Culture Shock in Thailand

Because Buddhism is non-theistic, meaning that the subject of God, or gods, is not part of the matrix of what constitutes Buddhism, my having been born into a Western world kind of family made me curious about it just because of the non-theism.  I wondered why Buddhism was thought of as a religion if God had no metaphysical role to play in the dissemination of the mystical truths based on faith in religions I learned about as a child.

 

In my mid 20’s I met a fellow who had been stationed in Viet Nam during the war and managed to get to Thailand pretty regularly as his military job was demanding and draining.  An abundance of rest and recuperation time in Bangkok allowed him to explore as a tourist at first.  He took tours of temples, the famous Golden Buddha made of solid gold, the towns that were the capitals that came before Bangkok, the hotels along the Chao Phraya River, the cosmopolitan Thai restaurant scene, the beaches, the tourist islands.  In time he made some Thai friends who opened a window for him into the Thai culture.

Bangkok, where the Ultra Modern meets the Ancient

 

I found myself drifting off into daydreams of Buddhist temples and narrow speedboats on the arterial river of Bangkok as my new friend stoked my imagination with his exotic stories, spinning in those daydreams a fantasy that I would one day travel to the kingdom.

 

Golden Buddha 5.5 TONS of pure gold

And one day I did.  It was later in life than when I was exposed to Thai culture by my early adulthood friend, more than a decade later.  During the time that passed I graduated from college and became a teacher of Spanish. I switched careers after studying gemology, a fact that caused me to enter the world of gemstones. 

 

In the beginning, in order to get started selling colored gemstones without a large bankroll, I had to invest in less expensive gems like amethyst, tourmaline, citrine, peridot, aquamarine, and the like.  In order to firmly establish myself in the gem trade, however, there was a subtle pressure from jewelry store owners to have at least one of the three precious colored gemstones among what I offered for sale: emerald, ruby, sapphire.

 

A few years of business had to transpire and profits made in order to be able to afford to inventory one of those three very expensive gems.  If one chose emerald, it would be necessary to explore the gem offices in Cartagena or Bogotá and form a relationship with an important supplier who could make you competitive selling in the American market.  If, instead, one chose to stock ruby and/or sapphire, Bangkok was the smartest place to start.  Hence it was business that, magnet-like, pulled me to a Buddhist business culture.

 

Many amazing hotels on the Chao-Phraya

Jewelers everywhere were selling the types of “semi-precious” gems that I carried.  They were readily available and making connections with the suppliers higher up the food chain was easy to do by simply attending the annual Tucson gem show one time. A few thousand gem dealers displayed billions of dollars-worth of every gemstone anybody has ever heard of.  However, as easy as it was to connect in that world, it was the exact opposite to establish supplier relationships for fine sapphires in Thailand: extremely difficult.

 

A Struggle to get top color Sapphires

The point-word in the last sentence is the adjective “fine.”  I met dealers immediately, but they all wanted to show me inky black sapphires or pallid, nearly colorless ones.  I was establishing myself in the gemstone world and needed to have inventory that would make people’s eyes water.  To do anything less was to appear as just another somebody with cheap stones for sale.

 

Unforgettable Temples in Thailand

Everything I tried seemed pointless as I wandered aimlessly from dealer to dealer unaware of necessary-to-know culture cues unfamiliar to me in the beginning.  I decided to spend some time gaining familiarity with the phenomena that bring people from all over the world to visit.  On a tour to Ayutthaya, a city that was a capital of Thailand before Bangkok, there was a tour guide who spewed facts like tour guides tend to do. One of those facts, for me, offered a helpful insight into the Thai way: that in the 1700’s, the Burmese razed and burned this capital.

 

Ayutthaya: razed by Burma in 1767

Thai people tend to be independent and proud of what they have and who they are.  They had to struggle to take their country back from Burma, one factor that contributed greatly to the Thai sense of independence.  In the 19^th and 20 ^th centuries the French had colonial influence throughout Southeast Asia.  When they attempted to add Thailand to their fold, the king of Thailand offered to give away a small section of their southern section if the French would agree to just let them be.  And the French agreed.

 

At some point the word “Farang” appeared in the Thai lexicon, meaning foreigner.  One of the main differences between our culture and theirs hinges on what cultural liberties are granted by the status implied by “Farang.” It is not hard to understand how a people who managed to avoid colonialism, whose world-famous cuisine is uniquely their own, who believe you are born good and improve through life, are nationalistic.  Add to this the Thai historical DNA resulting from what the Burmese invaders did and you can speculate why the Thai culture envelops an acceptable double standard: one for Thai people and one for farang.

