Page 273 | Bohemian | Sonoma & Napa Counties

Trio of Sonoma Art Shows Celebrate Local Talent

Charlie Swanson

Jul 30, 2021

Trio of Sonoma Art Shows Celebrate Local Talent

This summer, several artistic exhibitions in Sonoma present West Coast and North Bay-based artists working in a variety of mediums.

This year, wine country marketplace Cornerstone Sonoma partners with Oakland-based SLATE Contemporary to feature a series of three art exhibitions that will run eight-weeks each through December 2021.

Currently on display, “Summer Color by SLATE @ Cornerstone”–the first show in the series–features contemporary paintings, prints, and sculpture from West Coast artists Suzanne Frazier, Bean Finneran, Juan-Alonso Rodrigez, Tobias Toveras and Kate Zimmer.

Each artist is inspired by nature in their abstract artworks. Suzanne Frazier’s circular flower paintings and prints are derived from the colors of individual pixels from her digital flower photographs. Tobias Tovera’s compositions are inspired by coastal topography, tidal patterns and geodes. Juan Alonso-Rodriguez’s color field paintings are inspired by gazing at the horizon across the sea. Kate Zimmer’s colorful paintings refer both to the Bay Area and to the artist’s native Midwest. Sculptor Bean Finneran creates forms and abstract shapes from clay that evoke natural forms such as sea anemones, coral reefs, haystacks and wind-blown grasses.

“Summer Color” can be viewed through August 29. Fridays to Sundays, 11am to 5pm, or Mondays to Thursdays by appointment, at 23570 Arnold Drive, Sonoma. Cornerstonesonoma.com/events.

Opening on Thursday, Aug. 5, the Sonoma Community Center presents five North Bay fiber artists using traditional techniques to create unconventional works in “Stitches: Outside the Lines.”

“Stitching has long been associated with mending or sewing a garment, so to see the immense range and creativity of our featured artists in the upcoming exhibit is inspiring,” Eric Jackson, Creative Programs Manager of Sonoma Community Center, says in a statement.

The five featured artists are Frances Arnold, Lori Goldman, Emily Marks, Janet McBeen and Hella Merrill. The artists all work in embroidery, crochet, knitting, twisting and weaving; and they specialize in creating repetitive patterns, applying one material on another and using unusual and unexpected materials.

“Stitches: Outside the Lines” opens with a reception and artist talk on Aug. 5, at the Sonoma Community Center’s Gallery 212, 276 East Napa Street, Sonoma. 5:30pm. Free. Sonomacommunitycenter.org.

Up next, the Arts Guild of Sonoma is opening a two-month exhibition in which 23 artist members present their art through August and September.

Those artist members include nationally and internationally recognized veteran mixed media artist Kirk Hinshaw and prolific watercolor artist Irene Ehret; both of whom were recently honored alongside Roberta Alexander with Lifetime Memberships to the Arts Guild of Sonoma.

The Arts Guild’s member showcase opens with a reception on Saturday, Aug 7, at 140 East Napa Street, Sonoma. 5pm. Free. Artsguildofsonoma.org.

Unvaccinated Propel New Wave of Covid Cases in North Bay

Nikki Silverstein and Will Carruthers

Jul 28, 2021

Unvaccinated Propel New Wave of Covid Cases in North Bay

Six weeks after California officials reopened the economy, the state grapples with the fourth wave of Covid-19. New statewide vaccination requirements were announced on Monday, July 26, and North Bay counties now urge residents to wear masks in public spaces.

On July 26, California became the first state in the country to require that all state and health care workers be vaccinated or submit to Covid testing at least once a week. Ten days earlier, Marin and Sonoma County health officials joined other Bay Area authorities to recommend residents wear masks indoors, although state and local regulations no longer require fully vaccinated individuals to do so. Napa County issued its indoor mask recommendation days later.

The delta variant, an especially contagious strain of Covid-19 first detected in India, is able to infect vaccinated people at a higher rate than previous strains, and has become more and more prevalent.

As a result, “variant” is now a misleading term, Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County’s public health officer, said. Similar to the trend statewide, it is now the dominant version of Covid-19, representing 80–90% of Marin’s new cases.

