along the high embankments

Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND) presents Cole Sternberg’s along the high embankments, a site-specific installation in Santa Maria, CA.

Sternberg was invited to respond to an empty concrete bunker located on the property of Presqu’ile Winery, the building unused by humans for years, yet quietly occupied by other species, nature slowly reclaiming it. Like the process of winemaking, his paintings emerge from an alchemical transformation. Made in collaboration with the elements - soil, wind, sun, and water - they reveal themselves over time. The installation becomes a record of this place, this moment. Just as the landscape is shaped by both natural and human interventions, it will continue to evolve.

How do we as humans reckon with the effects of our presence on this land? What might the land teach us? How do we learn to listen?

Cole Sternberg is a conceptual artist who lives and works in Santa Ynez and Los Angeles, CA.

His practice contemplates humanity’s existential quandary: that of being hopelessly destructive, yet forever and inevitably linked with nature. Through varied media (including painting, sculpture, installation, performance, photography, film and writing), Sternberg positions the aspirations of humankind against the dominant and regenerative forces of the environment and the arbitration of time. For the artist, the conclusion is unavoidable. Human enterprises -- art, language, history, law, and republic -- are ephemeral endeavors that attempt to reflect, parallel, and challenge the ascendency of nature to no avail.

Sternberg has exhibited nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at the American University Museum, ESMoA, LA><ART (now “The Brick”), the Wende Museum, Praz Delavallade, Yeo Workshop, Honor Fraser, The Hole, Peter Blake Gallery, Hochhaus Hansa, There There, Primary, David B. Smith Gallery, Frieze, Paris Photo, Zona Maco, ArtBo, Art Los Angeles Contemporary and MAMA. Sternberg’s works are held by major collections throughout the world, such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), the American University Museum (AUM), the Museum of New and Old Art (MONA), and Villanova University.

This project is the start of a multi-year engagement with Presqu'ile Winery resulting in artist residencies, temporary commissions, programming and activations.

Cole Sternberg's along the high embankments is presented by Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND).

Made possible with support from the Murphy Family Foundation.

Special thanks to Puck Erickson, Alex Gerberick, Tim Wanner, Tim Rogers, Kelsi MacDonald.

LAND’s 2026 projects are made possible by the LAND Artist Fund with lead support from the Offield Family Foundation and Karyn Kohl. Generous support is provided by the Ruth Foundation for the Arts, the Fran and Ray Stark Foundation, Ben Weyerhaeuser, and the Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation. Additional support is provided by Berry Stein, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture, Pamela and Jarl Mohn, Brenda Potter, The Goodman Family Foundation, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, and LAND’s Nomadic Council.

LAND is a member of and supported by the Los Angeles Visual Arts (LAVA) Coalition.

LAND is a member-supported organization. Keep LAND programs free for all by becoming a member today at nomadicdivision.org

Photo by Liz Fish.