Stefani Art Gallery is delighted to present the unveiling of Erik Satie’s Apartment, an immersive painting/installation by acclaimed artist Gary Westford, accompanied by a live piano recital celebrating the music of Erik Satie. 

Westford’s work occupies a singular place at the intersection of narrative painting, conceptual rigor, and experiential installation. Born in Oakland, California, and educated at the University of California, Berkeley, he studied with esteemed Bay Area Figurative painters such as Elmer Bischoff and Joan Brown, and was deeply influenced by the incisive social commentary of Robert Colescott. Over a long and distinguished career, Westford has developed a visual language that melds representational imagery with surreal juxtapositions, prompting what he calls a “shock of recognition” in the viewer. His art draws on the American landscape — skies, bodies of water, vehicles of a mid-century past — and integrates architectural elements and found objects to create environments that are evocative, layered, and resonant.  

Westford’s artistic practice extends beyond studio work into deeply engaged teaching and cultural involvement. After moving to Oregon in the late 1970s, he dedicated over two decades to arts education, including pioneering work in prison education programs that used art as a catalyst for personal growth and social change — an effort recognized with a national teaching award in corrections education.  

His work has been shown widely in national juried exhibitions, solo exhibitions in institutional and public venues, and recent projects at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art. Westford’s paintings and installations continually explore themes of history, environment, social equity, and human experience, often inviting viewers into spaces that feel both familiar and disquietingly new. 

Erik Satie’s Apartment is no exception. Inspired by Satie’s delicate and introspective musical world, the installation creates a space that is both personal and evocative — a setting for contemplation, memory, and artistic reflection. To further enrich the encounter, noted pianists Asya Gulua and Ken DeLooze will perform selections from Satie’s Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes, works whose quiet luminosity and emotional depth mirror the contemplative terrain of the installation.