Gualala Arts Promoting public interest and participation in the arts since 1961
Gualala Arts’ 14th Annual Festival of Trees will be held Thanksgiving weekend, Friday, November 24, 10am to 6 pm and Saturday, November 25, 2017, 10 am to 4 pm, kicking off the Holiday Season on the Mendonoma Coast. Admission is free.
Highlights include festively decorated booths displaying handcrafted wares and demonstrations in both the Coleman Auditorium and the Burnett Gallery. Join us for our 3rd annual Christmas Tree lighting and singing of Christmas carols on Friday, Nov. 24th from 5:00-6:00 pm.
The PPQG tree, now in its third year of being a featured jewel of the festival, is a much coveted prize whether it is being raffled, purchased or otherwise obtained. The live, potted Douglas fir tree, about four feet high, was purchased from Susan Ventrella at Gualala Nursery.
The quilting guild decided as a group on the “Blue, White and Silver” theme, said Barbara Dunsmoor, a PPQG member. All of the 50-plus ornaments and the snowflake angel topper are handmade. About 14 PPQG members made the ornaments and Judy Riddle of Point Arena made the quilted and appliqued tree skirt.
Raffle tickets for the tree are $5 each, three for $10 and 7 for $20 and are available at Gualala Arts Center and the Dolphin Gallery and will be available throughout the festival.
Gualala Arts Interest Groups will fill the Burnett Gallery with a wonderful display of crafts handmade. Participating groups include Pacific Piecemakers Quilt Guild, Fiber Arts Group, Basket Makers, Collage Group, and Beads n’ Beyond.
Every nook and cranny of the Arts Center will be overflowing with local artists and food artisans, including Rush Studio, Ellen Athens Designs, Brushstrokes (Chinese brush painting) by Andrea, Eric Nordvold’s Viking Pottery, Bear Meadows Beads, Joan Rhine Designs, Anthony Rees Designs, Bear Meadow Beads, Timber Cove Hats, Left Coast Books and Art, and Carol Frechette with accessories by 2NFROM. Handmade wreaths will be made on-site by professional wreath crafter Charles Lorenz.
Up in Uncle Sus’s Attic, shop for “lightly loved” donated art items, including a painting and painted chest of drawers by David Wayne Floyd, and many donated works by Bill Elmore. Other items include an antique postal sorting shelf and a grass screen made in Bali.
Shoppers will able to pay vendors directly for their purchases through the improved payment system, so no long lines for paying for purchases!
Santa’s Workshop will offer activities and crafts for the children, including decorating felt stockings, coloring rocks, and designing ornaments. Santa’s Workshop is in the Clay Studio downstairs at the Arts Center. To the delight of children of all ages, there will be daily visits from Santa Claus, along with his sleigh, and reindeer and a snow flurry direct from the North Pole in the DePrima Terrace! Also returning is The Grinch, welcoming visitors at the front door of the Arts Center.
Children can also shop for family and friends at the Kid’s Depot, a gift bazaar of donated items such as tea towels, trivets, soaps and sachets, candlesticks and vases, all priced within a child’s budget.
Holiday cookies, breads, puddings, fruitcake and an assortment of confections will be for sale at Mrs. Claus’ Bake Shoppe & Confectionery. Local bakers and candy makers donate goods from their favorite holiday recipes (many handed down through the generations) to this appetizing shop. There will be an amazing offering of whole pies and cakes for sale, so be sure to bring your sweet tooth and take home the perfect dessert to go along with those Thanksgiving leftovers!
Festival-goers will be greeted in the foyer by the Old Gualala Mill Cookhouse serving, a great selection of sandwiches, and award winning clam chowder from Tanya Radtkey of Black Oak Catering. Fruit and baked goodies as well as fresh coffee, hot chocolate, chilled apple juice, and hot-spiced apple cider will also be available, and for the adults, there will be the yummy winter beverage called “Scrumpy” as well as spiked eggnog.
