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
July 5 through July 30, Ruby Newman
*** Opening Reception Saturday, July 7, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Meet the Artist also on Saturday July 14 and July 21 from 1 to 6 p.m. at the gallery. On view are recent figurative, landscape, and abstract works by Ruby Newman. Ruby’s distinctive paintings are as much about color, rhythm, and a harmony, as they are about the subjects themselves. Also showing work by gallery artists.
140 East Napa Street, Sonoma
707-996-3115
www.artsguildofsonoma.org
Blasted Art Gallery
Through July 6, Icarus Down, an installation by Judson King Smith
*** Closing Reception, Friday, July 6, from 5 to 8 p.m.
An ongoing ever-changing work by Smith, Icarus Down has been exhibited on the floor, wall mounted, and attached to the exterior of an art gallery. Smith adds and subtracts components at each showing, altering his intent and narrative.
Backstreet Building, Art Alley, South “A” Street
SOFA Arts District, Santa Rosa
www.blastedartgallery.com
Calabi Gallery
Through July 28, Migrations; Featuring the Art of Iva Hladis
Calabi Gallery presents the art of Iva Hladis, who was born in communist Czechoslovakia in 1965. In 1985 she escaped and settled in Rome, Italy. After a year in Rome, she was granted political asylum in the United States, and lived in Los Angeles for the next 29 years. Hladis recently moved to Sonoma County, California where she has most recently turned her attention to the issues of global warming and world destruction.
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
Through July 28, Healing by Art 2: Landscape and Memories
For this exhibition artists offer their interpretations of the past to inspire the community as it transitions to a post-fires Sonoma County. Many are individual conceptions and emotional impressions of “home” and location of our fondest memories; the neighborhoods, environment and geography where we were raised.
July 13 through 27, Highway 101 in the Neighborhood: Memories Across Fractured Landscapes
*** Reception and Block Party July 22, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The construction of the 101 Freeway between the late 1940s and mid 1960s radically transformed Santa Rosa’s landscape. This exhibit uses the original 1940’s Caltrans survey documents, black and white photographs and survey maps that detail the pathway through the neighborhood that once united South Davis and South A streets—a richly diverse immigrant community that included small shops, a park, school, and church, along with a wide array of homes.
Santa Rosa Arts Center at Chroma Gallery
312 South A Street, Santa Rosa
707-293-6051
www.chromagallery.net
City Council Chambers, Santa Rosa
Through July 19, Signs of Life: New Works by Christie Marks
Christie Marks’ practice lies in nostalgia and melancholy that’s ingrained in the American psyche. Signs of Life features mixed media works and paintings that are the newest additions to this theme.
City Hall Council Chambers
100 Santa Rosa, Ave., Santa Rosa
https://srcity.org/747/City-Hall-Council-Chambers
Cloverdale Arts Alliance Gallery
Through July 20, Initiate
Guest artists for this exhibit are sculptor Virginia Harrison and digital collage artist Ralph Broussard. Resident artists include Laura Paine Carr, Jane Gardner, Terry Holleman, Paul Maurer and Hanya Popova Parker. Painter Pamela Heck is the featured resident artist for “Initiate.”
204 N. Cloverdale Boulevard, Cloverdale
707-894-4410
www.cloverdaleartsalliance.org
Corricks Art Trails Gallery
637 Fourth Street, Santa Rosa
707-546-2424
www.corricks.com
Fulton Crossing Gallery
*** Open Studio on Friday, July 20, from 5 to 8 p.m.
FAB: A modern visual celebration of the Beatles journey
Former Hollywood art director and visual artist, Jeffrey Emmerson Davis, has created a dynamic exhibit featuring rare and iconic images of the fab four. From the Silver Beatles to Yellow Submarine, Sgt. Pepper, and more, Jeffrey offers brilliant colors to his bold and magnificent paintings as well as masterful black and white graphite drawings.
1200 River Rd, Fulton
www.fultoncrossing.com
Gallery ThreeHundred
Through July 31, New Spaces, New Places
Contemporary Paintings by Jennifer Hirshfield, Terry Sauve and Lisa Thorpe. Functional art by Alejandro Salazar, Amy Smith and Ron Macken.
