By convention, a piece of art for show or sale is presented on a blank white wall. This white framing represents a voiding of the art’s context. Abstracted from any context, the viewer’s experience is centered and focused on the art, apart from who made it, how or why.
Two programs, fall and spring, organized by Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Art Trails and Art at the Source, restore the context of our local art, returning it to the place it was abstracted from: the artist’s studio.
This weekend is Art Trails, where 160 local artists throw open their studios to free visits. Some of these studios will be untidy (meeting our romantic expectations). Most will be gorgeous (as these are the sovereign spaces of our professional esthetes). All will be fascinating.
I will not denigrate the white wall or the white box gallery—they are essential. But I will say that I have never failed to connect with a piece of art I don’t like when I have connected to the artist through their telling of a piece’s intention and process.
Flipping through the pages of the Art Trails official guide, I cannot find an ugly piece among them. Art Trails applicants are juried. I began my conversation with Art Trails and Art at the Source program manager Penelope Lenaerts. I found her earnest, articulate, grateful and prepared.
Cincinnatus Hibbard: Penelope, let us begin with this year’s free Art Trails guide. It is of value, in of itself, a survey of our local art in beautiful reproductions. Would you care to point out a favorite feature?
Penelope Lenaerts: On page 37 of the catalog, there is a list of all the artists that will be doing live demonstrations in their studios. So if you visit them on that day and time, you’ll be able to see them, for example, do an oil paint mixing workshop or a photography technique workshop. They have a lot of experience and spirit to share.
Amazing—more context. And I think the broad public realizes how similar artists are to alchemists in the study of their media—seeking new art through new processes. What else would you highlight?
The maps [of the open studio locations] on pages 38-41. They are a great place to see who might be making art right down the street from you.
It’s fun to discover what is being done in secret right in your own neighborhood. This guide is also available on your website, hosted at sebarts.org. Penelope, this program exists at least in part to make artists money (after their $425 entry fee, they keep 100% of their sales). But what is the deep intention of this program?
Learning about what the people around you are doing to express themselves is crucial to our own sense of well-being and our sense of community. Oftentimes, verbal communication is just not enough to express the expansive scope of human emotion. I think only art can do that. Sharing art with our neighbors is such a unique and beautiful way to feel connected to one another through this special communication tool and to feel that we really care and recognize each other. And now, more than ever, we have. (laughs)
Learn more: Art Trails is Oct. 17 and 18. Hours vary by artist. Entry is free. sonomacountyarttrails.org. Artist applications for spring open studios are open at artatthesource.org.
