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Cultural Arts
In Sonoma County, inspiration
comes in many forms. The sensual elements that make it such a rich
travel destination, including the beautiful terrain, fresh air, food
& wine, pair with the area's leisure diversions to establish a
perfectly bohemian atmosphere for creativity and celebration of the
arts.
With so many visual artists,
musicians and authors living here, Sonoma County residents are
justly proud of their local arts and culture, and visitors to the
area are presented with myriad options to access the "scene." From
galleries and avant-garde theater to rich historical museums, from
artful restaurants to the strong multi-ethnic music scene, the
entire region is awash with things to see, hear, taste and
experience.
Headliners
 The Luther Burbank Center for
the Arts (www.lbc.net) in Santa Rosa is a performing arts facility offering
a wide variety of cultural and popular programming. A community
supported non-profit organization, the LBC stages more than 100
performances a year.
The LBC is also host to six
resident companies, including the Santa Rosa Symphony, Actor's
Theater, and the Sonoma Museum of Visual Art.
The play's the thing in Sonoma
County. Local live theater flourishes year-round offering a
cornucopia of opportunity to all thespians and enthusiasts. A few of
Sonoma County's notable troupes are the Sonoma County Repertory
Theatre located in Sebastopol, Summer Repertory Theatre, and
Cinnabar Theater. Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park
is one of Sonoma County's leading stages for dance, music and
theatre, offering a year-round program of events ranging from
classical to avant-garde.
The small town of Monte Rio,
on the Russian River just west of Guerneville, offers a way for
visitors to step back in time at the Rio Theater. There's something
wonderfully retro about catching a flick at the Rio, a Quonset hut
with hand-painted murals, esteemed hot dogs and first-run films.
It's also a great way to engage the friendly local folk, who flock
to the Rio for weekend shows.
Fine Art, Wine Art, Flying
Art
 Snoopy is arguably Sonoma
County's most famous artistic icon, and now there is a museum
dedicated to the "WWII Flying Ace" beagle and the entire Peanuts
gang. The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center (www.charlesmschulzmuseum.org) opens in
August 2002 in Santa Rosa, across the street from the late Schulz's
Redwood Empire Ice Arena.
Promoting the power of art
since 1985, ARTrails Open Studios welcomes thousands of visitors to
the working studios of local artists who offer demonstrations, works
in progress, and artwork for sale. The ARTrails Preview Exhibition
at the Sonoma County Museum provides an excellent overview and first
stop for visitors before heading out on the "trail." ARTrails is
held countywide over the last two weekends of October and is a
wonderful way to discover the rich variety and quality of Sonoma
County art.
The Sebastopol Center for the
Arts' Sculpture Jam (an annual celebration of sculpture, with music
and festivities) and Art at the Source are a pair of West County
opportunities for visitors to access the local arts scene.
The Sonoma Museum of Visual
Art, originally developed as a volunteer-run gallery in 1984, has
matured to become Sonoma County's prestigious fine art museum.
With a professional staff and
outstanding team of volunteers, S-MOVA is an award winning venue
dedicated to exhibiting and interpreting contemporary art. This
critically acclaimed collection is an integral part of the Luther
Burbank Center for the Arts and is home to "California Small Works,"
a juried exhibition which attracts artists from all over the state.
Many Sonoma County galleries
specialize in the works of local artists.
Cloverdale's Broad Street
Gallery features jewelry, hand blown glass, sculpture and pottery.
Sebastopol's Bodega Avenue is home to Rose & Thorn, a glorious gift
and garden shop featuring local artists and unique national and
international goods, and Local Color in Bodega Bay represents the
work of more than 25 Sonoma County artists.
Healdsburg's Upstairs Art
Gallery and Terranean Fine Art Gallery are two more rich venues for
home-grown Sonoma County art.
The Cultural Arts Council of
Sonoma County sponsors many multidisciplinary programs, including
ARTrails Open Studios and the uncensored SoFo2 Gallery. The
Council's monthly Cultural Arts Calendar lists all activities, from
alternative to mainstream, for the entire county.
The Sebastopol Center for the
Arts presents a revolving year-round series of gallery exhibits, a
music series in Sebastopol's Downtown Plaza, art classes for all
ages and "ArtWalk" -- a monthly art appreciation event.
Housed in Santa Rosa's
restored 1909 Post Office building, the Sonoma County Museum
contains a collection of art, artifacts and maps that dramatize the
area's colorful history. An additional gallery displays the Museum's
growing collection of 19th-century
California landscape
paintings, including works by renowned artists William Keith and
Thomas Hill. On the second floor are rotating exhibits.
The campus of Santa Rosa
Junior College is the location for the Jesse Peter Native American
Museum's fantastic collection of basketry, beadwork and more.
Sonoma County is home to
dozens of independent galleries showcasing myriad forms of art.
