Audrey Carver                                                       Photo by Jack Clark

Editor’s Note: The longstanding Idyllwild Community Center Speaker Series is partnering this year with the Idyllwild Arts Academy, presenting IAA seniors discussing their paths as developing artists, part of the school’s focus on growing artists who feel the responsibility of contributing to society.

Audrey Carver, visual artist, is proud to be an Idyllwild “Hillbilly,” having attended all eight years at Idyllwild School and is in her fourth year at Idyllwild Arts. Asked how young she was when she first found an interest in art, Audrey said, “As soon as I could hold a crayon. I grew up like this barefoot wild child, always painting. There was never a question if I could go to Idyllwild Arts. My parents told me that if I was accepted they would make it happen.”

Audrey will be talking about her early interest in art, what it has been like at IAA and what her plans are for the future. “I’ll be talking about the role art plays in society and how I fit into that. My primary interest is in creating public art.” She credits IAA visual art teachers David Reid-Marr and Linda Santana with having contributed most to her growth as a visual artist.

Audrey is aiming for a career in photojournalism. She’ll be attending the women’s march in Washington at the inauguration and will be accompanied by her mother and grandmother. “Yes, there’ll be three generations and I’ll be taking photographs, video and doing some interviewing,” she said.

While at IAA, Audrey has won Arts Enterprise Laboratory grants in each of her three previous years. The grants helped fund her senior show and public murals in the mailroom and art gallery. 

She said she also has stepped out of her comfort zone this year, acting in a student film for the first time and doing art as part of performance pieces — piling clay on a musician while he was playing and improvising a 32-inch-by-8-foot abstract painting in ink to an improvised piano piece by another IAA student. When asked how long she had to create the piece, she answered “Five minutes and eight seconds.”

Audrey said she has a condition called synesthesia that is partly hereditary. “Every sound prompts a color,” she said, which makes improvising to sound very interesting.

Audrey also will talk about her internships in San Diego with the San Diego Climate Science Alliance and California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “I painted murals based on data from climate change scientists and taught kids about climate change in classes and public presentations.”

She is planning to attend a liberal arts college, not a purely art-based institution. “I want to balance art and academics, just as I have been doing at Idyllwild Arts,” she said.

Audrey will speak and show a PowerPoint presentation of her art. There is no charge to attend the series. Her presentation is at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, at Silver Pines Lodge. There is a wine and cheese reception at 5:30 p.m.