Presqu'ile Winery and Los Angeles Nomadic Division Unveil Site-Specific Installation by Inaugural Artist-in-Residence Cole Sternberg

along the high embankments will be on view June 7 through September 20, 2026

SANTA MARIA VALLEY, Calif., May 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Presqu'ile Winery and Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND) will unveil a new site-specific installation by California conceptual artist Cole Sternberg on Sunday, June 7, marking the launch of a multi-year artistic collaboration that brings contemporary art to a working winery on the Central Coast.

Titled along the high embankments, the installation features a series of new paintings created by Sternberg in direct response to a concrete bunker on the Presqu'ile estate. Monumental in scale, Sternberg's paintings are contextualized by the bunker's unique confluence of the built and natural environments. The work will be on view free to the public on Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 p.m., through September 20, 2026.

Sternberg is the inaugural California artist selected for the collaboration, which pairs LAND's nationally recognized public art programming with Presqu'ile's commitment to place, landscape, and the Santa Maria Valley's working coastline. In recent years, the artist has invited chance and environmental intervention into his painting practice, creating layered works in harmony with their surroundings.

"A site-specific work from the start, along the high embankments becomes a dynamic record of place and time. Just as the landscape is shaped by both natural and human influences, the installation will continue to evolve, inviting us to consider our individual and collective environmental impact," said Sternberg.

Like the process of winemaking, Sternberg's paintings emerge from an alchemical transformation – painting works on canvas in the studio, dragging them through the Pacific Ocean, burying them in the soil, exposing them to the rain, and flying them on a flagpole erected at the highest point of the Presqu'ile estate. Made in collaboration with the soil, wind, sun, and water, the imprint of the ecological landscape is made visible on the paintings' surfaces, just as these same elements shape Presqu'ile's wines.

The partnership extends a place-based ethos that has defined Presqu'ile since its founding in 2007. Built on a coastal landscape in the Santa Maria Valley, the family-owned estate has long centered its identity on land, climate, and the Murphy family's Gulf Coast heritage. Sternberg's process brings that ethos into a new medium.

The collaboration aligns with LAND's 17-year track record of placing contemporary art outside conventional gallery settings. Since 2009, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit has presented more than 500 artists across more than 300 site-responsive programs and exhibitions nationally. Sternberg's installation inaugurates the multi-year collaboration at Presqu'ile.

An opening program will take place Sunday, June 7 from 4 to 7 p.m., featuring an opening ceremony, live musical performances, food, and free family activities organized by Corazón Del Pueblo, the Cultural and Creative Arts Center of the Santa Maria Valley. Additional details will be announced at nomadicdivision.org.

Reservations are not required but can be made in advance at the link here.

About Cole Sternberg

Cole Sternberg is a conceptual artist who lives and works between Santa Ynez and Los Angeles. His multidisciplinary practice––spanning painting, sculpture, installation, performance, photography, film, and writing––positions the aspirations of humankind against the regenerative forces of the environment. Sternberg has exhibited nationally and internationally, including 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. His work is held in major collections worldwide, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), the American University Museum, the Museum of New and Old Art (MONA), Villanova University, and Deutsche Telekom. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Architectural Digest, Whitewall, Autre, LA Weekly, Artnet, Santa Barbara Magazine, and Carla, among other publications.

colesternberg.com | @colesternberg

Media Contact: Rebecca K. Allen | [email protected]

About Presqu'ile Winery

Presqu'ile (pronounced press-keel) is a family-owned estate winery in the Santa Maria Valley on California's Central Coast. The name, French Creole for "almost an island," reflects the Murphy family's Gulf Coast heritage and a sense of place that runs through everything the winery does. Founded in 2007, Presqu'ile produces cool-climate wines from its sustainably farmed estate vineyard and a select group of like-minded growers across Santa Barbara County.

presquilewine.com | @presquilewine

Media Contact: Solterra Strategies, Diana Parker | [email protected]

About Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND)

Founded in 2009, Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND) is a nonprofit arts organization committed to connecting people and places through site-responsive public art and programs. Over the last 15 years, LAND has supported projects ranging from large-scale sculptural commissions to cross-country billboard projects, roadside screenings, artist-run workshops, and city-wide presentations of multi-channel video, presenting more than 500 artists across more than 300 programs and exhibitions and reaching audiences in the millions.

nomadicdivision.org | @nomadicdivision

Media Contact: Kyle Hinton | [email protected]

SOURCE Presqu'ile Winery