SONOMA COUNTY ART TRAILS IS BACK!

It has been two years since the last Art Trails, and now in September 2021 we hope you will consider reviewing the Collectors Guide, visiting the preview exhibits, and going to artists' studios during two weekends September 18, 19 and 25, 26 (hours 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for participating studios), or by appointment. 

Consider viewing the preview at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts in person or virtually via the website, representing each of the participating artists.  Use the maps in the Guide to locate the open studios, and follow the blue Art Trails signs locally during the event.

Please keep track of the printed and/or electronic COLLECTORS GUIDE not only to choose which studios to visit during the two weekends, but also because the artists are generally available by appointment during this period and throughout the year and beyond.  The printed Guide can be obtained from the preview exhibits, the artists' studios during the event, and various central locations in Northern California.  The Guide and other information about the artists can be accessed at https://www.sonomacountyarttrails.org 

Sonoma County Art Trails is a longstanding juried event.  Each accepted artist must show in their own studio, and display a high degree of professionalism.  Safety is paramount.  Applicable masking (etc.) rules are posted onsite and according to what the County may require.  Masks are required at the indoor preview exhibits, and accordingly food or beverages are generally not provided in indoor settings such as the Sebastopol Center for the Arts (SCA) reception Thursday September 16, 5-7 p.m. (although refreshments will be available at the outdoor patio).

Linda Sorensen is an Art Trails artist and is pleased to participate in this year's event.  Her studio is located in Graton, California, at the historic old former apple warehouse converted to artist studios.  The building is called Atelier One, and it is located at 2860 Bowen Street.  Her studio is Number 5 on the first floor of the building, next to the south ramp and gate.  Three other artists in the building are participating this time:  Elizabeth Peyton (second floor, north end), Nancy Dempster (first floor, south end), and Nishi Marcus (first floor, south end).

In addition to the SCA preview, Linda is also participating in the preview shows at Fulton Crossing on River Road in Fulton and Corrick's on 4th Street in downtown Santa Rosa, and also is featured in a continuing area of display of her artworks at Corrick's Art Trails Gallery.

Linda participated in setting up the exhibit in the gallery at SCA, and had the opportunity to take some photos as the project was near done.  These photos do not show everything at the exhibit, but all artworks can be viewed online at https://www.sebarts.org/sonoma-county-art-trails-2021 and of course can be viewed in person at the extended open hours of SCA during the event.

For further details or to set a special appointment please contact Dan or Linda at art@bodegabayheritagegallery.com  or lindasorensen@earthlink.net, or 707-875-2911 (text or phone).  We hope to see you or hear from you.

It's a glorious visual history, a step back, a time machine trip to the people, the rhythms, the vibrancy of early 20th century LA life.

Long before the Los Angeles Dodgers made Chavez Ravine their home, the area was a thriving barrio. Within the ravine were several rural Mexican-American communities, Palo Verde, La Loma and Bishop. The area was cohesive, but poor. People lived in Chavez Ravine because of housing discrimination elsewhere. The communities within Chavez Ravine were filled with a distinctive Mexican-American flavor, now lost.

In the 1940's, the city of Los Angeles thought of the ravine as a blighted area and targeted it for better uses. After a series of developers pursued opportunities, Walter O'Malley and his Dodgers team, who at that time were playing their games in the LA Memorial Coliseum, gained deed to 352 acres to build Dodger Stadium. The ball park opened in 1962.

Another area of the city which has disappeared due to development projects is Bunker Hill. In the early part of the 20th century, Bunker Hill was the scene of wealthy Victorian Homes and classic bungalows. Beginning in the 1950's, chunks of the hill were removed and many of the Victorian style homes were demolished.

In 1924, the hill was tunneled through, and was a distinctive geographical feature separating downtown LA from the Western end of the city.

It was viewed as a wealthy residential suburb through the end of World War I, but as street cars and freeways increased, the wealthy were drawn to Beverly Hills and Pasadena. Bunker Hill's Victorians soon gave way to decay.

Shipyard, Milford Zornes

In the early 1920's, oil was discovered on Signal Hill (now in the city of Long Beach). Originally it was called by its Spanish name, Los Cerritos.

After oil was discovered, the area became part of the Long Beach Oil Field. In short order, Signal hill was covered with over 100 oil derricks. From a distance, it appeared that the hill was covered by long quills and was nicknamed "Porcupine Hill."

Signal Hill was used by Balboa Studios. Buster Keaton and Fatty Arbuckle were two of the studio's actors who had films shot on Bunker Hill.

One of the major reasons for Los Angeles' explosive growth was Long Beach Harbor. Through it ran not only goods for the city, but also the nation. As the American West grew, so did its busy port. By the 1920's, the Port of Los Angeles overtook San Francisco as the West Coast's busiest port, one of the largest in the World.

Being a hive of activity, the Harbor became the backdrop for many Hollywood movies and was visited by many embarking or returning from ocean cruises. The Harbor was also the location for the one and only flight of Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose." It flew for only 26 seconds, reached an altitude of 70 feet and a speed of 135 mph. The Goose proved it could fly.

This exhibition features 24 paintings from the Irvine Museum Collection and the Buck Collection, and includes two films covering the early to mid 20th century.

The goal of the exhibition is to highlight the musical rhythmic aspects of landscape, in color, sound and composition. Of course these tools of interpretation may be used with many paintings, but they are especially helpful in appreciating California landscape paintings.

Curated by Erin Stout, PHD, The Resonant Surface encourages us to look deeper and experience paintings recognizing elements of compostion and harmony.

The museum's exhibition page states, "Musical landscapes, rhythmic abstractions, sound and color experiments, and other multisensory subject matter play with the immediacy of visual perception. The exhibition considers these kinds of explorations in image, movement, and sound in early to mid-20th century California painting. It traces the ways artists have long used painting to investigate the complex nature of perception beyond vision, building connections across time, space, images, objects, and sensations."

"Four main themes develop these connections: correspondences, rhythm and abstraction, dynamism and flux, and visual music. By activating our multiple senses—looking, but also listening and feeling—the presented works of art can be experienced as vibrant, interconnected surfaces that “resonate” within and beyond the spaces they occupy."

Bentonville, AR
Crystal Bridges
Museum of American Art

Visit our gallery showroom in GRATON, CA ...

Have us pring selected works to your home ... Call or email for a an appointment. (up to 200 miles from Bodega Bay).

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