 

I eventually got acquainted with Thai cultural symbols, temples, Buddha, the monarchy, behavioral customs, and kept learning until I was able to find my way to the inventory of fine quality sapphires that I was associated with as a gemstone dealer.  One of my most important lessons came from a woman who was a vendor of fabric.  To make sense of what she did to me, I had to see it from the perspective of a culture other than my own, a most daunting task.

 

The Shangri-La hotel in Bangkok gave its guests a card to keep in a shirt pocket to use if you got lost and wanted a taxi to take you back to the hotel.  I saved one of these from a trip to Asia I made in the 1980’s and have included it here. 

 

Since I was fond of three-piece suits at the time and there was a very able tailor located at the Shangri-La, a one-person operation with superior quality craftsmanship, but very few bolts of cloth to choose from, thinking of the clever card the hotel gave out, I asked the tailor if he would please write out instructions in Thai for a taxi driver to take me to the area in Bangkok where I would find warehouses full of bolt choices of wool cloth, which he agreed to do.

Tuk-tuks, 3-wheels: a very common form of taxi service

 

I found something that satisfied me in a section labeled WOOL, spelled out in English, and carried it to the counter with the instructions from the tailor stating how many meters of cloth to cut for me.  Delighted by my find, I taxied back to the tailor and handed him my prize. He said: “This is good looking, but I thought you wanted wool.”

 

“What?” I wondered aloud.

 

He told me what I had was polyester cloth, not wool.  To prove it, he picked up a cigarette lighter and held a corner of the cloth above the flame until the room began to smell like camphor.  Next, he held a piece of wool cloth above the flame and it began to smell of burned flesh, nothing subtle about the difference.  Stunned, I taxied back to the vendor, deposited the polyester on the counter while I announced that I knew it was not wool, expecting her to be surprised, humbled, apologetic.

 

“I know,” was her bewildering answer.  I was so stupefied that I couldn’t think of anything to say.  She offered no apology, no refund, no credit, nothing.  Finally, I asked her how she could sell polyester as wool.  I can hear her answer in my mind as I write these words 4 decades later: “You farang.”

 

Until that moment, the sociological phenomenon known as culture shock carried only abstract and academic meaning.  This Thai citizen brought the concept to life for me.  It turned out to be good for me to realize I was the oddity that stood out instead of the other way around. Confronted by a difference of attitude in which I was the fish in the fishbowl, the tiniest minority, all attempts to make the situation fit the norms and institutions familiar to me were inevitably and appropriately futile.

 

There was a second important gleaning moment for me as a man in charge of a temple exhibiting one of the famous Buddha statues confronted my lack of cultural acuity, opening my eyes further.  An English-speaking Thai person had brought me to this temple where people were seated on the floor admiring the Buddha.  I sat as well.  Seconds later the temple director headed toward me with anger written all over his face, his hand held out to slap my face.  I moved a little to prepare to stand up and he halted his threatening advance instantly, turned, and walked back to where he had come from.

 

I asked my English-speaking tour guide for an explanation of what had just occurred. “You had your feet pointed toward the Buddha.  Never do that.”

Thai Etiquette from the Web

 

I suppose you could conclude that culture shock is a product of the lack of familiarity with the norms of the culture in question.  There are scores of examples I could use from my years of travel to Thailand, all matters of how people perceive and do things differently. Like learning to speak a foreign language, at first it is unfamiliar and disorienting to learn the ways of another culture without becoming self-conscious about it, but once it becomes more automatic, you can see the world around you from an entirely different perspective and make sense of it being appropriate to use secondary values and a double standard with the farang.

 

I made a close friendship with a man named Sanit who mentored me in Thai ways over the years.  He was extremely helpful in interpreting mystifying events for me such as the custom of never touching a Thai person’s head.  Sanit explained to me one day that the head is viewed as our personal temple and anyone touching it violates our person.  Some years later while conversing with Mr. Sanit I asked him if you could touch the head of your wife or husband.  His answer: “When you married, can touch anything.”

Why Would a Cat Want to Move to Las Vegas?

Why would a cat want to move to Las Vegas?

As you begin reading this, I am guessing you will think it is about cats.  You would be partially correct since it was out of feline necessity that I was introduced to yet another way to make a living I didn’t know existed among “Road Warriors.”  Whether you are fond of felines or indifferent about them, you might find this story interesting.

 

I have a daughter named Olivia who went from being a college student, to a married one of those, one that ended up with, not just one, but two very large dogs and two cats.  Later, two boys, one relatively fresh from the oven and one just beginning to piece together the segments of syntax needed to make sentences.  A family of 8.  To say this family has its hands full would be to only touch the surface of the truth.

