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
Through May 26, AGS Artists May Exhibition
*** Reception, May 1, from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
Showing work by 17 AGS artists.
140 E. Napa St., Sonoma
707-996-3115
www.artsguildofsonoma.org

Calabi Gallery
Extended through May 31, Pushing Boundaries
The legendary golden age of the California School of Fine Arts, known as A Period of Exploration, took place between 1945 and 1950. Later the school was renamed the San Francisco Art Institute. Pushing Boundaries features a number of SFAI artists including Susan Marie Dopp, Claire Falkenstein, Bella Feldman, Sonia Gechtoff, Pamela Glasscock, Robert Howard, Harry Jacobus, Walter Kuhlman, Evri Kwong, Frank Lobdell, Sutter Marin, Robert McChesney, Irving Norman, Nathan Oliveira, Hassel Smith, and Inez Storer, among others.
456 Tenth St., Santa Rosa
707-781-7070
www.calabigallery.com

Charles M. Schulz Museum
Through September 10, Paperback Peanuts
Downstairs Changing Gallery
The first Peanuts paperback came out in 1952, and it was followed by many, many more. The affordable, pocket-sized books were easy gifts to give, share, and collect and brought joy in good times and solace in bad for many fans. Discover the history of these beloved treasures and learn how it all started with someone who didn’t read comics at all!
2301 Hardies Lane, Santa Rosa
707-579-4452
www.schulzmuseum.org

Cloverdale Arts Alliance Gallery
Through May 23, Neighbors
Guest artist for this exhibit is Robert Milano, Painting. Community Annex Artists are: Mona Ashbough, Cindi Gonzales and Sharon Pillsbury. Resident artists are Laura Paine Carr, Trudi Folsom, Jane Gardner, Pamela Heck, Terry Holleman, Jason Taylor Morgan, and Jennifer Weiss. Trudie Folsom is the featured resident artist.
204 N. Cloverdale Boulevard, Cloverdale
707-894-4410
www.cloverdaleartsalliance.org

Corricks Art Trails Gallery/ My Daughter the Framer
May through June, Art at the Source Preview
*** Artist receptions with the artists May 2 and June 6, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The Gallery at Corrick’s & My Daughter the Framer lead off this year’s Art at the Source season! Featuring works from more than 40 Art at the Source artists. Explore, meet the artists, and get inspired for your Open Studio itinerary!
637 Fourth Street, Santa Rosa
707-546-2424
www.corricks.com

Fulton Crossing Art Gallery
1200 River Rd., Fulton
www.fultoncrossing.com/exhibitions

Graton Gallery
Through May 4, Shadows and Light
Featuring artworks by Sally Baker and Harry Frank. Also showing Guest Artists: Bev Haley, Janet McBeen, Anita Fenichel, Thea Goldstine, Connie Mygatt, and Marc Schmid.

May 8 through June 15, A Touch Of Red
Artists Reception Saturday, May 10, from 1 to 4 p.m.
A juried art exhibition exploring the color red, bringing together artwork that uses the color red as an accent, or where the red is dominant; creating emotion, contrast, or just the joy of color. Each piece tells the story where the color red plays a role.
9048 Graton Road, Graton
707-829-8912
www.gratongallery.net

Hammerfriar Gallery
May 31 through July, Cadence
*** Opening reception May 31, from 4 to 7 p.m.
New Work by Bill Shelley.
132 Mill St, Healdsburg
707-473-9600
www.hammerfriar.com

Healdsburg Center for the Arts
Through May 11, Robert Weiss Retrospective
Honoring Weiss’ 60 years as a ceramic artist and photographer.
334 Center Street, Healdsburg
707-431-1970
healdsburgcenterforthearts.org

Laguna Foundation, Heron Hall
May 4 through August 29, Adam Wolpert; The Great Oak Series
*** Opening Reception Sunday, May 4, from 3 to 5 p m.
This exhibition features a special selection of large-scale giclée prints (4′ x 6′) of paintings by Wolpert. The work showcases seven stunning oak tree portraits, capturing their beauty, individuality, and seasonal transformations.
900 Sanford Road, Santa Rosa
707-527-9277
www.lagunafoundation.org

Museum of Sonoma County
Art
Through June 8, UNRULY: North Bay Artists from the San Francisco Art Institute
The exhibition honors the legacy of the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), the oldest and most influential fine arts school on the West Coast, which shut its doors in 2022 after 150 years of dynamic art making. The UNRULY exhibition specifically focuses on the impact and influence of SFAI in the North Bay. The show features the work of 18 regional artists, spanning multiple generations, who either studied or taught at the Art Institute. Collectively, they embody the spirit of boundary-pushing and experimentation that the school so famously fostered, affirmed, and supported.

History
Through September 7, It’s in the Mail! Sonoma County’s Postal History
Communication wasn’t always easy . . . or fast. A huge advance happened right here in Sonoma County when the world’s FIRST airmail delivery was made between Petaluma and Santa Rosa in 1911. The airplane that made that delivery was built right here in Sonoma County too – by a local race car driver and mechanic named Fred Wiseman. A replica of that airplane is a centerpiece for the show, which is only appropriate since the Post Office building that received that first airmail delivery is now the Museum of Sonoma County.
425 Seventh Street, Santa Rosa
707-579-1500
www.museumsc.org

Occidental Center for the Arts
Through May 11, Four Elements
This multi-sensory art exhibit celebrates the raw beauty and untamed spirit of the natural world. Featuring works from visionary artists, this exhibit invites you to explore the delicate balance and fierce energy of the elements that shape our lives.

