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 3 through July 29, A Midsummer’s Exhibition
*** Opening Reception Saturday, July 6, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Mixed work by members of the Arts Guild of Sonoma, highlighting artworks by four of the Guild’s newest members: Paul Ford, Paul Kirley, Peter Wolf, and Norm Worth.
140 East Napa Street, Sonoma
707-996-3115
www.artsguildofsonoma.org
Calabi Gallery
Through July 6, Don Martin
Don Martin (1931-1989) lived and worked in Mexico in the fifties, in Venice, CA, in part of the sixties, and finally on a farm near Santa Cruz for the remainder of his life. The places and times influenced his work, but his styles and choices of media were always personal, sometimes irreverent and sometimes deeply spiritual, sometimes spontaneous and sometimes painstakingly crafted. Also showing work by other masterful artists of the era including Paul Beattie, Karl Benjamin, Dorr Bothwell, Hans Burkhardt, Claire Falkenstein, Robert B. Howard, Ynez Johnston, Karl Kasten, Frank Lobdell, Mary Fuller McChesney, Robert P. McChesney, Nathan Oliveira, Deborah Remington, Louis Siegriest, June Wayne, and others.
456 Tenth St., Santa Rosa
707-781-7070
www.calabigallery.com
Charles M. Schulz Museum
Through August 4, Behind Peanuts: The Little Red-Haired Girl
Charlie Brown’s unrequited love, the Little Red-Haired Girl, was inspired by Donna Mae Johnson-Wold, the real-life first love of Charles M. Schulz. In this exhibition, learn the back story through original art, photographs, and personal interviews.
Through November 18, Peanuts Goes to Camp
Nearly every summer, the Peanuts Gang loads up on buses and heads off to summer camp—some more willingly than others. Featuring over seventy original comic strips, sketches, and vintage Peanuts products, the exhibition invites visitors to relive nights serenaded by crickets and days full of sun-drenched memories with Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the Peanuts Gang.
Through March 8, 2020, Peace, Love, and Woodstock
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Woodstock festival this summer, the Museum and Research Center presents a yearlong exhibition celebrating the smallest Peanuts character, Woodstock, named for the generation-defining music event. Check the website for related Public Programs.
2301 Hardies Lane, Santa Rosa
707-579-4452
www.schulzmuseum.org
Chroma Gallery / Santa Rosa Arts Center
Through July 26, A Day in the Life: An Exhibition of Photography
A visual journey through the daily relationship of family, friends, community and the world we live in. Dynamic photos of our universal emotions and of humanities essential oneness. Through these passionate and spirited pictures we sense our place in the environment, the beauty of nature, love and truth.
SOFA Arts District
312 South A Street, Santa Rosa
707-293-6051
www.chromagallery.net
Cloverdale Arts Alliance Gallery
Through July 19, Compass
Guest artists are Jimmie Nord and Tamra Sanchez. Resident artists are Ralph Broussard, Laura Paine Carr, Jane Gardner, Terry Holleman, Paul Maurer and Hanya Popova Parker. Featured resident artist is Pamela Heck.
July 20 through September 20, Niche
*** Opening reception, Saturday, July 20, from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
Guest artists, Peter and Robin Crompton, and RJB. Featured resident artist, Jane Gardner. Resident artists are Ralph Broussard, Laura Paine Carr, Pamela Heck, Terry Holleman, Paul Maurer and Hanya Popova Parker.
204 N. Cloverdale Boulevard, Cloverdale
707-894-4410
www.cloverdaleartsalliance.org
Corricks Art Trails Gallery/ My Daughter the Framer
637 Fourth Street, Santa Rosa
707-546-2424
www.corricks.com
Gallery 300
6780 McKinley St., Suite 130, The Barlow
707-332-1212
www.gallery-300.com
Graton Gallery
July 2 through August 4, Blooming
*** Opening reception Saturday, July 6, from 2 to 5 p.m.
Featuring paintings by Mylette Welch and felting work by Elia Murray. Guest artists are Jeanne Hennessy, Susan Barri, Carol Leonti, and Ron Sumner.