6780 McKinley, Suite 130, in The Barlow, Sebastopol
707-332-1212
www.gallery-300.com
Graton Gallery
Through July 15, What We See
Featuring landscapes in oil and pastel by Tim Haworth, Antonio Sommers, and Susan Greer. Guest Artists include Marnie Donaldson, Barbara Jacobs, Tamra Sanchez, and Ian Tait.
July 17 through August 19, Sandra Rubin & Marylu Downing
9048 Graton Road, Graton
707-829-8912
www.gratongallery.net
Hammerfriar Gallery
Through August 25, 13 YEARS
Hammerfriar Gallery celebrates its first 13 Years with a retrospective of 41 artists. This is the final show curated by Gallery founder, Jill Plamann, who is retiring after 40 years of presenting art. The Gallery will continue under the direction of new owners Charly Leys and Glenn Young.
132 Mill Street, Ste.101, Healdsburg
707-473-9600
www.hammerfriar.com
Healdsburg Center for the Arts
Through July 15, The Art of Wine and Vines
A celebration of wine, wine making, enology, and viticulture. Jurors for The Art of Wine and Vines are Jean Mooney, and Chris Vetrano.
July 21 through September 3, Intertwined
*** Opening reception, Saturday, July 21, from 5 to 7 p.m.
A national juried fiber art exhibition, featuring all forms of fiber art expression, from traditional to innovative and radical.
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 August 29, Microcosms: A Closer Look at Mushrooms and Lichens
Lucy Martin creates botanical paintings in gouache which focus on the mysterious beauty of mushrooms and lichens. Her paintings reflect a lifelong connection with nature and her devotion to close observation.
900 Sanford Road, Santa Rosa
707-527-9277
www.lagunafoundation.org
Lawson Galleries, Guerneville
Through July 10, The Art of Recovery
Pastels by Gayle Cooper, and acrylics by Tammi Salas.
16300 Church Street, Guerneville
Museums of Sonoma County
Art Museum
Through September 23, Time & Place
An exhibition about the natural and built environments, human impact, and how a place changes over time. From major hurricanes to the firestorms and housing crisis in Sonoma County, Time & Place places natural disasters and human made challenges in a larger global context. Artists include Kim Anno, Donna Brookman, Lewis deSoto, and Andrew Moore. Curated by Jeff Nathanson.
History Museum
Through September 16, Lost Santa Rosa
Looking at moments of truly transformative change, Lost Santa Rosa explores those elements of the city that have been lost over the years. With disasters such as the 2017 firestorms and the 1906 earthquake, losses can be sudden and breathtaking. Other changes come about over time as the result of demographic shifts, conscious decisions or even neglect. Curated by Eric Stanley.
425 Seventh Street, Santa Rosa
707-579-1500
www.museumsc.org
Occidental Center for the Arts
Through July 29, Call & Response
This invitational exhibition features the artwork of Dave Gordon, Victoria Wagner and Adam Wolport.
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
Pie Eyed Open Studio
*** Saturday and Sunday, July 21 & 22 from 12 to 4 p.m. each day.
On view are paintings by Alan Beckstead and the large scale ink drawings by Clark Swarthout. Pie Eyed Open Studio serves up exciting art, scintillating conversation and fresh pie for your enjoyment. This weekend’s pies are Peachy Raspberry, and Lemon Chess.
2371 Gravenstein Hwy South, Sebastopol
Look for the ART + PIE sign and turn at the Giant Yellow Duck!
Petaluma Arts Center
July 21 through August 4, Warren’s Eye: Paintings From the Vintage Bank
*** Opening reception Saturday, July 21, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Artwork from the collection of Warren Davis (1949-2018), finder and purveyor of fine paintings at Vintage Bank Antiques in Petaluma. Curated by Jude Mooney.
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 July 8, There’s No Place Like Home
The exhibition features four artists; Dan Melville presents a new series of his sculptural lamps created from bits of found metal; Anne Monk assembles ceramic and glass bits of nostalgia, creating unusual mirrors; Edmund Price is known for his highly accurate wildlife paintings, and Lucia Antonelli is showing her conceptual abstracts.