In California, the delta variant comprised 43% of Covid cases in June. Nationwide, the figure was 58%, according to the Centers for Disease Control. By late July, the delta variant accounted for nearly 83% of all new cases in California.

Although they now recommend wearing masks again, health officials are careful to highlight that getting vaccinated is the most important step residents can take.

“We’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of educating our community… Vaccination is by far the most important strategy, followed by face coverings in indoor public settings,” Willis said last week.

Dr. Sundari Mase, Sonoma County’s public health officer, mirrored the comments in a July 16 statement announcing the regional mask recommendation.

“After vaccination, masking is the next most powerful tool we have to protect ourselves and each other during this latest wave of infections,” Mase said. “Wearing masks, especially indoors and in crowded outdoor settings, will help us contain this more transmissible variant.”

So far, neither county has mandated the use of masks for vaccinated or unvaccinated people.

“I do not anticipate moving from our current stance of recommending masks to mandating them,” Willis said last week.

By Sunday, July 25, 62% of all Californians 12 and older were fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, 86% of eligible Marin County residents and 70% of Sonoma County residents had been fully vaccinated. Marin has the highest vaccination rate in the state and one of the highest in the nation.

Sonoma County had 1,040 active Covid cases as of July 25, the highest rate in the county since March. The first two weeks of July saw 10 deaths, out of a total of 329 deaths throughout the pandemic.

One Covid death occurred last week in Marin County, the first in the county in two months, with a total of 186 deaths throughout the pandemic. The county confirmed 327 active cases over the past two weeks, as of July 26.

Marin, one of the first counties to recognize the particular threat of the highly-transmissible delta variant, identified its initial case in April. The county has prioritized whole genome sequencing, the process that allows the identification of variants.

Between 20–25% of all Marin cases occur in the totally vaccinated, according to Willis. These occurrences, known as “breakthrough cases,” are defined as a case in a person who was vaccinated two or more weeks earlier. There have been 177 breakthrough infections in the county. However, unvaccinated residents account for over 90% of all hospitalizations and 100% of all deaths in Marin.

In Sonoma County, 83% of people hospitalized with Covid-19 have been unvaccinated, officials announced on Tuesday.

Marin health officials have not seen a significant difference of risk for breakthrough infections based on the type of vaccination received.

While Marin and Sonoma counties have higher-than-average vaccination rates, recent outbreaks in both counties also show the ongoing risks—especially for vulnerable populations, including people experiencing homelessness and children under the age of 12 who are not eligible to be vaccinated.

In early July, the Press Democrat broke news that 47 of 153 residents of Sam Jones Hall, Sonoma County’s largest homeless shelter, had tested positive for the delta variant.

The outbreak represented the largest known infection in the county’s unhoused population since the start of the pandemic. By July 26, the outbreak had spread to 107 residents and several staff members.

Sam Jones, which Catholic Charities of Sonoma County had operated at lower capacity throughout the pandemic, ran at 70% capacity by July. Less than half of the residents had been vaccinated.

Catholic Charities acknowledged that they had not required residents to provide a negative Covid test before being admitted to the shelter, but instead simply screened for symptoms. One resident of the shelter told the Press Democrat that the nonprofit had not enforced masking and other safety guidelines very strictly prior to the outbreak.

Marin County experienced two outbreaks of the delta variant in May. A cluster of 30 cases, all attributed to the delta strain, occurred in the neighboring towns of Fairfax and San Anselmo. Contact tracing did not find a superspreader event or a single identifiable source.

Our Lady of Loretto School, a private Catholic K-8 school in Novato, suffered a spate of delta variant infections beginning in late May. All those infected were unvaccinated, including some children who were too young to receive the vaccine.

At this point, the unvaccinated—who have had months to obtain their vaccinations, which have been widely available at convenient times and locations—have made a decision to delay. Unfortunately, the vaccine-hesitant are now prolonging the pandemic, especially because the delta variant is highly transmissible.