 

Add to this complexity the dimension of military living, for Olivia’s husband, Stephan, is an officer in the Air Force.  What this element changes for the family is the whereabouts and the anchorage to those whereabouts, the permanence and impermanence of that anchorage.  Their relationship began in Sonoma County and, after Stephan joined the military, included time in Texas, Colorado, Marysville, Mississippi, Las Vegas, and will no doubt encompass a much longer list as the years pass.  Perhaps military life can be used as an example of one of the central themes of Eastern religions: that change is the only true law of the universe.

 

During one of the moves it was determined that it would be a good idea to siphon off some of the pressures of daily living by temporarily relocating the two feline members of the military family back to the home where Olivia and the cats used to live in the rural West Sonoma County area.  The cats, then, stayed with mom and dad.

 

One day not too long ago it was determined that there was enough stabilization in their daily routines that Olivia and Stephan were ready to welcome Dexter and Juliet back into the family routine, one now taking place in a small suburb of Las Vegas.  If you have ever moved a long distance with a cat, you are already aware that it can present challenges having to do with the propensity for cats to want to be in control of their own lives, on their terms.  The choices boil down to three basic ones: 1. Transport them with you by plane, 2. Transport them with you by car, 3. Ship them by air or land without you.

 

The first and second alternatives were weighed carefully and set aside for the last one, the pursuit of which opened a window on an unusual profession, although existing simultaneously with the many there are today, is one brought to light for me by Lindsay and Daisy, two young Americans driving a large white van used to transport cats and dogs, driving that van and driving, driving, driving.  Two people, beginning very far away from West Sonoma County, whose meeting was the result of a lengthy Google search, came here with their sleek looking white van, arriving a couple of days later than planned because of logical reasons that included a snow storm in Colorado.

 

I had been following their driving progress through text messages along the way.  What began as very general information requests about location and timing turned into something more human as I related the van moving my way to the times I have been on my way to the airport to pick somebody up and have been tracking their flight with that ubiquitous imagery of the little plane on the screen slowly approaching its destination.  We had prepared the cats for the arrival of the two drivers who arrived late one afternoon, drove up our driveway and left the engine of the big van purring like the reassuring sound of a well-tuned, properly muffled motor idling.

 

The two young ladies who got out of the van, Lindsay and Daisy, had just a few
moments to spare for conversation as they were heading out at the end of the day to Irvine to the home of another client who would give them a pet to take way to the east in America, allowing them to drop off Olivia’s two cats in Las Vegas after driving all night.  It was the subject of driving that became the most interesting part of the whole cat ordeal for me because they told us that all they did was drive.  Always moving, trading off the driving while one sleeps, one drives and on and on and on it goes.  One of the two described herself as a “Nomadic Gypsy.”

 

Always on the move with other people’s pets, picking up here, dropping off there, caring for all the pets and themselves as they roll on down the highway having found an unusual and easily romanticized way to be in business.  My daughter wondered about turning her cats over to a stranger to deliver them, as did I.  In a few moments the wondering, having sprung from our human fear of the unknown undoubtedly, was quashed.  It was obvious that our cats, and all other pets carried in the big white van by these two people were in good hands.

 

I was reminded of my years on the road in the gemstone business.  There were times during the year when we were constantly on the move as life became a blur of airports in other countries, very, very long flights, customs checks, hotels, appointments with gem cutters and sellers, more flights, more customs………then road trips to jewelry stores in many states to sell our inventory to keep the proverbial wheel turning.  All the while needing to take care of all our domestic needs without the benefits and gadgets of home.

 

Lindsay and Daisy have their eyes on the road a lot moving all over America with dogs and cats whose owners don’t want to “ship” their pet by plane or don’t have room in their daily routine to drive hundreds or thousands of miles themselves.  Who knows when you might need this service?  It never occurred to me until I Googled it.  If you ever find yourself needing a visit from the ladies with the white van who treat dogs and cats like guests, here is some contact info:

 

Lindsay and Daisy

 

packmaster@lickitysplitdeliveries.com

Web site: Lickitysplitdeliveries.com

 

(865) 384-2490 --- Daisy Hamrick

(520) 965-7577 --- Lindsay Stoll

COMMENTS RECEIVED IN ADDITION TO ONES POSTED DIRECTLY

Hi Richard,

Great story and what an enterprisingly adventurous way to make a living!  I always enjoy hearing about stories of people on the road, maybe because of being cooped up during the pandemic and also a past nomadic lifestyle all through my 20's and early thirties.  I'm printing this out to show Patty, who loves anything cats.

Thanks for sharing!

Joe

From: Michael and Liz Near

That's a lovely piece.  It will be of no use to us however.  You found the perfect house in the perfect location and we will never move again!!  Hope you are well 

From: Lisa A Wilkins 

Dear Richard,Thank you for the interesting and mind opening email.

From: Michael Klubock

Loved this story Richard.

