Gualala Arts Promoting public interest and participation in the arts since 1961
Important Deadlines for artists entered in the Fine Arts Exhibit:
Monday & Tuesday, September 3 & 4, Pick Up Art Work
Artworks released to artists and buyers Monday from 12 noon – 4 pm and
Tuesday, 10 am-4 pm. Thereafter, $5 per day storage fee per piece of art.
Art in the Redwoods
2018 Fine Arts Exhibit awards here.
The 57th Annual Art in the Redwoods Fine Arts Exhibit.
The largest Art Exhibit of its kind in Northern California.
Last year, Mark Chase won First Place for his sculpture “Study in Motion,” a revolving piece.
Visit Gualala Arts 57th Annual Art in the Redwoods Festival Events Schedule here.
Get a sneak peek at the Hats Off Dinner & Champagne Preview!
Gualala Arts keeps the fine arts exhibit carefully under wraps until the last possible moment! Want to be one of the first in the know about the winners and awards? Attend these premier events that help support the Gualala Arts Center and maintain this amazing festival experience!
Hats Off Dinner
Thursday, August 16, 2018 at 6 pm
Dinner by local chefs & Gualala Arts Culinary Guild
Entertainment by Four Shillings Short
$150 per person, includes $100 letter of tax deductible donation
Champagne Preview
Friday, August 17, 2018, 4 to 7 pm
Champagne served 4-6 pm
Outdoor Artists Vendor Booths preview at 4 pm
Fine Art Exhibit opens at 4:30 pm
Judges Critique & Awards at 6:15 pm
Entertainment by Four Shillings Short
$10 at the door, exhibiting artists free
Doors Open at 4 pm
The Art in the Redwoods Fine Arts Exhibit is at the heart of the Art in the Redwoods Festival. The Champagne Preview is the opening reception for all of the amazing artists who have entered their work and the first viewing of the show.
With more than 300 art items entered, this event continues to be one of the largest of its kind in Northern California. Artists from throughout California will enter this year’s exhibit in 16 categories and $5,000 will be awarded in cash prizes.
The Champagne Preview is also a chance to meet some of the vendors who will be sharing their wares during the festival. Judging takes place all day Friday and there is much anticipation before the doors open at 4:30 pm. Once inside, take your time perusing the many works while you enjoy a glass of champagne, served from 4 to 6 pm. At 6:15 pm in Coleman Hall, the husband and wife judging team of Bruce Mitchell and Nancy Hemmingway will give insights into how they went about picking the winners and offer an informative and interesting critique on each piece.
Awards include Best of Show, Best Local Work, Most Popular, Judges Awards, Redwood Coast Land Conservancy, Friends of the Gualala River, Mendonoma Sightings, Beading Excellence, Emerging Artist (best work under age 18), and First through Third prizes in all categories:
Oil & Acryilics, etc; Water Media; Prints & Graphics; Sculpture; Monochromatic Photography; Color Photography; Digital Art; Pastels & Drawings; Woodworking; Glass; Jewelry & Ornamentation; Clay & Mosaic; Fibers, Textiles & Soft Sculpture; Quilts; Collage, Mixed Media & 2-D Assemblage; and Weaving.
2018 Judges Bruce Mitchell and Nancy Hemmingway
Bruce Mitchell has been working with wood for over four decades in northern California and is widely known for his lathe-turned vessels, sculptural tables, benches and abstract forms. In addition to books and catalogs, his work can be found in numerous museums and private collections throughout the United States. As Bruce’s early lathe work evolved from the austere, classic shapes of Asian ceramics into more spontaneous, one-of-a-kind sculptural vessels, he began to expand upon the carving techniques he learned from his mentor J.B. Blunk in developing pure abstract forms. Among Bruce’s latest works is a series of wall-mounted, wood kimonos that represent his homage to that iconic textile form.
Wood burl carved by Bruce Mitchell.
Click hereto see Mitchell at work with chainsaw.
Bruce states, “Making art is something I absolutely have to do because it fills my life with a delight like nothing else. What makes that experience so fulfilling for me is exploring the connection between my feelings for the material and the sense of discovery that happens in the making of an object. My primary focus is to use my experience, instinct and intuition to visualize an intrinsic shape within the raw material that relates to its own unique personality, responding to the changing rhythms of positive and negative shapes and spaces that emerge as a form develops. My intent as an artist is to draw upon nature, journeys into dream worlds and the unknown, and then bring life to those excursions through the language of sculpture.”
Nancy Hemmingway was the librarian for the Inverness library for 42 years, retiring in 2014. A former substitute teacher in Oakland and Petaluma, Hemmingway came to the Point Reyes/Inverness area in 1971 and co-founded of the Dance Palace, a non-profit community center providing a wide variety of educational, recreational, cultural and community services for youth and adults in western Marin County. The Dance Palace still serves as the central community facility for the small, semi-rural coastal villages of West Marin including Point Reyes Station, Inverness, Olema, Nicasio, Marshall, Bolinas and Stinson Beach. Originally founded as a studio for dance, in an historical building referred to locally as the “Old Palace”, the Dance Palace has developed into one of the most active community facilities in the Bay Area. The Palace Players presented exciting productions including Threepenny Opera and Tango, and the Hot Tomales Theatre Company was formed and showcased works including The Rose Tattoo and A Streetcar Named Desire. According to Nancy Hemmingway, they were “seven idealistic dreamers who found we were capable of doing wonderful crazy things and getting people in cahoots with us.”