“My concern is that people may misunderstand breakthrough cases as a sign that the vaccine is not effective,” Willis said. “In fact, the vaccine is highly protective against severe illness and death, even against the delta variant. Because this variant is more contagious and is spreading more quickly, it finds unvaccinated people. If they aren’t protected by the vaccine, we could still be at risk for surges of people coming into the hospital and preventable deaths.”

Open Mic: How Fair Is My Tent!

Rita S. Losch

Jul 28, 2021

Although my house consists

of walls, floors, ceilings,

doors, windows and corners,

straight lines, right angles,

my life living in it is

curved, organic, amoebic,

visceral, freeform, flowing,

a place where magic

horizontal words and lines

can meander, bend, curl,

twist as I follow metaphors

down rounded rabbit-shaped

rabbit-holes and up into

dreaming fluffy clouds,

responses responding to

responses floating with

no beginning, no ending.

My house is my tent,

palm-groves and cedars,

my retreat, my palace,

a place of playful work,

my very own paradise,

blooming in the desert of my mere humanity.

Rita S. Losch, M.A., MFA, lives in Santa Rosa—not too far from black-and-white cows. We welcome your contribution. To have your topical essay of 350 words considered for publication, write op@**an.com.*

Traveling Event Series Showcases Sonoma Sights and Flavors

Charlie Swanson

Jul 27, 2021

Traveling Event Series Showcases Sonoma Sights and Flavors

Located one half-block up from Sonoma’s historic Plaza, the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art showcases exhibitions of contemporary and modern art and engages the public in educational programs for all ages.

This season, the museum is branching out from its space in downtown Sonoma to show off several other local destinations in the upcoming Great Places/Great Spaces 2021 event series, running August through December 2021.

Over the course of five events, art and food aficionados will travel to historic homes and farms in the Sonoma Valley to experience artistic and epicurean excellence up close.

First, Sonoma Valley Museum of Art invites local adventurers to Stone Barn Farm for a sunset sip & stroll gathering on Saturday, Aug. 14.

Located less than a mile from Sonoma Plaza, the property is one of Sonoma’s oldest farms in continuous use, and features several original 19th-century structures.

On-site homeowners Gail and John Diserens commissioned architect Chris Cahill to design a modern home while maintaining the rural character of the old farm.

Both the Diserens and Cahill will be on hand for an insider’s view of this storied property. The evening will include a casual tour of the farm, hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, art and more.

Other events taking place as part of Great Places/Great Spaces 2021 includes a Harvest Moon Dinner on Oct. 16 that begins at the Hydeout Sonoma ranch and moves over to Gremlin Farms.

At the Hydeout, guest will enjoy fresh oysters right off the grill and Dysfunctional Family wines courtesy of property owners Cynthia and Ken Wornick. Then, guests can walk through the gate over to Steve and Lori Bush’s Gremlin Farms to partake in all-you-can-eat dining with an Old West theme and special wines and other libations.

The series wraps up in December with a Winter Wonderland Cocktail Party on Dec. 4, hosted by Hosts Scott Foster and Paul Arata at their striking contemporary home just minutes outside of downtown Sonoma. In addition to good cheer and good drinks, the evening will offer a diverse collection of art, including sculpture and vintage posters, on view.

With limited space available at these venues and homes, some events in the series are already full, such as the Hidden Hillside wine and food reception in September and the Spreckels Mansion dinner party in November. Great Places/Great Spaces 2021 event tickets are available at svma.charityproud.org.

Edible Art Comes to Sebastopol

Charlie Swanson

Jul 21, 2021

Formed in the Mission District neighborhood in San Francisco more than a decade ago, The Great Tortilla Conspiracy is a one-of-a-kind food art collective that utilizes actual, edible tortillas as their canvas of choice.

This week, the unusual collective is packing up their artistic ingredients and traveling from the Mission up to Sebastopol for an interactive and delicious in-person event on Thursday, July 22, at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts.

Presented in collaboration with the Graton Labor Center, the in-person event will feature satirical and edible screen-printed art consisting of chocolate on tortillas that can be both a culinary delight or a collectible artifact.

