Art Center Ukiah

Tom Johnsen is Featured Artist on Friday, April 2nd

We all know Tom Johnsen's paintings...like him they are abstract and bold. Showing along with Tom's paintings will be his New York cityscape photographs...colorful sunsets in the backdrop of the famed city.

Refreshments will be served complemented with wine from Weibel Family Vineyard at the reception from 5 to 8 pm. Music will be performed by Jim Tuhtan of Jazz Illusions.

 Come meet Tom Johnsen, hear music, and taste wine at 201 South State Street in Ukiah!

First Friday featuring Christos Nikopoulos on March 5th

In March, Corner Gallery Ukiah features Christos Nikopoulos with his unique creation of “ARTGRAPHY…the blending of art, lens and technology…”  His dynamic expressions of every day experiences take the viewer to a new perspective of the world. Meet Christos at the First Friday reception on March 5th.

Christos is professionally trained in photographic portraiture, commercial photography and is an expert with enhancement skills. He is also the creator of “Design Art Images,” a boutique art form where he photographs a portrait of you or one of your personal items, and artistically enhances them, creating your personal one-of-a-kind work of art.

Christos resides in nearby Anderson Valley. He was winner of Best of Show at the 2007 Art in the Redwoods Fine Art Exhibit. He also shows his work at the Dolphin Gallery in Gualala, the Burnett Gallery, Gualala Arts Center, Howard Fine Studios in Hollywood, and Third Dimension Gallery at the Mauna Lani Resort, Kohala Coast Hawaii.

At the First Friday reception on March 5th, Chris Gibson with the Broadcasters will provide musical entertainment. Wayne Bauer of Tahto Winery will pour his local Mendocino County wine and the gallery will serve appetizers.

Nancy McHone Featured at First Friday, October 2nd

The Corner Gallery is happy to feature the work of Nancy McHone in October, with the opening reception at the First Friday Artwalk on October 2nd, from 5 to 8 pm. At the reception, Simaine Wine will pour and appetizers will be served.

Artist Statement

I am a sculptor who makes armatures from wire, foamcore board, canvas and found wood and then lays a skin of paper and glue over them. While most of my work is wall-hung, this recent series (called Rural Weave) has many free-standing pieces. A basket-like nexus of warp and weft creates an interdependence of parts that are painted with the spirit of wood as textures, branches, leaves and stems interwoven. These artworks are containers of this spirit and an associative memory of my rural lifestyle.

As part of a group of artists I call Mendocino County Ruralists - mostly urban people whose art chronicles their relocation to Northern California in the 1970’s as part of the back-to-the-land movement - I helped support a family and rural homestead through private and public art making, community arts organizing and teaching. For me, art is therapeutic and this intention is the source of its value. An ethical purpose makes it visually engaging and that is why my artwork recalls the multiple strands of my life as a ruralist. My “extroverted” art (masks, figurative and still life) reflects commitment to home and community, and my “introverted” art (non-objective based on natural forms) patterns a personal response to the world of nature that surrounds me. Each piece is a reminder of the moment that created it, but all are linked through their shaped and layered surfaces which parallel the layers of my life. Early experiences with theater design taught me to make forms that were held together with a glue soaked cloth called Celastic. This translated into a personal art medium that has always involved sculpting base shapes and covering them with my version of papier mache – materials devalued in the art world but accessible, cheap and plentiful for me.

My work is real in itself rather than a representation of reality. Outlines re verify the constructed shapes; surface texture and brushstrokes, and value added with glazes of transparent and opaque color all emphasize the 3D of real and invented shadows. I create variety in a more physical, satisfying way by bending forms to an internal feeling for the shape of things rather than what would come from observing the real variety of nature and humans. I am making art to restore health – metaphors for an increasingly unpredictable world as “topographies” exploring asymmetrical balance. These are surfaces on which I can have some impact in a world in which I have trouble trying to do so.

First Friday Featuring Ree Slocum and Katie Gibbs, Sep 4th 5 to 8 pm

This month we feature the work of metal sculptor Katie Gibbs and photographer Ree Slocum. Come talk with them at our reception on September 4th, from 5 to 8 pm, while listening to guitar music by Michael Guleff and tasting wine poured by Mendocino Wine Company.

Katie does metalwork and is currently working on a very large steel garden gate with the design of a Valley Oak. She is also making steel garden sculptures. Her current sculptures are of sylvan creatures who might be hiding in the oaks. She works with steel plate and tube, and cuts the design with a plasma torch, sometimes grinding and welding. Most of her work is done for a specific site, and she enjoys working on commission.