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
Sebastopol Center for the Arts
Through July 29, Bibliophoria V
An international biennial juried book art exhibition, this show pays homage to all things book arts related. Featuring graphic and sculptural works primarily emphasizing creative re-interpretations using books, book components and bookmaking methods. Juried by Macy Chadwick. Also showing, Bound & Unbound, a Sonoma County Book Arts Guild exhibit.
282 High Street, Sebastopol
707-829-4797
www.sebarts.org
Sebastopol Gallery
Through July 28, Quiet Strength
Quiet Strength, pastel paintings by member artist, Teri Sloat, who is the featured artist in the south window and inside the gallery. Painter James Reynolds is showing work in the North Window.
150 N. Main St, Sebastopol
707-829-7200
www.sebastopol-gallery.com/
Sofie Contemporary Arts
Through September 9, New Naturals: Jann Nunn, Bill Russell, Jonah Ward
Using natural, recycled, common and unexpected media, these three Bay Area artists create images that simultaneously evoke a sense of the known and unknown, the real and imagined. Dedicated to innovation of materials and excellence of technique, Jann Nunn, Bill Russell, and Jonah Ward reveal the source of their intermingled media and crafting in surprising ways. Raw wood, molten glass, burned surfaces, stacks of archival microprint paper, and even paper wasp nests, are all fused into works that at first defy comprehension of their origin.
1407 Lincoln Ave. Calistoga
707-942-4231
www.sofiegallery.com
Sonoma State University, University Art Gallery
1801 East Cotati Avenue, Rohnert Park
707-664-2295
www.sonoma.edu/artgallery
Sonoma State University, Library Gallery
Through July 27, Millennial Mind: Topics for the 21st Century
The concept for Millennial Mind grew out of a discussion among SSU’s Museum Theory and Practice students. The Museum students were interested in how issues in the news today; gun violence, immigration, gender and ethnicity, technology, were affecting their peers in studio courses who were creating art against the background of these complex and often troubling events.
1801 East Cotati Avenue, Rohnert Park
707-664-2295
http://library.sonoma.edu
Sonoma Valley Museum of Art
Through September 16, Private Landscapes and Public Territories: Botanicals, Archives and Libraries in the Work of Amalia Mesa-Bains
In this exhibition, Amalia Mesa-Bains focuses on the importance of place and memory through botanical prints, mapping images, landscape shadow boxes, altars, folding books and installations. The themes of family geographies and historical displacements of Latino and native peoples are represented through border maps, archival images and native plants.
Through October 21, Natural Affinity: California Women Sculptors in the Landscape
Public art in Sonoma Plaza with works by Gwynn Murrill, Lisa Reinertson, and Alison Saar. Each of these women sculptors play an important role in evolving the canon of California art and in the craft of sculpture. Each artwork features a shared concern for the natural world as well as human-animal interests concerning friendship, love, and the parent-child bond.
551 Broadway, Sonoma
707-939-7862
www.svma.org
Spinster Sisters Santa Rosa
Through August 12, Joy 2.0
Sara Downing is a photographer with a great eye and sense of composition. For this show Downing focuses primarily on small, textural microcosms distilled from the often-labeled “mundane”. With intricate shadows and angular perspectives, Downing reveals the unexpected artistry and grace of a world hidden in plain sight.
401 South A Street, Santa Rosa
http://thespinstersisters.com/event/sara-downing-joy-2-0
The Art Wall at Shige Sushi
Through July 15, Kerry Vander Meer—Mixed Media
Mixed media work combining printmaking, drawing, and collage using paper, fabric, and found items. Vander Meer’s work is sometimes monochrome and minimalist, sometimes exuberantly colorful. She is equally persuasive in either mode.
8235 Old Redwood Highway, Cotati
707-795-9753
http://ctalcroft.wix.com/artwallatshige/
Upstairs Art Gallery
July 2 through July 29, A Slice of Americana
*** Reception Saturday, July 14, from 2 to 5 p.m.
The paintings of Cynthia Jackson-Hein, impressionist painter of land and life, speak of times gone by, with a personal connection to the things she most loves in life; people, animals and landscapes.
306 Center St., Healdsburg
707-431-4214
www.Upstairsartgallery.net
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