During this past interterm, Doris Liss (Art History, English ’27) completed a Research Assistantship at the Escalette Collection of Art. She devoted her time to researching Escalette artist, Inna Jane Ray, and creating an interactive self-guided tour booklet that will be used in an upcoming exhibition Body of the World: The Californian Landscapes of Inna Jane Ray. In the process, Doris had the opportunity to conduct original research using primary source materials. 

Body of the World will be shown in the Burra Community Room at the Hilbert Museum and will open on March 22nd, 2025. The Escalette Collection holds the largest collection of artwork by Inna Ray; the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens holds her sketchbooks and writings, and the Los Angeles Public Library holds her photographic negatives. 

Below, Doris writes about her experience as a Research Assistant, how it contributed to her academic and professional development, and the joy she found in exploring the work of Inna Ray. 

In my first meeting with Fiona Shen and Jessica Bocinski, the two leaders of the Escalette Collection of Art, Jessica said that this creating an interactive tour guide about Inna Ray would be the perfect combination of both of my majors.  Ray was not only an artist, but also a poet, and seeing as I am not only an Art History major but also an English major, it seemed like the perfect way to utilize both disciplines to create something that honors her work.

On my first day, I sat at my designated spot in the Escalette Collection office (known as the “fishbowl”) and started my research. As an aspiring archivist, getting to dig into research, and finding and reading every piece of information available about Inna Ray, was truly a joy. Ray kept a lot of records and documented her journeys in her blog and sketchbooks, so there was tons of information available. I have read every entry of her blog, every sketchbook she created, every poetry book she wrote, and even looked at the copies of Native that we have in Chapman’s Special Collections and Archives. Even with all this research, something about Inna’s work remained elusive to me. I felt as though I knew everything about her but still struggled to find a way to connect her work to the Orange audience.

One edition of Native magazine held by Special Collections and Archives in the Leatherby Libraries.

One sunny day halfway through the month I took myself on a nature walk. I decided that the best way to connect to Inna’s work would be to experience nature the way she did. On my walk, I found my inspiration, as Inna did, in the trees. Beautiful trees I’ve passed hundreds of times before now seemed to speak to me. Through Inna’s work I have been able to reconnect with Nature and see the landscape around me through fresh eyes. What I realized about Inna’s work is that the way to connect with it is to connect with nature. Without the experience of seeing the world I wouldn’t have been able to truly understand the landscapes I had spent weeks looking at.

As we head into the next few months with Body of the World opening at the end of March, I feel as though my work is not finished but simply being put on pause. When the show begins, I’ll assist the Art Ambassdor student docents in leading tours and helping promote the opening. One goal, or takeaway, I have for the exhibition is that viewers learn to see the world the way Inna did; to go out into the world, and see nature, and experience life like Inna did.


We invite you to explore all the works in the Escalette Collection by visiting our eMuseum

Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences is the proud home of the Phyllis and Ross Escalette Permanent Collection of Art. The Escalette Collection exists to inspire critical thinking, foster interdisciplinary discovery, and strengthen bonds with the community. Beyond its role in curating art in public spaces, the Escalette is a learning laboratory that offers diverse opportunities for student and engagement and research, and involvement with the wider community. The collection is free and open to the public to view.