The Great Tortilla Conspiracy brings the gospel of tortilla art to the North Bay for a tongue-in-cheek homage to the miraculous apparitions of various spiritual figures on various foodstuffs through history. The collective also embraces the philosophy of “Free food for all,” and so these tortillas are, well, free.

The event also features powerful testimonies by worker leaders from ALMAS/Graton Day Labor Center, who are on the front lines locally and statewide to uplift labor standards, win immigrant rights, and to end the exclusion of domestic workers from health and safety protections.

The free event will also include live music by Dr. Loco and Francisco Herrera, churros, a photo booth and more.

Concurrently, San Francisco muralist Jos Sances–one of the founding members of the Great Tortilla Conspiracy–will speak about his massive life-size mural “Or, The Whale” that is currently on display at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts

On his website, Sances writes that, “For 8 months I joyfully and manically was able to focus on this very large scratchboard drawing inspired by Moby Dick and the history of whaling in America. The whale’s skin is embedded with a history of capitalism in America, images of human and environmental exploitation and destruction since 1850. The whale is a metaphor for survival, immortality and a reason for optimism.”

The last time that Sances spoke about his mural at Sebastopol Center for the Arts, it was standing-room only. This week, he returns for another discussion of the 52-foot mural, presented in English and translated into Spanish.

The Great Tortilla Conspiracy and Jos Sances appear for an in-person night of digestible art and insightful political discussion on Thursday, July 22, at Sebastopol Center for the Arts, 282 S High St., Sebastopol. Free admission, donations welcome. 5:40pm to 7:30pm. Sebarts.org.

Search Warrants Shed Light on Pig’s Blood Vandalism Investigation

Chelsea Kurnick and Will Carruthers

Jul 21, 2021

Search Warrants Shed Light on Pig’s Blood Vandalism Investigation

Legal documents released last week begin to illuminate the Santa Rosa Police Department’s investigation into the April 17 vandalism of a Derek Chauvin defense witness’s former home and a white marble statue in downtown Santa Rosa.

In doing so, the documents also shed light on the extent of the resources police have used to pursue suspects in the case, including relying on the cost of the vandalism to pursue felony charges, and using a confidential informant to receive search warrants in the case.

While the crime received large amounts of media attention due to its connection to a trial at the heart of the nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, court documents indicate it is ultimately not a case for the history books.

Early on the morning of April 17, a group of individuals deposited a pig’s head on the porch of the former home of Barry Brodd, and splattered a considerable amount of pig’s blood outside it. Brodd, a retired SRPD officer who left the department in 2004, made national news days before when he took the stand to defend Chauvin, who was on trial for killing Floyd.

A short time after the vandalizing of Brodd’s former home, a large white marble hand sculpture in front of the Santa Rosa Plaza mall was also discovered covered in blood, an SRPD press release from the time states. Because both acts of vandalism involved pig’s blood and occurred the same day, police assume the crimes were related.

On Friday, July 16, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office charged five suspects with the crimes. More specifically, Kristen Aumoithe, Rowan Dalbey and Amber Lucas were charged with felony vandalism of the hand sculpture, while Colin Metcalfe and Christina Henry were charged with felony vandalism of the residence. All five also faced charges of felony conspiracy to commit a crime.

On the day of Brodd’s April testimony, SRPD’s chief released a statement distancing the department from Brodd’s statements in support of Chauvin’s conduct.

In addition to working for SRPD, Brodd taught at the Santa Rosa Junior College’s police academy for four decades before leaving in 2013. He also served as president of the Santa Rosa Police Officers Association between 2003 and 2006, according to the law enforcement union’s nonprofit tax filings and press coverage from the time.

Court records released last week show that, on April 20, several days after the vandalism, an SRPD detective received a warrant from the Sonoma County Superior Court to search the Sonoma County Meat Co. for security camera footage, a receipt for “the sale of the blood of a pig or the head of a pig” on April 16, and other financial records from the day.

During their search, detectives obtained a receipt for the cash purchase of 5 gallons of blood paid for by someone identified as “Chris.” A phone number used to order the blood, and video footage from the shop, both pointed to Kristen Aumoithe, the detective stated in a document filed with the court.

