Adjunct Faculty Member Recognized Internationally for Art

Photo credit: Fletcher Beasley and Abdul Aziz

Danielle Eubank is an expedition artist who has sailed across four of the world’s major bodies of water – all on recreations of early-century boats.

The journeys have taken her on historic expeditions: on a recreated 600 B.C. Phoenician vessel, across the High Arctic just above Norway on an arts and science expedition, and on a replica of the Borobudur eighth-century trading vessel that sailed from Indonesia to Ghana.

The University of La Verne adjunct multimedia professor’s paintings from those journeys have been exhibited all over the world. Some of her work is on display now at Melissa Morgan Fine Art in Palm Desert. Future exhibits will feature two of her paintings from June through September at Durham University in the United Kingdom, and several more will be exhibited at Art Share LA in Los Angeles in July.

She brings her experiences on the high seas back to the classroom to inspire her students, and works to help them in their artistic careers by providing them professional connections.

“I enjoy sharing my process with my students, and I hope it helps them,” she said. “Teaching helps me articulate that for myself as well.”

Eubank’s distinguished career most recently included a presentation and workshop in February at the Women’s Caucus for Art in Washington D.C. about environmental arts. The organization appointed her vice president, and she is currently the chair of Eco-Art Caucus.

Eubank recently was a featured speaker in New York at an event to raise funds for the next leg of one of her expeditions. This will take her from Gibraltar across the Atlantic Ocean. It will end “where it ends,” she said.

Eubank was a member of a small crew on an authentic sixth-century BCE and eighth-century CE. sailing vessels.

“It’s hard work and it’s nonstop,” Eubank said. “There is no running water, no toilets, no refrigeration – only two working burners. The most long-lasting, overwhelming experience is the sense of not seeing other humans for three weeks at a time – the sensation that you’re out there on your own. It increases your confidence building because wherever you are, you’re home. And it’s fabulous.”

It was while on the Borobudur ship that Eubank found herself sitting alone in the middle of the night on watch duty – keeping an eye out for large, speeding, modern ships – that something remarkable happened, she recalled.

“I saw this light on the horizon that looked to me like a big ship coming right at us,” she said.

She considered waking the captain, but the light did not seem to be moving too quickly as most ships tend to do. Eubank chose to wait. And wait she did for about 10 minutes until she realized what it was.

“It was a star. Right on the horizon,” Eubank said. “It was as if it was just floating on the water.”

Eubank said she wishes more people could see the wonders of nature – scenes like the brilliant star on the horizon that cannot often be seen in urban life because of light pollution.

Her passion for nature and the environment is evident in the themes of most of her work.

“I would say the overall theme of my work is the natural world we live in and the sense of adventure in one’s own life and own imagination,” Eubank said. “I think the great thing about being an artist is you get to give things to people. I try to make things that will create a long-lasting interest for the person who buys it.”