From: Janis Hall

I love this story! And my daughter, now in Alaska, has a cat in Minnesota. I am going to check into this cat-moving service for future reference. 
Thanks, Richard,

From: Vanessa Younger

Entertaining and very useful, Thanks Richard!

From: Randy Hrabko

Thanks for sharing!! LOL

From: Edward Witts

What a great story Richard, who would think someone did this.

Ed

From: Jude and Richard Mayer 

Hello, Richard,

Interesting. I’ll file it away for future use. 

From: Ross Weishaar

Fun stuff Richard !

Ross

From: Alberto Rios 

Very interesting story Richard, thank you very much for sharing.  

From: Victoria Shipley

thank you

From: Jamie Owen

Dear Richard,

What a wonderful story!  You write a great storyand I hope that there was a hap ending:  The Air Force animals lived happily ever after!

From: Sherrie von Sternberg

Awwwwwww, welcome home kitties!  Great read!

From: Ann Harris

Cool... I like... 💕💕💕

Dear Richard,

Great to hear from you. We are visiting Bodega Bay right now and literally mentioned your name yesterday when your email arrived. Strange! We will read your blog post with great interest!

Best, Dianne

From: Marty Roberts

I love cats - great story!

Robert von Sternberg, 

         A Brother to be Proud of

     by Richard von Sternberg  January 2021

When I was a little boy, my brother, Robert von Sternberg, was a teenager.  I thought I knew him well the way I knew my way around my neighborhood until one day I got to see what was inside his head.  Armed with only a pencil, he had entered the walk-in closet in my bedroom and drawn – on the inside of the door -- a fishing boat, detailed as a photograph yet sketched like a work of art.  I was stunned by the lines, halyards, radio antenna, fishing gear, anchor, helm, elaborate nautical details, and the name: “Georgia Peach” lettered precisely onto the surface of the hull.  On that day I realized my brother was gifted as an artist.

 

I was the archetypal younger brother who looked up to my big brother with continual admiration, I was emulative, interested in anything that interested him, too young to have achieved the level of maturation and dominance of motor skills required to turn my emulation into gratifying similar behaviors and abilities.  In retrospect I realize he was so gifted in so many ways, and our ages were far enough apart, that effectively realizing my desire to be like him was destined to lead me to a brick wall.

 

He and our father had a relationship characterized by irreconcilable differences and, as a result, Robert was gone a lot.  He left home while still in his teen years and took up surfing.  We lived in a Southern California beach town (Hermosa Beach) where surfing was nascent as a sport, where only a handful of active participants in that sport were ever to be found on the beaches.  The explosion of interest still had not begun, the Beach Boys ensemble was still in the pretty distant future, surfboards were very long, heavy wooden objects and only the most skilled devotees of the new sport were able to control the unwieldy floating planks.

 

In short order surfing began to catch on and some gifted kids learned to maneuver their boards at will and ride the bountiful California waves as the pioneer gurus they apparently had the genes to become.  The making and selling of surfboards was a maverick profession, to say the least, and those who excelled there had few heroes to model themselves after.  One had to be part design engineer, part adventurer, part marketer and a devotee of the mastery of soaring along the face of a wave.  Just after the wave-riding phenomenon began to mesmerize Robert, skilled leaders in the craft started to emerge and offer lighter and more maneuverable surfboards. 

A boy who went to my high school carried a yo-yo with him everywhere he went and practiced constantly, learning to do uncanny tricks with his spinning wooden disk.  He worked at it with a passion unparalleled until he finally became the California state yo-yo champion.  This fellow was named Dewey Weber.  He lived on 35^th street.  We lived on 33^rd.  We watched him transfer his passion for the little spinning wooden disk to the solid, non-spinning wooden ocean object and become every bit as stunningly amazing as a surfer as a yo-yo champion.

 

Also in our neighborhood were Greg Noll and Hap Jacobs.  Robert became a surfer just as the golden age of surfboard shapers in Hermosa Beach and became friends with all three of the legendary surfers I have named.  

Surfing movies and surfing magazines exploded into existence and helped to establish surfing as an institution and heroes were created in the new media.  Robert, who was nicknamed “Smitty” in those days, began to appear in all the movies and all the magazines. He went to work for the great board makers and Dewey Weber was the best man at my brother’s wedding when he and Joanne Gilbert were married at the Wayfarer’s Chapel in Portuguese Bend, the glass chapel made famous by the wedding in 1958 of Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay.

 

I believe I was 10 or 11 when Robert was able to get me a surfboard from one of the companies he worked for and started my surfing compulsion.  For many years it was hard to think about much else beyond riding that perfect wave.  Inspired by Robert’s runaway success in that world, I surfed and surfed until I was able to enter the water, paddle out beyond the shore break, catch a wave, ride it, then “kick out” at the end of the ride and sit back down on my board without getting my hair wet.  Robert and I were both blessed by the Southern California culture during its golden age.