Bodega Bay's Branscombe Gallery features fine art by some of
Northern California's premiere artists. Also in Bodega Bay is the
Ren Brown Collection, a fine art gallery specializing in works by
internationally known Japanese printmakers and Northern California
artists. Japanese tansu chests are a specialty. Downtown Sonoma is a
magnet for art galleries, most within walking distance of the
heralded Sonoma Museum of Art, devoted to local works of art.
Not surprisingly, not all of
the museums in Sonoma County could be called traditional. In Santa
Rosa, the original furnishings and memorabilia of famed
horticulturist Luther Burbank are on display at the Luther Burbank
Home and Gardens.
Docents lead tours through the
historic home. Burbank left his imprint on much of the landscape,
and another location not to miss is fascinating Gold Ridge,
Burbank's Experimental Farm in Sebastopol, a garden museum of
fascinating hybrid plantings.
Near the Charles M. Schulz -
Sonoma County Airport, Santa Rosa's Pacific Coast Air Museum
celebrates local aviation history with static displays and artifacts
including restored vintage aircraft.
The Healdsburg Museum is a
wonderfully evocative showcase of early Healdsburg history including
many Native American artifacts from Sonoma County's original Wappo,
Pomo and Miwok people, and some 5,000 photographs of the region's
pioneering families.
Wine and art have a symbiotic
relationship, and many Sonoma County wineries also have gallery
space. Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa, Kenwood's Family
Wineries, and Bartholomew Park Winery in Sonoma are just a few.
Tuning In
The Santa Rosa Symphony
(www.santarosasymphony.com), a
resident company at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, was
founded in 1927. Conducted by world-renowned pianist Jeffrey Kahane,
the Santa Rosa Symphony gives approximately 25 performances per year
and boasts a strong youth music education component.
The Cotati Philharmonic is a
new community orchestra whose debut, a Fourth of July pops concert
in 1999, attracted 1,200 enthusiastic music lovers. Led by Music
Director Gabriel Sakakeeny, the all-volunteer orchestra is a living
example of the community's dedication to the arts. For those with a
fondness for the squeeze box, Cotati is also the site for the summer
Cotati Accordion Festival! Local music groups and resources include
McNear's Mystic Theater, Sonoma County Live Music Directory and
Sonoma County Music Association.
Sonoma County's Festival
Circuit
Summer is the hottest season
for Sonoma County's annual arts and cultural festivals, although
they do take place year round. The annual Wine Country Film Festival
fetes the best in international cinema, with spectacular outdoor
screenings at Jack London State Park and in theaters across the
county. In addition, there are attending filmmakers, tributes,
seminars, and special events. The festival is held each August.
The popular Bodega Bay
Fisherman's Festival graces the Sonoma County coast every April for
Pacific-inspired festivities and ceremonies including the annual
blessing of Bodega's fleet of fishing boats.
For those in love with
Shakespeare, works of the Bard are showcased during the Sonoma
Valley Shakespeare Festival, staged Friday through Sunday evenings,
July through September.
The annual Russian River Jazz
Festival is the September event for lovers of America's music. It's
sun, swimsuits and fantastic music at Johnson's Beach in
Guerneville. The kids can splash in the water while the adults soak
up the sounds of world-class musicians.
With a legacy that reaches
back to the Summer of Love, the Health and Harmony Music and Arts
Festival takes place at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa
each June. The Harmony Festival features live music, an alternative
health/healing expo, booths for local environmental issues, great
food, wine tasting, kid's activities, arts and crafts, massage and
the ever-popular Goddess Temple.
Fifty-seven T-Birds, '64
Mustangs, Tuckers and Edsels get top billing -- along with gourmet
food and wine -- at the Vintage Race Car Festival, an annual benefit
event.
The event takes place in late
spring/early summer at Infineon Raceway and Sebastiani Vineyards in
Sonoma.
In the latter half of June,
the Cotati Jazz Festival celebrates the glory of bebop, bringing
excellent musicians into the small clubs surrounding La Plaza Park
in beautiful downtown Cotati. Visitors are given a badge that allows
admittance to all venues.
Also in late June is Kenwood's
Lavender Festival -- a multi-sensory celebration of the
extraordinary purple plant on a five-acre lavender farm in full
bloom. Farm tours, Ucut lavender, lavender massage, wreath and craft
making, aromatherapy and lavender cuisine are offered. Many of
Sonoma County's creative chefs infuse certain dishes with lavender,
and the plant has a long tradition of use in luxurious spa
treatments at venues such as the Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa.
Fort Ross Volunteer Fire
Department's Annual Summer Festival wakes up Cazadero once a year
with bands, dancing and food in late June.
Petaluma's Victorian Festival
of Lights is what happens when Santa circumvents air traffic control
and arrives via tugboat on the Petaluma River. An antique-wagon and
horse procession follows, and the Victorian fantasy of lights
continues from midday to evening. The "olde-tyme" celebration occurs
at the end of November in Petaluma.
More
information is also available at
www.sonomacounty.com
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