James Hubbell (artist)

While he was born in Mineola, New York,{{Cite web|url=https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-james-hubbell-16094|title=Oral history interview with James Hubbell, 2012 July 30|website=Smithsonian}} his family soon moved to Connecticut and various other places through his upbringing, with Hubbell attending 13 schools in the first 12 years of his grade-school and junior-high education.

Hubbell was influenced at an early age when a maternal aunt married into the Findlay family, who owned an art gallery in Kansas and two in New York City that specialized in American Western painters. While in high school, Hubbell collected pictures of horses and began drawing them.

Hubbell studied design and painting in 1951 for a year at the Whitney Art School in New Haven, Connecticut, until he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served in Korea in Headquarters Company and Troop Information Education, making posters and charts. After returning from the Army, he studied painting and sculpture at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, but he did not graduate.{{Cite web|url=https://santaysabelartgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/James_Hubbell_2017_Autumn.pdf|title=JAMES HUBBELL EXHIBIT TO OPEN AT SANTA YSABEL ART GALLERY|date=Autumn 2017}}

Hubbell produced hand-crafted doors, stained-glass windows, gates, and sculpture using wood, stone, metal, glass and clay. His art and architecture were installed in homes, schools, gardens, pavilions, nature centers, churches, monasteries, a sorority house, museums and peace parks in California, Mexico, and worldwide. His art studio sat on a 40-acre ranch in Wynola, a community in Julian, California. During the 1950s and 1960s, Hubbell used natural, local materials to design Hobbit-like structures that became his family's compound.

From 1954 until his death in 1983, Jim worked closely with Sim Bruce Richards, a prominent local architect in San Diego County.{{Cite web |title=James Hubbell |url=https://www.modernsandiego.com/people/james-hubbell |access-date=2024-05-23 |website=Modern San Diego |language=en-US}} In 1960, Richards built "The Wishing Well Hotel" in Rancho Santa Fe, California for Hubbell's mother.{{Cite web |title=Houses That Put Their Arms Around You |url=https://ilanlaelfoundation.org/stories/houses-that-put-their-arms-around-you/ |access-date=2024-05-23 |website=ilanlaelfoundation.org |language=en-US}}

Hubbell was a member of the Julian Arts Guild.{{Cite web|url=https://visitjulian.com/arts-in-julian-california/|title=Arts In Julian California -|first=Robin|last=Bol}} His artwork is shown at the Santa Ysabel Art Gallery in the Hubbell Room.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mcall.com/sd-cm-ram-labor-day-entertainment-20170830-story.html|title=Labor Day Weekend offers variety of options|first=Maureen|last=Robertson|date=August 30, 2017|newspaper=The Morning Call}}

Hubbell married Anne Stewart in 1958, and soon after, the couple purchased their Wynola property. They had four sons, for whom they built a separate structure, titled The Boys' House. In 2003 as a result of the Cedar Fire, the couple lost their home and Hubbell's studio, and other outbuildings located on the property.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/communities/north-county/sd-no-james-hubbell-20171202-story.html|title=At 86, art icon James Hubbell still looking forward|date=December 2, 2017|website=San Diego Union-Tribune}} All were rebuilt, and they continued to expand in the years following.

Hubbell died in Chula Vista, California, on May 17, 2024, at the age of 92.{{Cite web |title=JAMES HUBBELL |url=https://ilanlaelfoundation.org/james-hubbell/ |access-date=2024-05-20 |website=ilanlaelfoundation.org |language=en-US}}

== Projects that James Hubbell worked on in the California and Mexico areas ==

[https://ilanlaelfoundation.org/the-best-places-to-see-james-hubbell-art/]https://ilanlaelfoundation.org/the-best-places-to-see-james-hubbell-art/

