The Sam Francis Gallery at

Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences Presents

A School of Fish

Artist Residency Project with Dakota Noot

Residency: Oct. 13-Nov. 7, 2025

Exhibition On View: Nov. 6-7 // 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Please make a reservation by clicking here.

Reception: Wednesday, Nov. 5, 3:30-5 p.m. (Reservation not required)

For his residency, A School of Fish, Dakota Noot will reimagine sea “dioramas” and real marine life found off the coast of Santa Monica. Noot will create an installation of drawings and cardboard cutouts. Students from the Elementary, Middle and Upper Schools will be invited to participate in gallery workshops to contribute to significant parts of this installation. A gallery wall will become an “ocean” for cutout animals to “swim” and interact with. Noot will also open this installation to “wearable art” inspired by sea creatures and beach goers. Students and viewers are asked to reflect on their connection to the ocean and sea life. 

Dakota Noot is a Los Angeles-based artist and acting director/curator at the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion. He has exhibited in galleries and institutions including the Charlie James Gallery, Shoshana Wayne Gallery and the Torrance Art Museum. Noot’s cutout-drawing installations have been shown at LA Freewaves, Cerritos College Art Gallery and Otis College. Noot currently teaches at Oxnard College. His work has been featured in Hi-Fructose Magazine.

The Sam Francis Gallery at

Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences Presents

Creature Feature

Artists: Elías Hernández, Ashton Phillips, and Mayra Villegas

Guest Curator: Dakota Noot 

On View: Monday, Sept. 8-Oct. 3 // 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Opening Reception: Wednesday, Sept. 10 // 3:30-5 p.m. (Reservation not required)

During normal gallery hours, please make a reservation by clicking here. Upon arrival, visitors must check in with security. 

"Creature Feature" calls upon myth-making. The exhibit explores the fluid and dynamic nature of creatures, drawing inspiration from fantasy, science and personal mythologies. Curated by Sam Francis Gallery’s 2025-26 artist-in-residence, Dakota Noot, this three-person show brings together the works of Mayra Villegas, Elías Hernández and Ashton Phillips, each offering their unique perspective on the malleability and transformative power of creatures. Through their distinct backgrounds, they unravel how creatures—whether born from the natural world (of dirt and plastic) or constructed from the imagination—serve as symbols of adaptation, resilience and the unexpected. Their work invites viewers to consider how creatures are not just fantastical beings but also reflections of the ways humans navigate, reshape and survive within their environments.

Villegas, Hernández and Phillips each approach their creatures with an eye towards blending physicality and symbolism. Mayra Villegas’ fantastical forms challenge the boundaries of the human and the animal, using vibrant materials to illustrate the concept of transformation. Elías Hernández explores the intersection of spirituality and mythology, conjuring creatures that merge ancient archetypes with contemporary iconography. Ashton Phillips uses the creature as a vessel for exploring the animalistic and instinctual parts of human nature, emphasizing interspecies collaboration over pollution. Together, their works emphasize the adaptability and resilience of creatures, and in doing so, they invite viewers to consider their own relationship with the world of the animal, the mythical and the self.

Guest Curator: 

Dakota Noot is a Los Angeles-based artist and acting director/curator at the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion. He has exhibited in galleries and institutions including the Charlie James Gallery, Shoshana Wayne Gallery and the Torrance Art Museum. Noot’s cutout-drawing installations have been shown at LA Freewaves, Cerritos College Art Gallery and Otis College. Noot currently teaches at Oxnard College. His work has been featured in Hi-Fructose Magazine.