Open Studio: Helena Westra

Thursdays | 11:00 AM — 3:00 PM

Helena Westra is a San Diego–based sculptor and interdisciplinary artist who works with clay, soil, and other natural and found materials to create objects, installations, and performances grounded in land-based practices. Drawing on her mixed ancestry and interests in craft and storytelling, her work considers belonging, ancestral connection, and the cyclical relationship between land and body. Westra’s practice approaches making as a way of holding memory and reimagining what it means to belong. In 2025, she was awarded the Windgate–Lamar Fellowship from the Center for Craft to support international research into ancestral craft traditions across Okinawa, Mallorca, Friesland, and the Philippines, which she will extend into her residency at the Museum.

Visit Westra’s studio in the Museum galleries on Thursdays between 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM to learn more about her process.

During her time in the studio, Westra will be developing a project that will be presented as part of the 2025–26 In Studio Artist Residency exhibition, opening June 5, 2026.