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
April 6 through April 30, Small But Grand!
*** Opening Reception: Friday, April 13, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Art by students from Sonoma Valley High School, and Adele Harrison Middle School, along with work by members of the Arts Guild of Sonoma.
140 East Napa Street, Sonoma
707-996-3115
www.artsguildofsonoma.org

By Dayana Leon

Blasted Art Gallery
April 6 through May 4, Nancy H. Dempster, Dayana Leon, Michael Dirk Risch
*** Opening Reception Friday, April 6, from 5 to 8 p.m.
The show bridges representational and abstract/non-objective painting, political and academic work, and the inner and outer worlds of experience.
Backstreet Building, Art Alley, South “A” Street
SOFA Arts District, Santa Rosa
www.blastedartgallery.com

By Beatrice Benjamin

Calabi Gallery
Through April 28, March Mélange
Featuring a Retrospective of Beatrice Benjamin, represented by her intaglio prints, watercolors, and multimedia, including both abstracts and representational works emphasizing the natural world. Also showing work by Adela Akers, Alan Azhderian, Joyce Ertel Hulbert and Bambi Waterman.
456 Tenth St., Santa Rosa
707-781-7070
www.calabigallery.com

Charles M. Schulz Museum
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
April 6 through May 20, Annual Members Show
*** Opening Reception Friday, April 6, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Santa Rosa Arts Center’s first annual show of work by the new SRAC Members.
312 South A Street, Santa Rosa
707-293-6051
www.chromagallery.net

Cloverdale Arts Alliance Gallery
Through May 18, Translate
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
April 6 through April 29, Watercolor
*** Artist Reception, First Friday, April 6, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Celebrating local Watercolor artists; Patricia Akay, Sally Baker, Nina Bonos, Sally Cataldo, Marsha Connell, Joe Jaqua, Elizabeth Peyton, Popi Tyler, and Carolyn Wilson.
637 Fourth Street, Santa Rosa
707-546-2424
www.corricks.com

Studio of Lucy Liew at Fulton Crossing.

Fulton Crossing Gallery
Friday, April 20, Open Studios from 5 to 8 p.m.
On the third Friday of every month, Fulton Crossing tenants open their studios to the public to show their artistic and creative work.
1200 River Rd, Fulton
www.fultoncrossing.com

Graton Gallery
April 3 through May 6, Ninth Invitational Exhibition
*** Artists’ Reception Saturday, April 7, from 2 to 5 p.m.
The Featuring 33 of Northern California’s well known painters, printmakers and sculptors: Susan Ball, D. A. Bishop, James Brzezinski, Tamsen Donner, Holly Downing, Suzanne Edminster, Steve Emery, Susan Gonzales, Taylor Gutermute, Nelson Hee, Cynthia Hipkiss, Laurel Hope, Ned Kahn, Richard Lindenburg, Kathleen Lipinski, Diana Majumdar, Christie Marks, Clark Mitchell, Monty Monty, Bob Nugent, Lynda Nugent, Camile Przewodek, Carol Peek, Eric Rewitzer, Tamra Sanchez, Hannah Skoonberg, Terry Sauve, Sandra Speidel, David Stohl, Mary Vaughan, Martha Wade, Hilary Williams and Hillary Younglove.
9048 Graton Road, Graton
707-829-8912
www.gratongallery.net

By Molly Perez

Hammerfriar Gallery
April 14 through June 16, Molly Perez, Mixed Media
*** Opening Reception Saturday, April 14, from 6 to 8:30 p.m.
Molly Perez is a leading Sonoma County artist who draws inspiration from nature and daily life. She begins by salvaging material–collecting vintage books, newsprint, wallpaper, discarded art, and scrapbooks that she tears and cuts deliberately to construct an image. This process allows her to work intuitively with an immediate and raw quality.
132 Mill Street, Ste.101, Healdsburg
707-473-9600
www.hammerfriar.com

Healdsburg Center for the Arts
April 28 through June 3, Purely Abstract: Visions in Line, Form, and Color
*** Opening Reception Saturday, April 28 from 5 to 7 p.m.
The juried exhibition includes paintings, sculpture, photography, and more, by artists throughout the U.S.
130 Plaza Street, Healdsburg
707-431-1970
healdsburgcenterforthearts.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

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.