9048 Graton Road, Graton
707-829-8912
www.gratongallery.net
Hammerfriar Gallery
Through July 20, Victoria Wagner — Mixed Media
Victoria Wagner’s radiant color-play communicates beyond the attractive geometric lines and shapes that first meet the eye. Harnessing the potential of wood, aluminum, and paint, her work is a deeper channeling – a visual expression of the cosmological and psychological interplays of the human, animal and environmental world. The result of this process is at once vibrant and restful, meditative and celebratory. Her latest paintings on panel, sometimes combined with the mediums of aluminium and walnut, are mysterious and profound in unexpected ways.
132 Mill Street, Ste.101, Healdsburg
707-473-9600
www.hammerfriar.com
Healdsburg Center for the Arts
Through July 14, Art of Wine with a Vintage Palette
The exhibition features artwork by various artists throughout Sonoma County, California, the U.S. and international.
July 20 through August 25, Clay & Glass
*** Opening Reception Saturday, July 20, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Blurring the lines between craft and fine art, this juried exhibit brings focus to the endless possibilities of clay and glass as creative media. Artists combine ancient techniques and high tech knowledge.
130 Plaza Street, Healdsburg
707-431-1970
https://healdsburgcenterforthearts.org
Hopscotch Gifts & Gallery
Through July 21, Bounty
Bounty celebrates the abundance and beautiful vibe of Northern California. Landscapes, sculpture, jewelry, photography, painted glass dinnerware, and mixed media pieces are on view.
126 Matheson, Healdsburg
707-431-8861
IceHouse Gallery
July 1 through August 10, As Above, So Below
*** Opening Reception Saturday, July 6, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Jenny-Lynn Hall uses mixed plaster techniques to explore the dualism between the vastness of sky and earth. How is the universal expressed on Earth? In Zen all life, including the universal, is considered with objectivity and parity. This series also explores the tension of not knowing exactly what we are looking at. At this time when so many facts and images are manipulated this is particularly relevant.
405 East D St, Petaluma
707-778-2238
Laguna Foundation, Heron Hall
Through August 27, Into The Fold
Oil and Acrylic Paintings by Angela Zocco Sturr.
900 Sanford Road, Santa Rosa
707-527-9277
www.lagunafoundation.org
Museum of Sonoma County
Art
Through August 11, Kinetics: Art in Motion
Kinetic Art developed as an international movement in the early 20th Century by artists seeking ways to use real space, time, and movement, explore new technologies, and make social commentary. Kinetics: Art in Motion, curated by Debra Lehane and Satri Pencak, presents contemporary artists that continue these investigations, and whose works reflect a variety of styles and modes of movement. Featuring works by Catherine Daley, Laurent Davidson, Chris Eckert, Mark Galt, Nemo Gould, Ned Kahn, Jerome Kirk, Thérèse Lahaie, Sean Paul Lorentz, Mark Malmberg, Martin Munson, Moto Ohtake, Bruce Shapiro, and Camille Utterback.
History
Through September 15, Grass Roots: Cannabis from Prohibition to Prescription
Explore the long history of cannabis, is it the devil’s weed, a remarkable remedy, or just something to be enjoyed with friends like a glass of wine? Cannabis use generates strong, often divided opinions, but its story is undeniably significant. While cannabis has been part of human history for thousands of years, in the last 125 years it has gone from legal to illegal in California and back again.
425 Seventh Street, Santa Rosa
707-579-1500
www.museumsc.org
Occidental Center for the Arts
Through July 21, Abstractions
Abstractions – an exhibition of all-media art by Sonoma County Artists.
