Sonoma County has been a magnet for artists and art connoisseurs for many decades, and continues to attract sophisticated artists and art collectors, along with casual art lovers. Combined with the sheer natural beauty, and general creative ambience, the area readily entices visitors, as well as long-time residents, to explore the many and varied fine art offerings. With the addition of great food, drink, and outdoor activities, it’s easy to spend a day, a week, or a lifetime traversing through the vineyards, forests, and rolling hills, along the scenic coast, and through the welcoming towns of Sonoma County.
The following is a partial list of local art exhibitions. Many eateries, wineries, and civic buildings also present changing art shows in their spaces.
*** Designates an Opening Reception.
Arts Guild of Sonoma
March 1 through March 31, Dreams & Whimsy
*** Opening Reception Friday, March 2, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Escape from the everyday and step into a world of weird, wonderful, dreamlike, and surreal!
140 East Napa Street, Sonoma
707-996-3115
www.artsguildofsonoma.org
Blasted Art Gallery
Through March 2, Arminée Chahbazian and Ben Lastufka
*** Closing reception Friday, March 2, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Innovative work by two Sonoma County artists.
In the Backstreet Building, Art Alley
SOFA Arts District, A Street, Santa Rosa
Calabi Gallery
456 Tenth St., Santa Rosa
707-781-7070
www.calabigallery.com
Charles M. Schulz Museum
Through March 11, Mud Pies & Jelly Beans
It’s only fitting that a cartoon named Peanuts includes many puns about food. Patty and Violet are expert mud pie makers, Charlie Brown hates coconut, and Snoopy thinks about pizza, cookies, and the next meal in his dog dish.
March 17 through September 16, My Favorite Peanuts: Reflections of Family and Friends
All Peanuts fans have a favorite character, storyline, or drawing. In this exhibition, Charles Schulz’s wife, Jean, along with some of his family members and close friends share their favorite strips and the stories behind them.
2301 Hardies Lane, Santa Rosa
707-579-4452
www.schulzmuseum.org
Chroma Gallery
Through March 25, Healing By Art: After The Fires
An exhibition of art, sculpture and photography created in the aftermath of the recent October fires. Many of the works were created from salvaged materials, such as ashes, and burnt remnants. Others reflect the emotional traumas experienced by all those who fled. Sponsored by Santa Rosa Art Center.
312 South A Street, Santa Rosa
707-293-6051
www.chromagallery.net
Cloverdale Arts Alliance Gallery
March 17 through May 18, Translate
*** Artists’ Reception Saturday, March 17, from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
Guest artists for this exhibit are painter Adam Wolpert and ceramist Ralph Broussard. Resident artists include Jane Gardner, Pamela Heck, Terry Holleman, Sharon Kozel, Paul Maurer and Hanya Popova Parker. Painter Laura Paine Carr is the featured resident artist.
204 N. Cloverdale Boulevard, Cloverdale
707-894-4410
www.cloverdaleartsalliance.org
Cloverdale and Geyserville
Through May 2018, SculptureTrail
The Trail is an exhibit of sculptures on the main streets of Geyserville and Cloverdale in the Sonoma County Wine Country. The Sculpture Trail is a year-round exhibit with sculptures changing every 12 months. You can download a map for your visit at www.101SculptureTrail.com.
Corricks Art Trails Gallery
March 2 through March 31, 5 Printmakers
*** Artist Reception, First Friday, March 2, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Five Art Trails printmakers; Karen Kelly, Micah Schwaberow, Barbara Kelley, Rik Olson, and Caren Catterall, show their work and the various perspectives on this unique art form!
637 Fourth Street, Santa Rosa
707-546-2424
www.corricks.com
Graton Gallery
Through April 1, Partners and Friends
*** Artists’ Reception Saturday, March 3, from 2 to 5 p.m.
The eight Gallery Partners have invited eight artist friends to show with them. Also showing are four guest artists.
9048 Graton Road, Graton
707-829-8912
www.gratongallery.net
Hammerfriar Gallery
Through March 31, Art Moura; Mixed Media
Moura discovered African masks in a Madrid Museum and drew them daily for months in 1985. His current work continues to be influenced by this experience.
132 Mill Street, Ste.101, Healdsburg
707-473-9600
www.hammerfriar.com
Healdsburg Center for the Arts
130 Plaza Street, Healdsburg
707-431-1970
https://healdsburgcenterforthearts.org
IceHouse Gallery
405 East D St. Petaluma
707-778-2238
www.icehousegallery.org
Laguna Foundation, Heron Hall
Through May 1, Rik Olson—Naturally
Showcasing prints and paintings by Rik Olson.
900 Sanford Road, Santa Rosa
707-527-9277
www.lagunafoundation.org
Lauri Luck’s Pie Eyed Open Studio
March 24 and 25, Bits & Pieces
*** Saturday and Sunday, from 12 to 4 p.m.
Featuring the work of Rebeca Trevino and Susandra Spicer, who create art from tossed and forgotten objects reassembling them into a new context.
2371 Gravenstein Hwy South, Sebastopol
Look for the ART + PIE sign and turn at the Giant Yellow Duck!
For more info contact Lauri Luck at 707-477-9442
Museums of Sonoma County
Art Museum
Through April 15, 3 Friends: Hudson, Stuppin, Shaw
3 Friends explores the work of contemporary artists Robert Hudson, Jack Stuppin and Richard Shaw, three artists who have worked for decades in California’s North Coast region. Colleagues, friends and sometime conspirators, the three artists have had influential careers shaping three distinct media—steel, canvas and clay. This marks the first time all three have been shown together in a combined museum exhibition.