Santa Rosa Courthouse

History Museum
April 14 through September 16, Lost Santa Rosa
The exhibition explores the changing face of Santa Rosa during the city’s 150th anniversary. From disasters to demographic shifts, conscious decisions or even neglect, the exhibition reflects on the city’s past and invites memories from the community.
425 Seventh Street, Santa Rosa
707-579-1500
www.museumsc.org

Occidental Center for the Arts
April 13 through June 3, Connections
*** Opening Reception Saturday, April 14 from 4 to 7 p.m.
Juried show featuring artwork that considers all kinds of connections–to community, to family, to nature and to each other.
3850 Doris Murphy Court, Occidental
707-874-9392
www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org

By Chris Blum

Paul Mahder Gallery
April 7 through May, Chris Blum & Patrick Duegaw
*** Opening reception, Saturday, April 7, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Chris Blum believes pop culture to be one of the best decoders of the cultural values of the times. Patrick Duegaw’s twenty eight-foot long panoramic interior painting becomes the ‘set’ for a painted drama happening in real time.
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
April 14 through June 16, Youth Exhibition: Art Shapes the World
*** Opening Reception Saturday, April 14, from 5 to 7 p.m.
This is the sixth annual Youth Art Exhibit featuring artwork created by Petaluma’s youth, grades K-12.
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
Through May 6, Annual Juried Fine Art Photography Show
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
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

By Janet Hero Dodge

Sebastopol Center for the Arts
Through May 3, Pond Farm Pottery – Connections
*** Opening reception Saturday, April 7, from 12 to 2 p.m. is a ticketed event that includes appetizers and beverages, along with an opportunity to meet and hear directly from Pond Farmers. For tickets; www.pondfarmpottery.org. From 2 to 4 p.m. is a free public opening with Pond Farmers on hand to discuss their work.
The exhibition showcases the work of Marguerite Wildenhain and her students who worked at Pond Farm Pottery. The exhibition reveals a fascinating story bringing together local and world history, art history, and philosophy.
282 High Street, Sebastopol
707-829-4797
www.sebarts.org

By Ken Berman

Sebastopol Gallery
Through April, Ken Berman and Jeff Watts
The work of two painters is featured in the gallery during the month of April.
150 N. Main St, Sebastopol
707-829-7200
www.sebastopol-gallery.com/

Sebastopol Library Forum Room
April 3 through May 3, Barbara Jacobs
*** Monday, April 16 from 6 to 8 pm, meet Barbara in person for an informal chat about her work.
On view is artwork in monotype, mixed media, and pastel.
7140 Bodega Avenue, Sebastopol

Sonoma State University, University Art Gallery
Through April 22, Juried Student Exhibition
Jurors for this year’s show are Carlo Ricafort, and Kara Q. Smith.
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
This exhibition introduces an array of Jack London’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 40 contemporary limited-edition books created by Latin American artists.

Messenger from the Three Poles. 1949. Wolfgang Paalen

April 28, through June 10, Ship of Dreams: Artists, Poets and Visionaries of the S.S. Vallejo
*** Opening reception, Saturday, April 28 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Moored on the north side of Sausalito, California in 1949, the S.S. Vallejo became the dynamic home and cultural incubator for artists, musicians and literary luminaries such as Gordon Onslow Ford, Alan Watts, Jean Varda, Allen Ginsberg, Wolfgang Paalen and many others.

Also on view; Her View: The Bay Area Figuration of Gail Chadell Nanao
This is the first solo retrospective of the Berkeley-based artist associated with the Bay Area Figurative movement of the 1950s. Nanao’s work blends the spontaneous bravura brushwork of Abstract Expressionism with a reimagining of figuration.
551 Broadway, Sonoma
707-939-7862
www.svma.org

The Art Wall at Shige Sushi
Through April 29, Katie McCann—Collage
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/

John Warner, Poipu Palms Kauai

Upstairs Art Gallery
April 2 through April 29, Paintings from My Travels, Watercolors by John Warner
*** Artist Reception Saturday, April 14, from 2 to 5 p.m.
John Warner creates watercolor paintings of coastal landscapes and seascapes from Canada to Mexico; Hawaii to California; and the Mediterranean. His inspiration comes from the ever changing light and reflections of bodies of water.
306 Center St., Healdsburg
707-431-4214
www.Upstairsartgallery.net

If you would like to receive these posts in your e-mail each month, please sign up to follow my blog. This post also appears on my Facebook page; Satri’s Best Bets in the Visual Arts.