Ree Slocum's photographic flower images have been shown in shows and galleries in Northern California since 2004. Her work is in private collections in many countries around the world. Ree's use of natural light and color tantalize the imagination...one is drawn into the heart of a flower, and the image is continually unfolding, as the flower is frozen in time.

Classical Guitarist Michael Guleff will play at the opening with selections from the baroque and classical period as well as some contemporary work. Michael has a Masters Degree in classical guitar and teaches world music for Mendocino College.

All Mendocino Wine Company wines are inspired by (and essentially connected to) Mendocino County, the place and its people. Paul Dolan along with Tom, Tim, and Tommy Thornhill Jr. have come together to create Mendocino Wine Company, which acquired Parducci Wine Cellars and is developing several new brands and wines consistent with a theme of sustaining what's best, and creating what's next.

Featured Artists Myers, Spencer, and Wilson in August

Join us on the 7th for the opening reception of our show featuring Cynthia Myers' handblown and etched glass, and the assemblage art of Susan Spencer and Michael Wilson.Their work will be shown in the Corner Gallery throughout August. Pouring wine for the First Friday reception, we'll have our local Chiarito Vineyard. Playing music for the evening is Michael Barrish, a life long musician.

Cynthia Myers creates exquisite sand-carved art glass in her studio on the beautiful Mendocino Coast of California. The designs feature floral and animal themes. Each image is etched accurately with meticulous attention to the intricate details of the design. With an eye for subtlety and detail, Cynthia employs a shadowing technique that gives her artistry depth and dimension. All pieces are hand blown, individually drawn and sandblasted, signed and dated.

Working under the studio name Art Avenue, Michael Wilson and Susan Spencer are long-time residents of Anderson Valley, CA. Their primary artistic focus is in assemblage. They can be found haunting second hand stores, antique alleys, garage sales, and the internet to find just the right "stuff" to include in their work. Their studio is on their ranch outside of Philo. This month, they will show some of their latest works in assemblage.

Chiarito Vineyard is a small award-winning boutique winery in Mendocino County. Best use of the land is made by tending vines well-suited to the distinctive terroir and creating limited production wines. Inspired by his Italian-American heritage, John Chiarito subscribes to old, sustainable farming techniques. The saying that he lives by is fatto a mano, "everything by hand", and John Chiarito’s allegiance to that philosophy can be seen in his wines, vines, buildings and food. Chiarito Vineyard was also the first in the US to officially produce Nero d'Avola and Negro Amaro Italian varietals.

Musician Michael Barrish has been writing songs for 30 years, covering a variety of styles, from cowboy to blues. He is a past winner of the Best Performance Award for the West Coast Song Writers in San Luis Obispo County. He performs his own material in a wide variety of venues, including Farmers Markets. He recently put on the first singer songwriter festival in Lakeport, a success with 11 local acts and fundraising for the local radio station.

Ceramic masks by Susan Blackwelder and baskets by Denise Roumbanis in July

On July 3rd, join us for our opening with featured art — ceramic masks by Susan Blackwelder and baskets by Denise Roumbanis — as well as wine pouring by Nelson Family Vineyards, and music by Don Haupt. The art will be on display throughout the month of July.

When Susan and her family settled in Ukiah, she began taking art classes at Mendocino College. She was ready to fulfill the creative dream she had as a child of wanting to be an artist. She found that she enjoyed the challenge of capturing the likeness of a subject in watercolor. When she started exploring ceramics with teacher Mac Magruder, making masks out of clay seemed like an obvious direction. Susan is showing masks from her own collection and from private collections of her work. Her drawing and paintings will also be shown in the gallery.

Denise has been a resident of Mendocino County for twelve years, but began her study of baskets when she lived in Sonoma County. She studied pine needle basketry with Native American artist Lucy Parker, daughter of Julia Parker, both well known Pomo basket makers who live near Yosemite. She enjoys any basketry that uses the coiled method, and likes experimenting with varied materials such as tules, wild iris leaves, redwood bark, and any other natural material that she can gather. She will be showing a collection of fifteen baskets. Denise hand dyes some of her materials, and also embellishes the baskets with feathers and beads. 

Hanna Vogel, a ceramic artist, will be a guest artist featured inside the gallery.

At the Annex of Art Center Ukiah, Nelson Family Vineyards will be pouring wine and sharing one of their featured performers, Don Haupt, from their first ever Blues Festival, Reds, Whites, and The Blues on July 4th. He is an incredible performer and not to be missed. Music from 5:30 – 8:30; donations appreciated.

