D.I.Y. Art Tour
With the variety of art galleries in Sonoma County, many located near great restaurants, it's easy to put together your own
studio circuit this weekend
By DAN TAYLOR
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Owner Khysie Horn in the gallery
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Article published - Nov 3, 2005
RECREATION -
D.I.Y. art tour
Museum openings draw crowds, and art seekers hit the road every
few months for artist studio tours. But why wait for the next
big event?
Create your own art tour this weekend. There are so many
galleries scattered around Sonoma County that even art buffs
can't give an accurate count. So take your pick.
Better yet, take a picnic. Like a nice drive on your day off?
Head along the river and through the woods to Forestville, where
Khysie Horn's Quicksilver Mine Co. offers quirky exhibits,
poetry readings and a sculpture garden.
Or go to Graton, where local artists share the Graton Gallery,
which also has a sculpture garden. "We have nice restaurants here," said Graton Gallery co-founder
Rik Olson. "You can make a stop and see some great crafts."
Ardent walkers and one-stop shoppers can opt for the blitz
technique. A quick circuit around Healdburg's Plaza in the
center of town turns up at least a dozen galleries. The same goes
for downtown Sonoma.
"Healdsburg has great wines, incredible chefs and now it has a
lot of great art," said Sandy Erickson of Erickson Fine Art
Gallery, just a couple of doors away from Healdsburg's plaza. "I
am amazed at how uncrowded we still are, and how succulent the
offerings are."
Once just a patch of grass in a sleepy small town, Healdsburg
Plaza has become a busy cultural hub. "Healdsburg did it right," said Jody Grovier, manager of the
annual ARTrails artist studio tour for the Arts Council of
Sonoma county.
"They've got a number of galleries and
restaurants that have grown up around the plaza. It's art and
business working together. "The result is an tourist attraction that locals can also enjoy
all year long, big enough to offer choices yet small enough to
cover in an afternoon.
"What's great about Healdsburg is the scale of the square and
the layout of the town," said painter Michael Coy, a partner in
Arches Gallery, next door to Erickson. "It's popular because of
the ascendancy of the wine industry and some good planning work
done in combination. It's great to see people from all over
having a good time."
In history-soaked Sonoma, home to early settlements, the flavor
is different but the impact is the same. "Here we have the historical stops - the mission and the
barracks - and now there are tasting rooms," said Amanda Krauss,
gallery manager for the 60-member Arts Guild of Sonoma.
Clustered galleries support each other, Grovier said. "Galleries
tend to survive and do better when there are other galleries
around," Grovier added. Standing side by side, places that display good art also
challenge each other. "We're competing with exceptional
galleries here," Coy said.
Whether you're wandering around the plaza or all over the
county, you'll notice the galleries offer a broad variety of
artistic styles.
At Arches, painter and gallery partner Mylette Welch charms
visitors with her comic portraits of dogs. Next door, Erickson
offers a new exhibit of kinetic sculpture by internationally
known artist Jerome Kirk. "There are 40 pieces, and everything's moving," Erickson said.
"It's beautiful."
At Quicksilver in Forestville, Horn often seeks out the unusual,
currently showing hand-carved caricature sculptures by Ernie
Fosselius and flower-like collages by Jenny Honnert Abell.
Horn also offers live jazz and poetry readings. It helps
overcome the hesitation people sometimes feel about venturing
into a fine-arts gallery for the first time. "You just need to get people in the door," she said.
Gallery owners urge visitors to simply walk in and learn as they
go. Credentials aren't checked at the door. Expertise is not a
prerequisite. And admission, except perhaps for a few occasional
special events, is free. It's up to you whether you want to buy
art.
"People who don't know art shouldn't be intimidated by it. They
should get out and ask questions," Erickson said. "I go to car
shows and I don't know a darn thing about cars."
The hardest part about cruising the galleries is deciding where
to start. There are so many, and they are so unlike each other. To help the public survey the possibilities, more than two dozen
art venues have joined to form the Sonoma County Gallery Group,
and formed a fledgling Web site -
www.scgg.org - to get the word
out.
"Then it's up to the public," Horn said, issuing a challenge and
an invitation: "Don't be afraid, and know that every gallery space is
different. If you don't like one, try another."
More about the
Sonoma County Gallery Group
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