62 Members!

SCGG ART GALLERY GUIDE MAP
Your Roadmap to Sonoma County’s Premier Fine Art and Artisan Craft Galleries!

> 2008 Gallery Guide MAP

2008 Membership News ~ We are happy to announce that we have 54 Gallery Members Fine Arts, Fine Arts & Crafts, Arts Organizations, Museums & Winery Galleries, and 8 Associate Members Community Arts, Art Supplies, Art-related Business

SCGG continues to “put Sonoma County art galleries on the Map”, and we are clearly getting the word out that Sonoma County is “the destination for art”! The third annual Gallery Guide Map will be printed in March 2008. Once again we will be printing and distributing 35,000.

Thank you so very much for your confidence and your support. We are working to expand our horizons in 2008 and hope you will be part of that effort as well - even if it is simply distributing the Gallery Guide Map through your gallery, events, and in your local area.

Sincerely, The Sonoma Gallery Group Board of Directors

PS: Need more Maps? Maps are available at Graton Gallery, downtown Graton, 10:30 to 6 daily [closed Monday] 829-8912

Also, don't forget to post your events, go to > add new event - our website averages over 6000 unique visits monthly.

SCGG in the NEWS:

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Jan 31, 2008

Destination Art

Along its byways and back roads, Sonoma County is blessed with galleries offering quality work just a leisurely drive away

By DAN TAYLOR

By the time visitors arrive at Bodega Bay's coastline art galleries, they've already seen some beautiful landscapes, framed by the car windows.

"We drive through beauty to get here," said Dan Rohlfing, co-owner of the Bodega Heritage Gallery, just off Highway 1.

Inside his gallery, there's a different kind of scenery: desert landscapes by some of California's most respected past painters. A big man with a bigger smile, Rohlfing finds amusing irony in that.

"I tell people, 'Come out to Bodega Bay and look at the desert,' " he joked.

For anyone interested in a relatively short drive and a leisurely stay at a gallery, the scenery available is unlimited. The Sonoma County Gallery Group, made of up some 60 galleries, aptly titled its new map and brochure "Destination Art." No matter which direction you pick, you'll find good art, much of it local, often in galleries that are off the commuter corridor but still nearby.

The Graton Gallery is housed in a quaint storefront on the tiny town's central block, defined by a stop sign at either end, just off Highway 116, just north of Sebastopol.

"We're at this bend in the road on the way to Bodega Bay, so we get a lot of tourists," said painter and gallery co-owner Pam Lewis. "We're also a favorite destination for a lot of people who come up from San Francisco for the wine and stop to see art."

Run by eight partners, all artists, the gallery shows not only their work but exhibitions by others and a wide range of crafts.

The current "Invitational #2" show features paintings, prints and other work by 25 Northern California artists, including painter Craig Nelson, the director of Fine Art, Drawing and Painting at San Francisco's Academy of Art College.

"We're a hometown gallery but these are big guys," Lewis said. "We have a network of artists. We have criteria. And it's comfortable here. We make friends."

Visitors can linger awhile in the outdoor sculpture garden that runs along one side of the gallery.

"This becomes a really nice gathering place in warm weather," said Lewis, stepping outside briefly on a recent chilly morning. "It offers kind of a respite back here."

The rewarding part of any gallery hunt is the discovery that one might find a nice display of art almost anywhere in the area, even tucked away in the Ray Design Studio near Santa Rosa's Railroad Square. That's where Spring Maxfield's new Micro Gallery currently displays notebook sketches, maquettes and studies from the studios of internationally recognized Sonoma County artist Ned Kahn.

For a nice drive and a chance to see a lot of art in a short time, it's hard to beat Bodega Bay, home to three galleries: Bodega Heritage Gallery, and just upstairs from it, the Local Color Gallery, with the Ren Brown Collection not far down the road.

Rohlfing, a retired East Bay middle school teacher, and his wife and partner, Linda Sorenson, a San Francisco attorney, exhibit work by California artists of the past at Bodega Heritage. They live in Bodega Bay now, and opened their gallery last July.

"We sell mostly from our Web site, but we needed a place where we could show our paintings," Rohlfing explained. "Some of our clients fly out to see us."

Rohlfing readily rattles of background histories for the painters whose work he displays: James Swinnerton was a pioneering Hearst newspaper cartoonist, and Disney artist Joshua Meador crafted the animated, slashing "Z" for "Zorro" once seen on the '60s television series.

At Local Color, framer Gary Smith and six artist partners concentrate on work by current Sonoma County artists.
 

Thanks to our host Vicky Kumpfer, speakers Gretchen Giles and Bruce Robinson, and to all those who attended the Media Panel discussion!

Hey! Where’s My Listing?
Making Art News in Sonoma County
A media-focused panel discussion, presented by the Sonoma County Gallery Group
October 25, 2007 – 7:30 to 9 pm
Cypress Room at the Finley Center, 2060 West College Ave., Santa Rosa

You are invited to join fellow Sonoma County Gallery Group members for a media-focused panel discussion with Gretchen Giles (Editor of the North Bay Bohemian) and Bruce Robinson (News and Public Affairs Director for KRCB Public Radio and Television) on Thursday evening, October 25th at the Finley Center in Santa Rosa. Aimed at addressing a range of news media and publicity related concerns specific to gallery owners and visual arts venues, this panel discussion promises to be interesting, practical and informative.

Focusing on strategies for creating art news in Sonoma County, this interactive forum will include opportunities for questions and conversation with Gretchen and Bruce, as well as “takeaway” materials for all attendees.

Graciously hosted by SCGG member and supporter Vicky Kumpfer and Santa Rosa’s Park and Recreation Department, Hey! Where’s My Listing? Making Art News in Sonoma County is open to all Sonoma County Gallery Group members and friends. It will be held in the Cypress Room at the Finley Center, 2060 West College Ave., Santa Rosa. Doors will open at 7:00pm for mingling, and the panel discussion runs from 7:30 until 9:00pm.

Gretchen Giles is the editor of the North Bay Bohemian, a 26-year-old award-winning alternative newsweekly serving 109,000 readers in Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties. Giles has contributed in every capacity to the Bohemian for the last 14 years; she has been editor since 2002. During her tenure at the top of the masthead, the Bohemian has won five national awards for its editorial content. Giles has been a regular contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote and edited the interactive e-letter Streetmail.com and run a gallery from her living room. When she has a choice, her focus is to write about the fine arts.

Bruce Robinson, a professional journalist for over 30 years, has worked in print, radio, and television. He has been managing editor of the Sebastopol Times & News, a reporter and talk show host for KSRO, staff writer for the Sonoma County Independent, and founding editor of the Forestville Gazette. He is currently the News and Public Affairs Director for KRCB Public Radio and Television.