For over 50 years, the Nelson Family has been farming vineyards in there fertile valley hidden in the Hopland Hills.  The old tractor once used to till the rugged soil, now stands as a symbol of there passion for sustainable farming and belief that great wine is born in the vineyards.  The once working sheep ranch and orchard operation of 1952, has contributed in creating the unique biodiversity that exists in the Nelson Family Vineyards today.

Keeping strictly to the tradition of the self accompanied blues-singer, Don Haupt packs the sound and energy of a full band into a one man show. Whooping vocals and a hefty hand on the guitar playing backed by a right foot not just tapping but stomping the stage so hard it is felt through the floor clear into the back row. The songs are old standards from the 20s and 30s, dusted off and polished clean again. Songs like Son House’s “Preachin Blues” and Robert Johnson’s “Traveling Riverside Blues” are performed with conviction enough to turn any venue into old-time swamps of Louisiana juke joint.

Paulo Ferreira and Theresa Whitehill Featured in June

The Corner Gallery is pleased to present two guests, Paulo Ferreira and Theresa Whitehill, in June as our Featured Artists. The opening reception will take place on the First Friday artwalk — June 5th from 5 to 8 pm. Graziano will pour wine to celebrate the event. Caterer Tony Berno will serve appetizers and may perform some "live" assembly of some of his sophisticated appetizers as "food art." Ferreira and Whitehill will show their letterpress broadsides (see image at right) and paintings.

Paulo Ferreira: Artist
A native of Lisbon, Portugal, Ferreira has lived most of his life abroad—England, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and the United States. His work encompasses oil painting, often incorporating encaustic and marble dust; assemblage; and bronze, marble, and ceramic sculpture. Ferreira’s professional experience includes interior and graphic design, theater production and management, marketing, studio photography, and commercial illustration. His work has been exhibited in San Francisco’s Vorpal Gallery, the Mexican Consulate, the Mendocino Art Center, and other venues in northern California, Ibiza, New York, and Lisbon. Read more about Paulo here.

Theresa Whitehill: Poet
Born and raised in California, Whitehill studied poetics with William Everson at UC Santa Cruz in the mid-70s, and Book Arts under Kathleen Walkup at Mills College in the early 80s. She has lived in Mendocino County since 1984 and is well known to Mendocino county poetry audiences. Évora a Doce, her poem about Portuguese soul and food, was published as a limited edition letterpress broadside by Alice Waters and Richard Seibert in 1997. In the spring of 1998 she served as Poet-in-Residence at Stags’ Leap Winery, and went on to write and design an estate book on the winery’s history, winemaking, and culture, a project that resulted in the five-volume Stags’ Leap Winery: A Guide to the Estate. She is currently serving as Poet Laureate for the City of Ukiah. Read more about Theresa here.

Colored Horse Studios was founded in 1993 by husband and wife partners, poet and designer Theresa Whitehill, and artist Paulo Ferreira, as a venue for their literary, artistic, and commercial design work. Their studios are located in Ukiah. The letterpress broadsides of Colored Horse Studios and Whitehill’s poetry are in the collections of the Getty Museum, the John Hay Library of Brown University, the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley, Stanford’s Special Collections Library, the New York Public Library, the Special Collections Department of UCLA, the San Francisco Public Library, Mills College Special Collections, and City College of San Francisco, as well as many private collections. Read more here.

Little, Heady, and Peterson are Featured Artists, Opening November 7

This Friday, November 7, from 5 to 8 pm, we celebrate the opening show of three Corner Gallery artist cooperative members — Elliot Little, Rose Peterson Myers, and Carol Heady.

Eaglepoint Ranch Winery will pour their wines made from grapes harvested exclusively at the Scharffenberger family's ranch in Philo. A member of the Coro Mendocino Group, Eaglepoint Ranch Winery ranks among the top fine wine making vintners of Mendocino County. “Seriously good wine,” writes Thom Elkjer of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Blackwelder, McQueary, and Veblen are Featured Artists in October

On Friday, October 3rd from 5 to 8 pm, the gallery will open a new show featuring the paintings, drawings, and sculpture of Susan Blackwelder, Minnie McQueary, and Bonnie Veblen. This is your chance to meet the artists, mingle with friends, listen to flute music by George Husaruk, and enjoy a free wine tasting poured by Yeilding Wine and delicious appetizers.

About the artists ...

Gibson, Johnsen, and Maglinte are Featured Artists in September

Founding Gallery members Cassie Gibson, Tom Johnsen, and Ann and Jon Maglinte are showing their paintings, textiles, photography, and cement work through September. The show will open with an Artist's Reception on Friday, September 5 and continue through September 27 at the Corner Gallery.