“At Home in Sunlight: A State in Motion, 1897-1940” is on view through May 16 at the UC Irvine Langson Museum Interim Gallery. Curator SeeVa Dawne Kitslis speaks about the exhibition and how artists captured California during a period of rapid change.

How did you approach balancing the state’s idealized imagery with works that reflect everyday infrastructure?

The first section starts by chronicling some of the commonly held perspectives like California’s ubiquitous temperate climate and ocean landscapes. The first section frames a conversation that is later contrasted in the two subsequent sections – City Life, Contested Spaces and On the Scene: Scene Painting. In these sections, the focus of the show shifts from the image and identity of the state toward the reality of the people who live and work here.

Viewers will encounter a range of styles. Were there any unexpected connections or tensions that emerged as you placed these works with one another?

It’s really interesting to see the thread of plein air painting throughout the show. I want to remark on how plein air is a modality of working and not a genre. There is definitely a commonality throughout the show in how artists were working outdoors, yet there is an evident shift in the subject matter as the show progresses. Artists were painting the change around them, and that included the rapid modernization.

For instance, one of the earliest dated works in the show, C.P. Neilson’s “In Fish Alley, Chinatown, S.F. (1897),” is a watercolor most likely made in plein air. Because this painting was created on-site, it provides both a physical and visual record of an early market district in San Francisco that has significantly changed.

What do you hope visitors take away from seeing California through this historical lens?

I hope the exhibition is a way to reminisce about many of the sites and places of California, especially those that are distant memories.

The museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and is located at 18881 Von Karman Ave. Admission is free.