Meet Be Boggs | Multimedia Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Be Boggs and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Be, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
Originally I am from Santa Barbara, California, and spent my childhood there. It was absolutely idyllic and perhaps my memories wax rhapsodic a bit, but in the 1970s, it was quite dreamy. Every movie and song seemed to be about the place, and ruled heavily in my way of seeing the world. During middle school, my family relocated to Norristown, Pennsylvania, and it was a major culture shock. We flew out on a balmy Halloween night and landed in a slate-gray leafless landscape with no indication of where the mountains or ocean were. Looking back, I was deeply affected by the grandeur of greens that poured in from Spring all the way to the end of Summer. I had never experienced true humidity that buzzed with the sound of cicadas. My father taught me to stream-cast in the countless rivers, hiking directly up the flow of water.
From there we went to Providence, Rhode Island, which delighted me to roam as a teenager. Then after high school we relocated to the Bay Area, just north of Berkeley. After I got married, we relocated to Los Angeles, a city that felt bigger than my imagination.
For a long time I considered myself a Californian, since had spent the majority of my life there. Just this year, however, I packed up my life again and moved my daughter and I to Raleigh, North Carolina. Now it occurs to me that with each move I have brought a bit of each former place with me. Culture, food, music, they have all travelled with me and gained new sounds and tastes to take to the next adventure. I am an explorer for life.
Through all these movements, I always felt nostalgic for Santa Barbara

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Although I have been making art most of my life, I feel I am only now emerging as a professional with a distinct craft and skill set. In the last three years in particular I have returned to being a student of painting and it has proved to be the best choice. By being willing to say i needed help, instruction and structure opened me to a universe of creativity I was unable to access previously. My work since 2020 has revisited a lot of trauma and pain that I was previously unable to express or imagine on the canvas. The telling of these stories kept opening me up to the next level of skill and vulnerability. Strangely enough my latest series is looking out at the world from the other side of trauma. It is a place of openness that I have never experienced before, feeling the paintings just flow out of my hands as if I am merely a conduit. These images may help the viewer see the world as I do, or open them to experiences all their own, and I am excited to share this new series in the Spring.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
In Los Angeles I would focus on Art and Food every day. Having lived in Los Angeles for almost 20 years, I know that it is folly to try to go too far in one day. You’ve gotta focus on the neighborhood villages and all the wonders each little area holds. Each of these areas has a museum that can be incorporated into the day, or be the center of it, depending on the friend. Day 1 we would go to The Broad for the incredible collection and whatever visiting show that is available. Going into Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Room is a MUST! Next we would go down to the Grand Central Market to get delicious food from the various vendors. A short walk away (yes, walking in DTLA is awesome) is The Last Bookstore for a delightful time browsing books and music (and more art upstairs).
Day 2 would be a day at The Getty. This location really deserves top billing for a day, whether you pack a picnic lunch or eat at the museum restaurant, it is not to be rushed. Their collection is world class as is the architecture and grounds. When I have taken visitors there we usually have just enough time afterwards to drive down to the Pacific Highway to catch the end of the sunset.
Day 3 is for Shopping on Abbott Kinney and the Venice Beach Boardwalk. Parking can be found centrally so you don’t have to move your car, and can just fall into strolling the neighborhood shops, eateries and street vendors.
Day 4 would be a drive north to Malibu to see El Matador State Beach for the incredible tide pool life and access to the Pacific Ocean. Even on a cool foggy day this is an incredible destination to start at early before the small parking lot fills up. Then mid afternoon leave the sand and surf to head back south on the Pacific Coast Highway to Nobu in Malibu for incredible sushi.
Day 5 Would head inland to Pasadena to see the collection at The Norton Simon museum, then down Colorado Blvd. to walk Old Town Pasadena for the architecture and endless dining options. Highly recommend King Taco no matter whatever else you may eat. After lunch we would drive over to Huntington Botanical Garden & Library for the flora and art throughout the estate.
Day 6 is a fun filled day at Universal Studios, Hollywood. After 6-8 hours there you can go down the hill into Studio City and get so many delicious offerings from the unique neighborhood restaurants that aren’t available downtown or on the west side of LA. (No shade to Disneyland, but the happiest place on earth needs 2-3 days all to itself)
Day 7 needs to be saved for a nice slow day at The Original Farmers Markent and The Grove. I could seriously go here everyday and never tire of the delicious food. Plus the kid in me needs any reason to go to Sticker Planet and be a little whimsical. After lunch the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is just a few blocks away, and can’t be skipped on any trip to LA.
Trying to fit everything into one trip to Los Angeles is almost impossible, but for the energetic and curious, it’s anything but dull.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My grandfather, Frank Boggs, was a major influence in my life becoming dedicated to learning and creating Art. As a professor of art and chairman of the Beloit College Art Department, he made a life of teaching Fine Arts to generations of eager art students. He travelled the world making murals, teaching fine arts classes and lecturing on contemporary art and modern architecture in Mexico and Europe. Frank was a graphic artist for the Tennessee Valley Authority until 1944 and then as a war correspondent artist with the US Army Meidcal Corps in Papúa New Guinea, rendering gut-wrenching paintings of the aftermath of battle. He also was my mentor one year when I lived with him and had intensive art immersion every day. Not only did he impart on me what a serious responsibility being an artist would take, but that to really connect with a deeper part of your art you needed to be brave. “Never let your life stop your art” was the way for him, and it has become my way as well, making art in all conditions. Since then I have had a few other life-changing mentors in writing, and in visual arts, but without my grandfather’s influence, I never would have started down that path.

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