 

During the next great era of Robert’s life, junior college and state college pursuits became his life and the use of a camera transformed his life more than anything else I can remember.  Robert excelled in an astonishing way with anything that fascinated him, that sent his passions vibrating in return to the challenge afforded by the introduction of something highly complex he could master.

 

Robert's uncanny ability  to work with little light

One day while he was a student at Long Beach State, I visited him at his home in Seal Beach and saw some of his photographs for the first time.  It was an overwhelming experience, kind of shocking, to take in all that was the Gestalt of his works of art.  What I felt was the same feeling I got when I opened my closet door and found the Georgia Peach, except at a much deeper level.  Very early in his career as a photographer he had learned to point a camera toward the world and capture on film something that most people would miss.  

In the Spanish language they refer to such evidence of a deeper vision as “el no sé que,” which translates loosely as the I don’t know what.  A great artist swims in that muse, swirls about in it freely and spins off a reaction to it that, if it appeals, appeals at the deepest imaginable level.

 

Robert just got better and better and better at the art of photography and became a professor of the subject, an inspiration to his students and colleagues as his fame spread and began to influence the world of photography with the suprasegmental nature of his work, what you might think of as the intonation of his style.  

Many of his famous works are photographs taken in highly restricted lighting conditions at night that leave no details aside, works that, like famous feats of athletes, look easy to do until you try doing them yourself.

 

He could be that one person that went on a photography outing and seemed to see things that the best of them would miss and create a true work of fine art in his darkroom.

How far did he take this talent? Look at this list of exhibits that span the years.  It is very, very long.  I am including it not so that you can read every line, only so you can see how vast it is, how many places Robert’s art work has traveled.

 

 

Exhibitions

2014

The Faces of America, dnj Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, California

2014

Night in Day, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California

2014

Black & White Vintage Photographs, dnj Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, California

2014

Time Capsule: Recently Acquired Works From The 1970s and 1980s, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California

2014

Valley Vista: Art in the San Fernando Valley Ca. 1970-1990, California State University, Northridge, Northridge, California

2014

Recent Acquisitions, Williamson Gallery, Scripps College, Claremont, California

2013

Focal Points: American Photography Since 1950, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, Wisconsin

2013

Photo L.A., Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California
2013

“In Progress,” dnj Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, California

2013

See the Light- Photography, Perception, Cognition: The Marjorie and Leonard Vernon Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California

2012

The AIPAD Photography Show, The Armory, New York, New York

2012

Robert von Sternberg, Lee Gallery, Winchester, Massachusetts

2011

Jane O’Neal, Robert von Sternberg, dnj Gallery, Santa Monica, California
2011

Photo L.A., Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California

2011

Then and Now, dnj Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, California

2010

Continuum 2010, Sylvia White Gallery, Ventura, California, (guest curator)

2010

Continuum-A Re-Examination, Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles, California, (guest curator)

2008

The Silver See Portfolio, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

2008

Photographs, Blanden Art Museum, Fort Dodge, Iowa

2007

Edge, California State University, Northridge, Northridge, California

Altered Landscapes, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California
2003

Carbon Ink Prints, Seven Ops Gallery, New York, New York

 

2001

Altered Landscapes, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California

2000

Perspectives of a Deaf Culture, Vista Community College, Berkeley, California

2000

Prophecies 2000, Ohlone College, Fremont, California

1999

Farewell to the Twentieth Century, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan

1999

Cancer & the Environment, Women’s Cancer Research Center, Berkeley, California
1998

The Future World, La Testata, Arezzo, Italy

1998

Smile, Smile, Smile, Riverside Station Gallery, Bechyne, Czech Republic

1998

Kid Companions: Children and their Best Friends, California State University, Chico, Chico, California

1998

Making Change- the Art of Social Protest, Solano Community College, Suisun, California

1998

Temporary Quarters, Berkeley Public Library, Berkeley, California

1997

The Day the Music Died, Lubbock Fine Arts Center, Lubbock, Texas

1997

American Visions, California State University, Chico, Chico, California
1996

Fax Art, Memphis College of Art, Memphis, Tennessee

1996

Do Not Bend, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California

1996

Nothing But The Blues, College of South Idaho, Twin Falls, Idaho

1996

Hearts A’Fire, Sun Gallery, Hayward, California

1996

Hogs & Dogs, Treasure Valley Community College, Ontario, Oregon

1996

Art Faculty Exhibit, California State University, Northridge, Northridge, California

1995

Reflections on Hiroshima and Nagasaka, Berkeley Public Library, Berkeley, California
1994

