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
August 1 through 27, Andrea Patri
*** Opening Reception Saturday, August 4 from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring jewelry creations by Artist Andrea Patri, and work by other gallery artists.
140 East Napa Street, Sonoma
707-996-3115
www.artsguildofsonoma.org
Blasted Art Gallery
August 3 through September 7, Chris Beards / Bill Shelley
*** Opening Reception Friday, August 3 from 5 to 8 p.m.
New mixed media sculpture by Chris Beards and works on paper by Bill Shelley, the cofounders of Blasted Art Gallery. Beards’ sculptures explore the themes of loss, love, and remembrance. Shelley’s drawings feature highways as symbols of shared meaning and personal significance.
Art Alley, South A Street
SOFA Arts District, Santa Rosa
707-888-1026
www.blastedartgallery.com
Calabi Gallery
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 / Santa Rosa Arts Center
August 3 through September 22, The Controlled Accident
*** Artists Reception First Friday, August 3 from 5 to 8 p.m.
Showing Intuitive Abstract Artwork in all media that expresses a harmonious relationship of artist and nature which is created spontaneously when the artist doesn’t try to dominate the medium but leaves the result open to surprise and chance.
Santa Rosa Arts Center at Chroma Gallery
SOFA Arts District
312 South A Street, Santa Rosa
707-293-6051
www.chromagallery.net
Cloverdale Arts Alliance Gallery
Through September 14, Launch
204 N. Cloverdale Boulevard, Cloverdale
707-894-4410
www.cloverdaleartsalliance.org
Corricks Art Trails Gallery / My Daughter the Framer
August 3 through August 31, Earth & Wood
*** First Friday Meet the Artists reception Friday, August 3, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Showcasing local ceramicists and woodworkers! and at My Daughter the Framer on view are landscape paintings by Clark Mitchell.
637 Fourth Street, Santa Rosa
707-546-2424
www.corricks.com
Fulton Crossing Gallery
*** Open Studio on Friday, August 17, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Open Studio featuring work by Taunee Callahan.
1200 River Rd, Fulton
www.fultoncrossing.com
Gallery ThreeHundred
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 August 19, It’s Personal: Paintings from our Lives
Featuring work by painters Sandra Rubin and Marylu Downing, with Guest Artists Susan Berg, Harry Frank, Ron Sumner, and Joanne Taeuffer.
August 21 through September 23, Anything Goes Juried Show & Cigar Box
*** Artists Reception Saturday, August 25, from 2 to 5 p.m.
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 September 3, Intertwined
A national juried fiber art exhibition, featuring all forms of fiber art expression, from traditional to innovative and radical. See website for related events and programs.
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
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
August 4 through August 26, Silver Linings
*** Opening Reception Saturday, August 4 from 4 to 7 p.m.
his exhibit features the artwork of SRJC Senior Art Students (55+) and their instructors.
3850 Doris Murphy Court, Occidental
707-874-9392
www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org
Paul Mahder Gallery
Through September 14, Of Water And Sand
New charcoal and acrylic paintings by Carlos Gomez Mojica. What is the true function of our exterior, that is, of our skin? “The pigments in our skin have been such a powerful topic for me that I have taken it as the basis of my artistic career; I explore and use my art to extract what overwhelms me, to say what I would not otherwise know, and to question what my predecessors never asked.”
222 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg
707-473-9150
www.paulmahdergallery.com
Paradise Ridge Winery Sculpture
During the massive Tubbs Fire the winery buildings were devastated, but the vineyards and most of the sculptures remain unharmed. While rebuilding takes place the three-acre sculpture garden, which includes the two-story-tall LOVE sculpture, has reopened to the public, and Marijke’s Grove sculpture garden will be open on weekends from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. through October 28.
4545 Thomas Lake Harris Drive, Santa Rosa
707-528-9463
www.prwinery.com
Petaluma Arts Center
Through August 4, Warren’s Eye: Paintings From the Vintage Bank
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 September 2, Anything Goes!
The three featured artists are photographer Brian Cluer; painter Marilyn Dizikes; and wire sculptor Janet McBeen.
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
August 3 through September 9, Green
*** Opening reception Friday, August 3, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
In the Main Gallery, Green, a national juried exhibition, showcases artwork that reflects on the color and concept of “green”. The work portrays various interpretations and nuances of the word, both as color and concept, through representational, as well as abstract approaches. Also included are expressions of environmental concerns and ecological awareness. Jurors, Chester Arnold and Kevin Elston, gave careful consideration to all possible variances in selecting work for the show.
In Gallery II Nature’s Will by Robin Dintiman evokes a deep connection to nature. Whether she is working directly with objects found in nature or using nature as her subject, Dintiman strives to capture the intimate and emotional quality of certain natural settings, suffused with time, change and memory.
Gallery III presents a creative collaboration by two artists, Jill Keller-Peters and Nishi Marcus. Color Beyond Profusion: an Unexpected Collaborative Surprise celebrates their individual passion for color. The collaborative process encouraged exploration into new and expansive uses of color that produced surprises for both the artists and the viewers.
282 High Street, Sebastopol
707-829-4797
www.sebarts.org
Sebastopol Gallery
Through September 29, New Landscape Paintings
*** Artists Reception Saturday, August 18 from 4 to 6 p.m.
James Reynolds is the Featured Artist in August and September. Reynolds uses pastels, acrylics and oils to create his landscape paintings. Also showing are assemblages by member Rebeca Trevino in the north window.
150 N. Main St, Sebastopol
707-829-7200
www.sebastopol-gallery.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
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 September 2, Nancy H Dempster; Drawings and Mixed Media
Nancy H Dempster creates drawings and watercolors, often with mixed media elements. She uses color and networks of intertwined lines to create worlds that evoke images at both extremes of the scale spectrum—organic structures at the cellular level, gas clouds in the vastness of intergalactic space.
8235 Old Redwood Highway, Cotati
707-795-9753
http://ctalcroft.wix.com/artwallatshige/
Upstairs Art Gallery
August 4 through September 2, Vistas and Vines – by Laura Roney
*** Reception Saturday, Artist Reception: Saturday, August 4, from 2 to 5 p.m.
Featuring oil paintings by Sonoma County artist, Laura Roney. After losing everything in the firestorm of October 2017, Vistas and Vines is an expression of rebirth with new paintings comprising works of sweeping views and Sonoma County vineyards.
306 Center St., Healdsburg
707-431-4214
www.Upstairsartgallery.net
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