Welcome Back from Russia

Friday, September 28 at 5:00 p.m.
Burnett Gallery

The Burnett Gallery exhibit, Kashaya Portraits: Historic and Contemporary, provides a fitting venue for the "Welcome Back From Russia" party on Friday, September 28 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Gualala Arts Center.

A group with representatives from Kashaya, Fort Ross and Gualala Arts left on Thursday, September 6, for a trip that included visits to St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Tot'ma, home of Alexandrovich Kusko, the founder of Fort Ross.

In St. Petersburg, the Kashaya Pomo visited the collection of Pomo artifacts collected in the Fort Ross area by Ilya Voznesenski. At the reception in the Burnett Gallery, the group will see the portraits of Essie Parrish, the last local spiritual leader of the Kashaya Band, taken in the 1960s by Bill Heick, Sr., anthropologist at both UC Berkeley and Sonoma State University.

The exhibit features additional photographs by his son, Bill Heick, Jr., taken fifty years later, including some of the returning travelers. David 'Sus' Susalla, Executive Director of Gualala Arts and delegation participant, says, "Together, the photographs portray a living, contemporary culture, as well as the remarkable legacy that is passed from generation to generation."

One display shows the process for basket making, a craft at which the Pomo traditionally excel. It illustrates the various stages of weaving baskets from hazel, sedge root, willow and seaweed. Reed dolls, student collages, and contemporary art and beadwork complete the show.

Select tour members will share experiences of not only the usual sights such as the Hermitage Museum and the Kremlin, but also some specially arranged activities. In Moscow they will attend a dinner hosted by the American Embassy and be formally presented to the Duma, the Russian equivalent of Congress.

After an eight-hour train ride and a hundred mile motor trip to Tot'ma, the group will be hosted for two days in the private homes of volunteer citizens, many of whom have intimate knowledge of Fort Ross. The event concludes after a question and answer period. Light snacks and no-host beverages will be available.

Trip to Russia

September, 2012

More photos on

The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA,
is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information, or email info@gualalaarts.org.

Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.