Wish You Were Here…on Vacation in the USA, California State University, Chico, Chico, California

1994

Who’s Out There?, Patten College, Oakland, California

1994

In the Spirit of Fluxus, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California

1994

Exploitation, College, Oroville, California

1994

Ethnic Pride, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa

1994

Joan Miro: 100 Years, Centro Civico Social, Madrid, Spain

1993

What Do Women Want?, University of California Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, California
1993

Fairy Tales and Other Fantasies, University of Wisconsin, Waukesha, Wisconsin

1993

Crossing Borders, Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, California

1992

Water/Word, Greenville Museum of Art, Greenville, North Carolina

1992

Moz-Art, Centro Civico Social, Madrid, Spain
1992

Old World – New World, Kent Arts Commission, Kent, Washington

1992

Double-Double, New Hampshire Art Association, Boscawen, New Hampshire

1990–1992

1 x 1, (a touring exhibition of pencil drawings, 1990-1992)

1991

Goodwill, Civic Gallery, Kherson, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

1991

Ten Years From 2000, Centro Insular de Cultura, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

1991

Photo Art ’91, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia

1991

Artists as Third Worlders, Glassboro State College, Glassboro, New Jersey
1991

Myth America, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota

1991

Myth America, Northern State University, Aberdeen, South Dakota

1991

Myth America, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota

1990

Saturday Night, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon

1990

Flower, Russell Sage College, Troy, New York
1990

Why Not?, Etna Studios, Etna, Pennsylvania

1990

Goodwill, Kent Arts Commission, Kent, Washington

1990

Expression/Opression: Global Awareness, Academy of Art College, San Francisco, California

1990

Mail Box Blues, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, Minnesota

 

1989

New Pictorialism and Family Snapshots, Butte College, Oroville, California

1989

“Art is Long, Life Short, Experience Deceiving”, Munson-Proctor Institute School of Art, Utica, New York

1989

Heros/Heroines, Glassboro State College, Glassboro, New Jersey
1989

Birthday Party, Kent Library, Kent, Washington

1989

Mail Art, Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tuscon, Arizona

1989

Nuclear Trash, Ohlone College, Fremont, California

1989

Obsession, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky

1989

The Future of North Dakota, Minot State University, Minot, North Dakota

1988

Pollution Solution, Rogers State College, Claremont, Oklahoma

1988

Fragments, California State University, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
1988

Picture Dictionary, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota

1988

Bedtime for Bonzo: Putting Reaganomics to Rest, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon

1988

Bodies of Water, Huntington Beach Municipal Art Gallery, Huntington Beach, California

1987

That’s What I Like About the West, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota

1987

Forbidden, New Zone Gallery, Eugene, Oregon

1987

Cows, Cowboys, and the American West, California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, California

1987

Under the Ozone, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
1987

Allure of Lures, Appalacian Center for Crafts, Smithville, Tennessee

1987

Self Portrait, City of Kent Parks Department, Kent, Washington

1987

That’s What I Like About the West, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota

1987

Forbidden, New Zone Gallery, Eugene, Oregon

1987

Cows, Cowboys, and the American West, California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, California

 

1987

Under the Ozone, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
1987

Allure of Lures, Appalacian Center for Crafts, Smithville, Tennessee

1987

Self Portrait, City of Kent Parks Department, Kent, Washington

1986

My Concept of Texas, Navarro College, Navarro, Texas

1986

Cleaning Out Your Drawers and/or the Back of the Closet, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas

1986

My Old Kentucky Home, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Kentucky

1986

Post Impressions, Barbados Community College, Bridgetown, Barbados, West Indies

1986

My Concept of Texas, Navarro College, Navarro, Texas
1986

Cleaning Out Your Drawers and/or the Back of the Closet, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas

1986

My Old Kentucky Home, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Kentucky

1986

Post Impressions, Barbados Community College, Bridgetown, Barbados, West Indies

1986

My Concept of Texas, Navarro College, Navarro, Texas

1986

Cleaning Out Your Drawers and/or the Back of the Closet, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas

1986

My Old Kentucky Home, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Kentucky

1986

Post Impressions, Barbados Community College, Bridgetown, Barbados, West Indies

1986

Watch Your Step, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia

1986

Art, Libraries, New York City, Dallas Public Library, Dallas, Texas

1986

Chairs in Art, New Zone Gallery, Eugene, Oregon

1986

Sluj International ‘86, Eastern Montana College, Billings, Montana
1986

Communication/Alternative Expressions 1986, Institute for Contemporary Art, Talahassee, Florida

