John Iwerks

John's 40-year career as a landscape painter, graphic artist, and sculptor is a natural outcome of his heritage within a highly creative family. His grandfather, Ub Iwerks, was the creator of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, along with Walt Disney. His father, Don Iwerks, is a Disney Legend, as is Ub. John's older brother Larry is an artist, and his younger sister Leslie is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. John's wife, Chris Chapman, is an artist, and they've worked and painted together for over 25 years.

Since 1991, John has been a popular teacher of plein air painting at Santa Barbara City College's Adult Education program. He thrives on working with different materials — oil, watercolor, acrylic, pastel, stone, ceramics, and metal. He is a founding member of the Oak Group, a Santa Barbara-based group of artists formed in 1986, dedicated to preserving open spaces.

John's fascination with earth sciences earned him the honorary title of Fellow at UCSB, where his cross-section mural is installed in the Geology Department. More geologic murals were commissioned and are permanent installations at Channel Islands National Park (Santa Barbara Island), Cal State Northridge, Santa Barbara City College, and Laguna Hills Community Center. An interpretive map of UCSB's 6,000-acre Sedgwick Reserve was created by John, along with numerous illustrations of wildlife for their brochure and trail guides.

Other commissions include an expansive mural at Carrizo Plain National Monument, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History nature trail illustrations, a logo and topographic map of Arroyo Hondo Preserve (where John and Chris were Preserve Managers), and a bronze/stone Donor Recognition Monument at Santa Barbara's Ellwood Mesa for the Trust for Public Land.