists to Know – Kio Griffith – June 20 – Los Angeles,
CA
2013 20 x 200– A Jen Bekman Project – Crystaline Bunker print edition – January 10
– New York, NY
2012 Juxtapoz Magazine – The Conceptual Works of Aili Schmeltz – December 29
2012 20 x 200– A Jen Bekman Project – Urban Storm limited print edition – January
10 – New York, NY
2011 Ruby: Otherworldliness book – April 15 – Edited by Irana Douer – Gestalten Publishers
– Berlin, Germany and London, UK
Clients and Employment History
Commissioned Projects
2021 Atlanta Beltline – Public Art Commission – Atlanta, GA
2019 Oracle – Sculptural Installation Project – Redwood City, CA
2017 Facebook – Sculptural Installation Project, World Economic Forum – Davos, Switzerland
2015 Google – Sculptural Installation Project, Google Analytic Conference – San Francisco,
CA
2015 Merck – Sculptural Installation Project – San Francisco, CA