History Museum
Through April 1, Bear In Mind: The Story of the California Grizzly
Although now extinct in the state, the grizzly has long been a central character in California’s history. Over the centuries, the relationship that Californians have had with the grizzly bear is one of dualities–expressed in fear and fascination.
425 Seventh Street, Santa Rosa
707-579-1500
www.museumsc.org
Occidental Center for the Arts
March 2 through April 1, Anything Goes
*** Artist reception Saturday, March 3, from 4 to 7 p.m.
A special exhibition featuring the art of OCA Members.
3850 Doris Murphy Court, Occidental
707-874-9392
www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org
Paul Mahder Gallery
222 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg
707-473-9150
www.paulmahdergallery.com
Paradise Ridge Winery Sculpture
Outdoor sculpture meadows. The winery buildings were devastated by the fire, but the vineyards and most of the sculptures remain unharmed.
4545 Thomas Lake Harris Drive, Santa Rosa
707-528-9463
www.prwinery.com
Petaluma Arts Center
Through March 24, Power of 10: Scaling Up
Power of Ten: Scaling Up showcases over 10 artists who are looking further and more deeply at issues of scale through painting, photography, sculpture, architecture, design and film. Curated by Llisa Demetrios.
230 Lakeville Street, Petaluma
707-762-5600
www.petalumaartscenter.org
Ren Brown Collection Gallery
Housed in a refurbished building with shoji and a small, serene Japanese garden, the gallery shows contemporary art by Japanese and regional Northern California artists.
1781 Coast Highway One, Bodega Bay
707-875-2922
www.renbrown.com
Riverfront Art Gallery
March 7 through May 6, Annual Juried Fine Art Photography Show
*** Opening reception Saturday, March 10, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Showing the work of 25 photographers and photographic artists, plus the gallery’s usual Invitational artists and members.
132 Petaluma Boulevard North, Petaluma
707-775-4278
www.riverfrontartgallery.com
Santa Rosa Junior College, Robert F. Agrella Art Gallery
Through March 15, The Farthest Shore
Artists included; Kelsey Stephenson, Olesya Dzhuraeva, Jenny Robinson, and Nicole Pietrantoni, Curated by Hannah Skoonberg.
1501 Mendocino Avenue, Santa Rosa
707-527-4298
https://art-gallery.santarosa.edu/robert-f-agrella-art-gallery
Sculpturesite Gallery
Jack London Village
14301 Arnold Dr. Suite 8, Glen Ellen
707-933-1300
www.sculpturesite.com
Sebastopol Center for the Arts
March 9 through March 25, Imagine This–Let It Be Creatures
Showcasing nearly 1,000 drawings, paintings and sculptures by very talented young artists from 15 local elementary schools. This year, the imagination has gone wild with a theme of “creatures”. Be prepared for an awesome experience.
282 High Street, Sebastopol
707-829-4797
www.sebarts.org
Sebastopol Gallery
Through March 25, The Essence of Spirit
Paintings by Susan St. Thomas, and jewelry by Michelle Hoting.
150 N. Main St, Sebastopol
707-829-7200
www.sebastopol-gallery.com/
Sebastopol Library Forum Room
March 1 through April 2, Ryan Douglas and Sara Pringle
*** Meet the artists Monday, March 19, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Two painters share very different interpretations with dynamic and unique perspectives. Artist Workshop; Saturday, March 17, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
7140 Bodega Avenue, Sebastopol
Seishin Studio, Santa Rosa
Through March 2, Colin Talcroft, Conversations
*** Closing reception, March 2 from 5 to 8 p.m.
A selection of 27 monotype collages will be on view.
Uribe’s Seishin Studio
SOFA Arts District, A Street, Santa Rosa
Sonoma State University, University Art Gallery
Through March 11, Morrie Camhi
Approximately 50 black and white vintage photographs by the late Petaluma photographer, Morrie Camhi, have been donated to SSU by the artist’s estate. Self-described as a storyteller and a humanist, Camhi created a number of powerful series of photographs focusing on such diverse topics as the Jews of Greece, the California farm labor movement, and the California prison system. A number of his photographs include statements by the subjects themselves detailing the circumstances of their lives that were captured by Camhi’s camera.
1801 East Cotati Avenue, Rohnert Park
707-664-2295
www.sonoma.edu/artgallery
Sonoma Valley Museum of Art
Through April 15, An Eye for Adventure: Photographs by Jack London
Jack London (1876-1916) is revered as the quintessential American novelist and short story writer, and in the Sonoma area he is a renowned native son. This exhibition will introduce an array of the writer’s photographs gathered from his adventures as a war correspondent and global sailor.
Also on view: Libros de Artista: Artist’s Books from Mexico and the Mexican Diaspora
Libros de Artista features about 40 contemporary limited edition books created by Latin American artists, sourced from both the original artists in Mexico and from the Latin American and Iberian Collections at Stanford University Libraries.
551 Broadway, Sonoma
707-939-7862
www.svma.org
The Art Wall at Shige Sushi
Through April 29, Katie McCann—Collage
*** Opening reception Monday, March 5, from 5 to 7 p.m.
On view are quirky, layered collages by Berkeley-based artist Katie McCann, who claims “A Victorian obsession with faeries, flora and fauna.”
8235 Old Redwood Highway, Cotati
707-795-9753
http://ctalcroft.wix.com/artwallatshige/
Upstairs Art Gallery
Through March 25, Birds’ Eye Views – Paintings by Ron Sumner
*** Reception Saturday, March 17, from 2 to 6 p.m.
Featuring paintings by artists Ron Sumner, and mixed-media collage by Carolyn Wilson.
306 Center St., Healdsburg
707-431-4214
www.Upstairsartgallery.net
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