May 17 through June 21, Silver Linings – Spring Forward
*** Artist Reception May 31
Watercolor Exhibit
3850 Doris Murphy Court, Occidental
707-874-9392
www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org

Paul Mahder Gallery
On view, Richard Bolingbroke; Cycles of Life
Cycles of Life, In Memoriam (1952 – 2024) is a celebration and overview of the life work of British-American artist Richard Bolingbroke. From his vivid watercolor paintings, known for their ritual compositions, fierce choice in colors, and hints of impermanence, a presence of mystery and belonging appear . . . fresh, yet familiar.
222 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg
707-473-9150
paulmahdergallery.com

Pepperwood Gallery
On view, Sacred Habitat: the Visions of Ian Nelson
An exhibit of work by renowned local photographer and cinematographer Ian Nelson, presenting a captivating mixed-media event which showcases breathtaking visuals from around the globe, featuring not only stunning photographs but also thought-provoking short nature documentary films.
2130 Pepperwood Preserve Road, Santa Rosa
www.pepperwoodpreserve.org

Petaluma Arts Center
Through June 7, Figure As Story in the main gallery, and Queer Time Capsule in the north gallery
230 Lakeville Street, Petaluma
707-762-5600
www.petalumaartscenter.org

Ren Brown Collection Gallery
Through June 8, Prints of the Sea, the art of Christopher Dewees
Showcasing traditional Japanese fish printing, or gyotaku, the exhibit features both new and older work by Dewees. 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

Santa Rosa Arts Center
Through May 31, Our Precious Planet
This annual environmental exhibit coincides with the celebration of Earth Month and features artwork that focuses on the Earth as our common, and currently endangered, home. The work addresses Earth’s unique beauty, stunning diversity, and its place as an enduring home to all living things. Through paintings, sculptures and mixed-media, artists also address the challenges and dangers all living beings now face as we struggle with human-caused climate change.

May 2 through June 28, Still Life, A Moment in Time
*** Artists reception Friday May 2, from 5 to 8 p.m.
On view is artwork featuring inanimate and everyday objects like books, tools, utensils, flowers and food, as the primary subject matter.
SOFA Arts District
312 South A Street, Santa Rosa
707-526-0135
santarosaartscenter.org/

Santa Rosa Junior College, Robert F. Agrella Art Gallery
1501 Mendocino Avenue, Santa Rosa
707-527-4298
art-gallery.santarosa.edu/current-exhibits

Sebastopol Center for the Arts
Through May 4, Leftward Bound
A Contemporary Photography Exhibition that reflects the challenges in the world around us and encourages us to see things from our own unique perspective.

May 10 through June 15, Art at the Source Preview
*** Opening Reception Saturday, May 10, from 2 to 4 p.m.
Art at the Source is SCA’s annual award-winning Spring open studio program. This year there are 129 participating Art at the Source artists opening up their studios to show their latest creations. The Preview Show is an opportunity to choose the studios you would like to visit during the event dates. Open studios takes place two consecutive weekends, June 7-8 and June 14-15, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
http://www.artatthesource.org
282 South High St., Sebastopol
707-829-4797
www.sebarts.org

Sebastopol Gallery
Through May 31, Nature Boy, James R Reynolds
Reynolds’ paintings aren’t just about what things look like; they’re about how they feel—the crisp air of early morning, the quiet dignity of a deer standing in the mist, the barely contained chaos of a flock of birds taking off all at once.
150 N. Main St, Sebastopol
707-829-7200
www.sebastopolgallery.com

Sebastopol Library, Forum Room
Through May 6, Los Abuelitos+
Photographs from the VISUAL ARTS GROUP.

May 19 through July 12, Convergence/Divergence
*** Artists Reception, June 1, from 2 to 4 p.m.
Paintings and Mutimedia by Alan Azhderian and Jackie McCarthy.
7140 Bodega Ave, Sebastopol
707-823-7691

Sonoma State University, University Art Gallery
Through May 17, 2025 BFA Exhibition
Showing work by five graduating BFA students.
1801 East Cotati Avenue, Rohnert Park
707-664-2295
artgallery.sonoma.edu

Sonoma Valley Museum of Art
May 10 through September 7, Nancy Genn: The Nature of Being
*** Opening Reception Saturday, May 17, from 5 to 7 p.m.
This retrospective exhibition of work by Berkeley-based artist, Nancy Genn, explores a long career rooted in the history of post-war American art in the fields of gestural abstraction and abstract expressionism. She is known for working in various media, including paintings, bronze sculpture, printmaking, and notably, handmade paper based on the Japanese washi papermaking tradition. Influenced by her extensive travels, Asian craft aesthetics, and spiritual traditions, her work features nature’s effects of light, landscape, and water, along with the human presence represented by architectural motifs and functional objects.
551 Broadway, Sonoma
707-939-7862
www.svma.org

Upstairs Art Gallery
Through May 25, Dry Creek Beauty
*** Reception Saturday, May 10, from 4 to 7 p.m.
Donna Schaffer unveils her latest selection of oil paintings entitled Dry Creek Beauty. These works share some of her favorite views of the glorious vineyards and the surrounding hills and woodlands. Meet the artist: Schaffer will be hosting the Gallery on May 3 from 2:30 to 6 p.m.
The Stairway Showcase presents Marsha Connell’s pastels; My First Love, a collection of plein air pastels, many painted recently during her sojourn at the Sonoma coast. Meet the artist: Connell will be hosting the Gallery on May 20 from 11 to 6 p.m.
306 Center Street, Healdsburg
707-431-4214
www.Upstairsartgallery.net

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