This is the first in a series of profiles of our 15th Annual Orange County Arts Awards honorees.

Mark Chamberlain is a photographic/environmental/installation artist, gallery owner and curator. He co-founded BC Space Gallery and Photographic Art Services, Laguna Beach in 1973 with Jerry Burchfield, and has operated the space solely since 1987. The venue, one of the longest continually running fine art photography galleries in the country, also hosts community, political and solstice events, theatrical and musical performances.

In 2010, BC Space's exhibition history was displayed at Grand Central Art Center (Cal State Fullerton), Santa Ana, in "BC Space: Mything in Action." In 2013 a book under that name was released. Recent BC Space exhibitions include "Capital Crime$" (2012), a mixed media show with work by more than 60 artists; "Autumnal Recollections With Our Friend Paul" (2013), an artistic retrospective of the 92-year-old artist, Paul Darrow; and "Silent But Deadly: Chernobyl-Fukushima-San Onofre," (February-April 2014), addressing the perils of nuclear power.

With BC Space as a base, Chamberlain co-founded "Laguna Canyon Project: The Continuous Document" (1980-2010) to photographically document Laguna Canyon Road, the main access route from the Santa Ana Freeway.  Chamberlain explains, "We wanted to create a broader awareness of regional and global environmental issues. While developers viewed the unoccupied land as virgin territory ripe for development, we felt it imperative to question the prevailing conceptions of progress, and used photography, and later video, sculpture, performance, installations, and collaborative events to address these concerns."A book on the "Laguna Canyon Project: Defining Artivism" is due to be published by Laguna Wilderness Press in 2015.

A crucial phase of this project was The Tell photographic mural. In 1989, Chamberlain and Burchfield, along with hundreds of supporters, conceived of and created The Tell. This 636-foot-long photographic mural served became the site of an enormous demonstration that helped avert development of the area into a massive housing community. It attracted national media attention, and ultimately helped facilitate the public purchase of that land for preservation. That site is today incorporated into Laguna Coast Wilderness Park.

In 2002, Chamberlain and Burchfield also co-founded "The Legacy Project," which has been documenting the transition of Marine Corps Air Station El Toro into the Orange County Great Park. "The Legacy Project" members, ultimately numbering six, created The Great Picture, 2006, the largest photograph in the world made as a single seamless image. The giant photograph has been on display in numerous venues including University of California, Riverside and the China Central Academy of Fine Arts. It is currently on display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

Mark Chamberlain's photographic artwork is included in collections of the Laguna Art Museum, the Orange County Museum of Art, the University of Dubuque, the Polaroid Collection, and the Cincinnati Art Museum. He has created thousands of photographs for the "Laguna Canyon Project," for The Tell, and for "The Legacy Project." He has been a longtime contributor to the Laguna Art Museum Auction. He has been an Adjunct Faculty and has conducted workshops and lectures at several LA and Orange County colleges and universities. His published work includes "BC Space: Mything in Action" (2013), Grand Central Press, Santa Ana, California. A solo retrospective of his 40-year artistic career, "Reflections of an Armchair Arteologist," was presented in 2010 in the Founders Hall Gallery at Soka University, Aliso Viejo, California.