Paintings by Stephen Estrada

Stephen Estrada was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Southern California. He grew up hiking in the nearby mountains and deserts, and surfing. Those early experiences instilled in him a deep appreciation for the power and fragility of the natural environment. His mother, a painter who had studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, was a continuous source of encouragement to him and his early interest in art. After his graduation from high school in North Carolina, where the Estrada family had relocated, he attended the Art Institute of Boston. He rented a studio in the Plant Shoe Factory, a thriving artists’ enclave, but in early 1976 fire destroyed the building and the work of more than one hundred artists. Soon after, he moved to Washington, D.C., to attend the Corcoran School of Art, where he studied with William Christenberry and Robert Stackhouse, who encouraged his exploration of the natural world as a source for his paintings.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website