Using the evidence from the butcher’s shop, detectives filed a second, much more expansive search warrant application to investigate Aumoithe and her roommate, Rowan Dalbey. In the search warrant application, within the statement of probable cause, a detective describes surveilling the residence of Aumoithe and Dalbey and following Dalbey to her job. He also describes that information provided by an informant stated Dalbey’s employer.

In addition to containing the detective’s description of why both Aumoithe and Dalbey are considered suspects, the application outlines the items SRPD wishes to seize. The list is mostly composed of electronic devices and access to digital media, including stored passwords, text and voice messages, email, contacts, web search histories and more.

Although SRPD is operating on the assumption that the vandalism occurred in direct response to Brodd’s testimony on April 13—and, thus, could not have been planned before that—the search warrants request access to the suspect’s media from Jan. 17 through May 7. This also includes “all location data for the dates above. Location data may be stored as GPS locations or cellular tower connection data. Location data may be found in the metadata of photos and social networking posts, Wi-Fi logs, and data associated with installed applications.”

The document also requests to seize “all photographic/video/audio data and associated metadata,” without a date range cited. It requests that SRPD be allowed to seize and search the devices as long as needed, rather than for the 10 days a search warrant usually requires, noting that multiple searches are conducted simultaneously by SRPD and can take weeks to complete.

Judges authorized all search warrants in the case, setting the searches in motion. In total, officers searched the residence, vehicles and persons of Aumoithe and Dalbey, seizing two iPhones, three laptops, two tablets, a memory card for a camera, mail and a pay stub at the residence of Aumoithe and Dalbey. Later that day, they applied the same search criteria to Amber Lucas.

In texts and audio messages attributed to Lucas and Aumoithe quoted in the search warrant documents filed by an SRPD detective, the two women discuss plans for dumping blood at the mall and Aumoithe’s experience purchasing the blood at the butcher’s shop.

“We could literally wear backpacks with the blood and walk there from your house through the mall,” Aumoithe writes in one text sent on April 16.

“Perfect,” Lucas responds.

After news of the vandalism breaks the next day, Aumoithe expresses shock at the way the pig’s blood was used to vandalize Brodd’s former home.

“I thought they were gonna pour it on the ground by the head or something,” Aumoithe writes.

“Same,” Lucas replies.

“I’m not taking the blame for the house,” Aumoithe later writes.

The search warrants were requested pursuant to portions of Penal Code Section 1524 that allow for seizure of “Property used as means of committing a felony” and “Evidence that tends to show a felony was committed.”

In this case, SRPD’s request for search warrants hinged on the vandalism instances being charged as felonies, rather than misdemeanors. How an act of vandalism is charged hinges on the cost to repair the damage it caused. If the cost of the damages exceeds $400, the crime can be charged as a felony. Anyone suspected of a felony may be subjected to the sort of search warrants served to Aumoithe, Dalbey and Lucas.

Broadly speaking, felonies are considered the most serious crimes. Yet felonies range from murder to … vandalism. The $400 line between misdemeanor- and felony-level vandalism is a low threshold, opening many people accused of non-violent crimes to significant scrutiny.

In a statement, Aumoithe’s lawyer, Vincent Barrientos, called the DA’s charges trumped-up and said he suspects that the investigation has been tainted. “The Sonoma County District Attorney has overcharged this case, alleging a conspiracy that didn’t exist. My client never participated in, nor coordinated, any type of vandalism at the former home of Barry Brodd,” he said.

Lucas’s lawyer, Omar Figueroa, said in a statement that, “My client Amber Lucas is innocent and the allegations against her are untrue.” Figueroa also denied two claims made in the DA’s charges: that Lucas had posted on social media about taking action against Brodd on April 13, and that she had researched the location of Brodd’s house.

To date, the search warrant for Colin Metcalfe and Christina Henry remains sealed in its entirety. All five suspects are scheduled to appear in court in August.

This article is part of the Bohemian’s ongoing series about the fallout from the April pig’s head vandalism and the surrounding intrigue. Read the first part of the series, Bad Blood, here.

Thoughts, news tips or comments? You can reach Will Carruthers at wc*********@*****ys.com.