Stephen Prina
decade
1950s
1954
Stephen Prina is born in Galesburg, Illinois.
decade
1970s
1974
Stephen Prina earns his associate’s degree from Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois.
1970s 1977
Mike Kelley and Stephen Prina meet at CalArts. Because Prina is a musician, Kelley invites him to play keyboard in an iteration of his band, Gobbler.
1977
Stephen Prina earns his BFA from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.
1978
Stephen Prina moves to Los Angeles to attend CalArts. He was drawn to the school due to the number of conceptual artists among the faculty, including John Baldessari and Douglas Huebler.
1978
Although they weren’t in the same years, Stephen Prina recalls first catching a “glimpse” of Mike Kelley during Prina’s first-semester orientation at CalArts.
decade
1980s
1980
Stephen Prina earns his MFA from CalArts.
1980–2003 1980
Stephen Prina teaches at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena.
1984–88 1984
Jorge Pardo attends the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, where Mike Kelley and Stephen Prina are his teachers.
1988
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
decade
1990s
1990
Jorge Pardo has a solo exhibition at The Garage, Thomas Solomon’s gallery in West Hollywood, after being introduced to Solomon by Stephen Prina.
1992
Image courtesy of Track 16
1992
Anita Pace explains her interest in collaboration, including with Mike Kelley and Stephen Prina on the performance Beat of the Traps.
1992
Mike Kelley accepts a teaching position at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena alongside Richard Hawkins and Stephen Prina.
1992
Mike Kelley, Anita Pace, and Stephen Prina collaborate on the performance piece Beat of the Traps, which premieres at Gindi Auditorium, University of Judaism, Los Angeles.
decade
2000s
2002
Mike Kelley, Stephen Prina, and Jim Shaw perform in Shaw’s performance The Initiation Ritual of the 360 Degrees at MoMA PS1.
Featured images
Photo: Larry E. Wright. Image courtesy of the Ann Arbor District Library