• Alpine Library (stained glass art piece), Alpine, CA
• All Souls Episcopal Church (windows), Point Loma in San Diego, California
• Briercrest Park, La Mesa, CA
• Cal Western University, Rohr Hall (sculpture), San Diego, California
• Camp Stevens Chapel, Julian, CA
• Crest Nature Center, Crest, CA
• Davidson Residence (1972) in Alpine, CA
• Del Mar Library ("A River of Time" bronze and redwood sculpture), Del Mar, CA
• Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve, Escondido, CA
• Fountain Escondido, CA (1989)
• Fallbrook Library (Poet's Patio and mosaic entry), Fallbrook, CA
• Glorietta Bay Fountain & Sculpture, Coronado, CA
• Greenery, The (1972), 4475 Mission Boulevard, Pacific Beach in San Diego, California
• Hubbell, James & Anne Residence & Studios (1958 – 1965 + later additions), Wynola, CA
• Ilan-Lael residence and studios, Santa Ysabel, CA
• Julian Library (interior gate of iron, bronze and stained glass), Julian, CA
• Kumiai Museum, Tecate, Baja California, Mexico
• Lakeside River Park, Lakeside, CA
• National City Library (windows), National City, CA
• Pacific Rim Park, Tijuana, B.C. Mexico
• Pearl of the Pacific, and Pacific Rim Park, Shelter Island in San Diego, CA
• Pt. Loma Nazarene (details) (1962) in San Diego, California
• Rainbow Hill House (1991) in Julian, CA
• Ramona Library (Laurel Passage stained glass window), Ramona, CA
• Rancho La Puerta Resort and Spa, Tecate, Baja California, Mexico
• San Diego Botanic Garden (sculpture), Encinitas, CA
• San Diego County Superior Court (Vista Courthouse Façade), Vista, CA
• Sea Ranch Chapel, Sea Ranch, CA
• Sharp Grossmont Healthcare Courtyard (Moving Circles Fountain), La Mesa, CA
• St. Andrews Episcopal Church (windows) (1960), Pacific Beach in San Diego, California
• St. Catherine Laboure Catholic Church (sculpture) (1965), San Diego, California
• St. Leo's Catholic Church (sculpture) (1965), Solana Beach, CA
• Sunshine Elementary Playground (1962), Clairemont, in San Diego, California
• Triton Restaurant in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Encinitas, CA
• University Christian Church (windows) (1962)
• Volcan Mountain Reserve
• Vint House #2 (1983) in Del Mar, CA
• Wishing Well Hotel renovation (1962) in Rancho Santa Fe, CA

In 1983, James and wife Anne created the Ilan-Lael Foundation.{{Cite web |title=JAMES HUBBELL |url=https://ilanlaelfoundation.org/james-hubbell/ |access-date=2024-05-20 |website=ilanlaelfoundation.org |language=en-US}}

From 1994, Hubbell led international teams of architectural students in building friendship-themed public parks on the coasts of San Diego, Tijuana, Russia, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and, later in 2018, China,{{Cite web |last=Kragen |first=Pam |date=June 12, 2019 |title=Still active at 87, artist James Hubbell hosts Father's Day open house |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/still-active-at-87-artist-james-hubbell-hosts-fathers-day-open-house-story.html |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |access-date=November 19, 2020 |archive-date=November 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127044212/https://www.chicagotribune.com/still-active-at-87-artist-james-hubbell-hosts-fathers-day-open-house-story.html |url-status=dead }} through the Ilan-Lael Foundation, an arts education foundation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kpbs.org/events/2020/jun/21/ilan-lael-foundationhubbell-virtual/|title=Ilan-Lael Foundation/Hubbell Virtual Open House & Studio Tour|website=KPBS Public Media}}

In 2008, the Ilan-Lael property received historic designation, and served as the headquarters for the Ilan-Lael Foundation.{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://ilanlaelfoundation.org/about/history/ |access-date=2024-05-20 |website=ilanlaelfoundation.org |language=en-US}}

In 2019, the San Diego County board of directors presented Hubbell with the "Peacemaker of the Year Award" for his international work on building friendship-themed public parks.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://ilanlaelfoundation.org/ Ilan-Lael Foundation]
• [http://jameshubbellart.com/about/ James Hubbell official website]
• [https://modernsandiego.com/people/james-hubbell Modern San Diego's biography on James Hubbell]
• [https://www.askart.com/artist/James_T_Hubbell/123017/James_T_Hubbell.aspx Askart.com pages on James T. Hubbell]
• {{IMDb name|11393865}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hubbell, James}}

Category:1931 births

Category:2024 deaths

Category:Artists from San Diego

Category:People from Julian, California

Category:Artists from New York (state)

Category:20th-century American architects

Category:21st-century American architects