1986

Son of Return of the 4x6 Show, Hartwick College, Oneonta, New York

1986

Post Impressions, Tortola Cultural Center, Tortola

1986

Post Impressions, Junior College of Albany, Albany, New York

1986

God, Man, Glamour, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas

1986

Illusion in Art and Nature, Rogers State College, Claremont, Oklahoma

1986

Faculty Artists, California State University, Northridge, Northridge, California
1984

Photographer’s Christmas Cards, California Museum of Photography, University of California

1984

Riverside, Riverside, California, 1984-1990, 1992

1984

ECHO, Diverse Works Gallery, Houston, Texas

1983

Alaskan Myths and Legends, City Borough of Juneau Museum, Juneau, Alaska

1983

Alaskan Myths and Legends, Ketchikan Arts and Humanities Council, Ketchikan, Alaska

1982

Art Through the Lens, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, California

1982

Mystery at Black Mountain, SUNY, Buffalo, New York
1981

Illusion and Reality, of Wisconsin, River Falls, Wisconsin

1981

Black Mountain College Postal Show, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York

1981

Second Annual Trash and Treasure Exhibit, Pomona College, Claremont, California

1981

Homage to Bern Porter, La Galeria dell’ Occhio, New York, New York

1981

Pet Dreams, Street Skates Gallery, Dallas, Texas

1980–1981

Los Angeles Looks at Itself: Contemporary Photographs, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (a touring exhibition within Los Angeles County funded by the California Arts Council, 1980-1981) 

1980

Photo-Silkscreen, California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, California

1979

Space in Two Dimensions, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

1979

The Postman Always Rings Twice, Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, California

1978

L.A. 7, Palos Verdes Art Center, Palos Verdes, California, (guest curator)

1978

Selections from the Permanent Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California

1978

Auction 1, Neary Institute, Santa Cruz, California

1978

Exhibit and Print Auction, BC Space, Laguna Beach, California
1977

Twelve Los Angeles Photographers, Texas Woman’s University Art Gallery, Denton, Texas, (guest curator)

1977

The Intimate Object, California State University, Northridge, Northridge, California

1977

Silver See, Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California

1976

Premeditated Fantasy, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado (guest curator)

1976

Exposing: Photographic Definitions, Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California

1975

First Annual Photography Exhibit, Laguna Beach Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, California

1975

Refocus, University of Iowa Art Museum, Iowa City, Iowa
1975

First Light, Humboldt State University, Arcata, California

1975

Silver Seventies, University of Oregon Museum of Art, Eugene, Oregon, (guest curator)

1975

Los Angeles Perspectives, Secession Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, (guest curator)

1975

Seven Photographers, Ross-Freeman Gallery, Northridge, California

1975

Photographer Redefined, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, California

1975

Contemporary Emotions, Comsky Gallery, Beverly Hills, California

1975

Artists Choice, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, (selections consultant) 

1975

Selections from First Light, Focus Gallery, San Francisco, California

1975

Annual Benefit and Sale, Camerawork Gallery, San Francisco, California

1974

Recent Acquisitions, Camerawork Soho Gallery, Los Angeles, California

1974

Erotica, Lamkin Camerawork Gallery, Fairfax, California

1974

Recent Acquisitions, University of New Mexico Art Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico

1974

Photo Post Card Exhibit, Santa Ana College, Santa Ana, California

1974

Photography 1974-Added Dimension, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California

1974

Photography 1974-Added Dimension, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California

1974

Photographics, Shop City Gallery, Fullerton, California

1973

24 From L.A., San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California

1973

Photography Into Art, Scottish Arts Council Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland

1973

Photography Into Art, Strathclyde University Museum, Glasgow, Scotland

1973

Collectors and Collections, Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, California
1973

Non Silver, Friends of Photography Gallery, Carmel, California

1973

Carolyn Utter Rosser, Jewelry, Robert von Sternberg, Photographs, Bakersfield College, Bakersfield, California

1973

Emulsion ‘73, Civic Arts Gallery, Walnut Creek, California

1972

Survey of Southern California Photography, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California

1972

Contemporary Photography, Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, Nebraska
1972

Gum Bichromate, Robert von Sternberg, Witkin Gallery, New York, New York

1972

New Works by the Faculty, California State University, Northridge, California

1972

Photography Into Art, British Arts Council, Bath, England

1972

Photography Into Art, Camden Arts Centre, London, England

1972

Photography Into Art, Spectro Arts Workshop, Whitley Bay, England

1971

California Photographers, Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, California

1971

Three Photographers, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
1971

Gum, Ohio Silver Gallery, Los Angeles, California

1971

Photomedia, California State University, San Diego, San Diego, California

 

 

1971 

Los Angeles Photography, California State University, Northridge, Northridge, California, (guest curator)

1970

Continuum, Downey Museum of Art, Downey, California (guest curator)

1970

The City of Man, Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

1970

Balboa and the Fun Zone, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, California (museum commission)

1970

The New People, Santa Ana College, Santa Ana, California
1968–1970

An Ecology in Peril, California State University, Long Beach, California

1969

Art Unlimited, Downey Museum of Art, Downey, California

1969

Robert von Sternberg, Recent Photographs, Santa Ana College, Santa Ana, California, (solo)

1967

Photographs, Robert von Sternberg, Semansko Gallery, Seal Beach, California

 

 

 

Here is a link to his web site where you can learn more.  You can google his name and become inundated with great photographs and information.

