James Hubbell (artist)

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This article is about the artist and architect from Julian, California. For the congressman from Ohio, see James Randolph Hubbell.
James Hubbell
Born(1931-10-23)October 23, 1931
Mineola, New York, U.S.
DiedMay 17, 2024(2024-05-17) (aged 92)
Chula Vista, California, U.S.
EducationCranbrook Academy of Art (1954–1956)
Whitney Art School (1952)
Choate School (1950)
Known forSculpture, architecture, stained glass
Notable workNature forms, architecture
MovementArts and Crafts movement, German Expressionist architecture

James T. Hubbell (October 23, 1931 – May 17, 2024) was an American visual artist, architect, sculptor, stained-glass designer and founder of the Ilan-Lael Foundation who lived in Santa Ysabel, California. He was best known for designing and building organic-style structures that have been referred to as "hobbit houses", with one such example being his collaboration with Kendrick Bangs Kellogg on the Onion House in Holualoa, Hawaii.[1][2][3]

Early life and education[edit]

While he was born in Mineola, New York,[4] 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.[4]

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.[4]

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.[4][5]

Career[edit]

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.[1]

From 1954 until his death in 1983, Jim worked closely with Sim Bruce Richards, a prominent local architect in San Diego County.[6] In 1960, Richards built "The Wishing Well Hotel" in Rancho Santa Fe, California for Hubbell's mother.[7]

Hubbell was a member of the Julian Arts Guild.[8] His artwork is shown at the Santa Ysabel Art Gallery in the Hubbell Room.[9]

Personal life[edit]

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.[4][5] 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.[10] All were rebuilt, and they continued to expand in the years following.[11]

Hubbell died in Chula Vista, California, on May 17, 2024, at the age of 92.[12]

Partial listing of projects that James Hubbell worked on in San Diego County:[edit]

  • Alpine Library (stained glass art piece), Alpine, California
  • All Souls Episcopal Church (windows), Point Loma in San Diego, California
  • Cal Western University, Rohr Hall (sculpture), San Diego, California
  • Davidson Residence (1972) in Alpine, California
  • Del Mar Library ("A River of Time"), Del Mar, California
  • Fallbrook Library (Poet's Patio and mosaic entry), Fallbrook, California
  • Greenery, The (1972), 4475 Mission Boulevard, Pacific Beach in San Diego, California
  • Hubbell, James & Anne Residence & Studios (1958 – 1965 + later additions), Wynola, California
  • Julian Library (interior gate of iron, bronze and stained glass), Julian, California
  • Pt. Loma Nazarene (details) (1962) in San Diego, California
  • Rainbow Hill House (1991) in Julian, California
  • Ramona Library (Laurel Passage stained glass window), Ramona, California
  • 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, California
  • Sunshine Elementary Playground (1962), Clairemont, in San Diego, California
  • Triton Restaurant in Cardiff By The Sea, California
  • University Christian Church (windows) (1962)
  • Vint House #2 (1983) in Del Mar, California
  • Wishing Well Hotel renovation (1962) in Rancho Santa Fe, California

Ilan-Lael Foundation[edit]

In 1983, James and wife Anne created the Ilan-Lael Foundation.[13] 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,[11] through the Ilan-Lael Foundation, an arts education foundation.[14]

In 2008, the Ilan-Lael property received historic designation, and served as the headquarters for the Ilan-Lael Foundation.[15]

Awards[edit]

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.[11]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Father's Day Tours Set For Artist James Hubbell Home Near Julian". The Patch. May 17, 2018.
  2. ^ Webb, Michael (2015). Three on the Edge. Fine Arts Press.
  3. ^ Pearson, David (2001). New Organic Architecture- the Breaking Wave. University of California Press.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Oral history interview with James Hubbell, 2012 July 30". Smithsonian.
  5. ^ a b "JAMES HUBBELL EXHIBIT TO OPEN AT SANTA YSABEL ART GALLERY" (PDF). Autumn 2017.
  6. ^ "James Hubbell". Modern San Diego. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
  7. ^ "Houses That Put Their Arms Around You". ilanlaelfoundation.org. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
  8. ^ Bol, Robin. "Arts In Julian California -".
  9. ^ Robertson, Maureen (August 30, 2017). "Labor Day Weekend offers variety of options". The Morning Call.
  10. ^ "At 86, art icon James Hubbell still looking forward". San Diego Union-Tribune. December 2, 2017.
  11. ^ a b c Kragen, Pam (June 12, 2019). "Still active at 87, artist James Hubbell hosts Father's Day open house". Chicago Tribune.[dead link]
  12. ^ "JAMES HUBBELL". ilanlaelfoundation.org. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  13. ^ "JAMES HUBBELL". ilanlaelfoundation.org. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  14. ^ "Ilan-Lael Foundation/Hubbell Virtual Open House & Studio Tour". KPBS Public Media.
  15. ^ "History". ilanlaelfoundation.org. Retrieved 2024-05-20.

External links[edit]

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