3850 Doris Murphy Court, Occidental
707-874-9392
www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org
Paul Mahder Gallery
Through August 25, My Favorite Things
New and Select Paintings by Wosene Worke Kosrof. Formally trained at the Addis Ababa School of Fine Arts, Kosrof completed a BFA with distinction in 1972. Then, as a Ford Foundation Talent Scholar, he was awarded an MFA in 1980 from Howard University in Washington, DC.
222 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg
707-473-9150
www.paulmahdergallery.com
Petaluma Arts Center
July 6 through August 31, Walls
*** Opening reception Saturday, July 6 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Walls have their own meanings, metaphorical or actual, and as a presence now and in human history, the wall exists as barrier, as support, as well as perimeter of our inhabited space. National Exhibition Juried by Chester Arnold.
230 Lakeville Street, Petaluma
707-762-5600
www.petalumaartscenter.org
Ren Brown Collection Gallery
Currently on view, Kappazuri: Art of the Stencil
Featuring work by different artists using the difficult stencil technique first developed for fabric dyeing. The Kappazuri technique was used for Bingata dyeing in Okinawa and popularized by the great advocate of Japanese folk crafts, Serizawa Keisuke. The stencil is made of layered kozo paper soaked in persimmon juice to make it sturdy for repeated use. Each artist has a different theme and style, but all exhibit the bold graphic qualities inherent in the medium. 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
July 10 through September 8, Summer Shows
*** Reception and 2nd Saturday Artwalk, Saturday, July 13, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Places & Things My Camera Has Seen, Photographs by Michael Riley; and People Met, Places Seen, Paintings by Henry White.
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
Sebastopol Center for the Arts
Through July 28, Black & White and One Hint of Color
This international, juried exhibition presents artwork with predominance of black and white but with a tiny element of another color. Jurors are Rik Olson and Sally Briggs. Concurrent Exhibits: in Gallery II; The Nature of Trees by John Martin and Dan McGarrah. In Gallery III; Gone to the Dogs, by Nancy Winn.
282 High Street, Sebastopol
707-829-4797
www.sebarts.org
Sebastopol Gallery
Through July 27, Volery
Mixed-media works by artist Diana Majumdar who creates natural scenes featuring flights of birds. Ceramics by Chris Boyd are in the North window.
150 N. Main St, Sebastopol
707-829-7200
www.sebastopol-gallery.com/
Sebastopol Library Forum Room
Through August 1, Pastel, Charcoal and Graphite
*** Conversation with the Artists, July 24, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Santa Rosa Junior College older adult exhibit with pastel, charcoal and graphite, Mary Beth Sasso, Instructor.
7140 Bodega Avenue, Sebastopol
707-823-7691
Sonoma State University, University Art Gallery
1801 East Cotati Avenue, Rohnert Park
707-664-2295
www.sonoma.edu/artgallery
Sonoma Valley Museum of Art
Through September 8, Nick Brandt: Inherit the Dust
Photographer Nick Brandt, famous for his portraits of Africa’s most majestic and vanishing animals, presents a series of epic panoramic landscapes. In this series of photographs he records the impact of man in East Africa where animals once roamed, but no longer do. In each location, life-sized panels of his own animal portraits are placed within a world of urban development, factories, wasteland, and quarries, and then re-photographed.
551 Broadway, Sonoma
707-939-7862
www.svma.org
Upstairs Art Gallery
July 1 through July 28, Chilled Summer Whites
*** Artist Reception Saturday July 6, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Featured artist, Willow LaLand-Yeilding, presents her latest piece, “Chilled Summer Whites,” showing the cold condensation on a 4-foot square glass of white wine in the warm summer heat. Her 4-foot square duo, “Alexander Valley” and “Dry Creek Valley,” share the grape harvest in action and the liquid gold pouring from the wooden slats of the wine press. The Small Works Showcase features Plein Air Petites by Susan Greer. These petite Sonoma County landscapes capture the rhythmic quality of the natural world with expressive brushstrokes in oil, and simplified elegant forms.
306 Center St., Healdsburg
707-431-4214
www.Upstairsartgallery.net
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