 

www.robertvonsternberg.com

 

His works are in galleries and universities as permanent exhibits all over.  I could not possibly be more proud of my artist brother, who, apart from his masterly contributions to the world of art, shoots the curl and hangs ten on a surfboard, than I am.

COMMENTS RECEIVED IN ADDITION TO ONES POSTED DIRECTLY

Thanks for sharing! A wonderful artist!

All best,  Dianne

Nice story and pictures. When I was about 16 or 17 me and a couple of friends borrowed a surf board to go give surfing a try. We went to Linda Mar beach in Pacifica. Every time we would enter the water, the first waves we would come to were picking up rocks and hitting us with the rocks. I don't mean sand, rocks, marble size or larger. We never got past the first wave to try and surf. The next day we drove to Santa Cruz to try again there. Things were much better water wise in Santa Cruz. We would take turns going out and trying to get up and then pass the board to another guy. On my third try I almost got to my knees before the wave went over me but I felt like I was starting to figure it out. The next time I went out before I could get ready for a wave , I suddenly felt a burning feeling on my right calf and while trying to see why I felt that I suddenly get the same burning feeling on my right forearm. I then noticed that the water was becoming loaded with Jellyfish. I was able to get out of the water with only one more welt, this one, on my left hand. That was the end of our attempt to surf. 

Hope you're well Richard. Take care, stay safe. Wayne

Hi Richard,

You continue to astonish me with your writing prowess, and now I learn that there is another amazing artist in your family.  I especially enjoyed this story, probably because it was so personal, and made me think of my late older brother, somebody I also looked up to though not as talented.  It was interesting to hear about the birth of surf culture in California, and how you & your brother were right there with the pioneers.   My memory was like many with watching Endless Summer back in the 60's, but I didn't realize that there was so much that came before.  It's so great that you and your brother were so involved in that early part of surfing history, and I didn't realize you were a surfer.  You are a man of many talents Richard.  Thanks, as always, for sharing your writing.

Best,   Joe

Wow Richard! It always amazes me when I get to read something you’ve wrote. Specifically the fact that you have a knack for telling a story in a simple flowing easy to read way. Not to imply that your writing is simple, but that it’s captivating and easy to read. We have similar childhood backgrounds in that I was raised in Ventura at the beach surfing. My uncle lives in Manhattan Beach and I was down there quite often. Oh how I love the SoCal Weather and water. Your brother is truly a unique and amazing individual, and your writing is an awesome tribute to him. Looking forward to read whatever comes out of you next! Regards,   Brian

I loved it, thank you for sharing.

Best,   Bijan

Thank you for taking the time to let me know! 

How wonderful to be swept up in your wave of memories- beyond the reef of turmoil we find ourselves in these days! We could all use time at a sparsely populated beach and a ride on a perfect curl.

Fondly,  Laurie

Just viewed your brother's photos. Talk about a keen eye! Thanks again. You have been blessed to have an elder brother and one so gifted.      Barry

Enjoyed article and sent to my surfer son—converted skier at a later age when he became a Californian, even though a native Montanan.Now he is a fanatic surfer at the age of 39. Also, thought I should write about my ten year older sister who was like a second mother to me. Touching tribute to your brother. Have been renting in Novato this winter but leaning to buying in AZ due to taxes and high prices and HOA’s for not much of a condo. Thanks for your listings.    Barbara

Thank you for sending this!  An additional dimension to you.  Beautiful photographs!   Carmen

Richard,

Were your parents brilliant scientists? You and your brother are both pretty interesting people.

I loved the slideshow of Robert’s photos. They’re beautiful and mystical.        Janis

What an amazing brother !!             Steve and Barbara

Richard!

This is why I always click on your emails: 

They’re always interesting! Whether about geology, real estate, or whatever. 

This piece about your brother is very touching, personal and vivid. 

Even though I have an older sister instead of an older brother, and I only recently learned to stand up on a board in Hawaii, I dig your story, your verve and your inclinations to share these things with us...

Cheers                                          Laurent

Richard, A pleasure to read about your gifted and talented brother. His eye for light and darkness…the contrast between the two is exquisite. I would add that your are just a s talented in a different and make a difference way….we all strive to make our mark in this world….and I would say you do.

Thanks.           Renee