creative enlightenment Archives - Page 4 of 24

Combine Flowers and Art, Margrit Mondavi Art Garden

April 14, 2023Silvia

Adjacent to the Manetti Shrem Art Museum on the UC Davis campus you will find the Margrit Mondavi Art Garden. A lovely tribute to a main donor to UC Davis, Margrit Mondavi on her 90th birthday in 2015,. A painter herself, Mondavi’s subjects were flowers. Atlas Lab, who landscaped the garden in 100 days, took inspiration from Mondavi’s paintings and planted an array of diverse and colorful flower beds. Curvy small walls with curved benches invite the visitors to sit, to contemplate, or start to sketch.

The sculptures you will encounter at Margrit Mondavi’s Art Garden are William Tucker’s Leda (1989-90), bronze, John Connell’s Earth-Touching Buddha (2002), bronze, Dan Snyder’s The Restoration of Hope II (1983), ceramic with cement, and Andrew Rogers’ I am (2016). Above all, this is a flower garden that even has a rose cultivar named after the gardens namesake “Margrit Mondavi”.

I found this an unexpected but joyful place worth discovering. Best said by Margrit Mondavi herself in the UC Davis Magazine in 2014, “There is so much beauty in the world, if we look for it.”

What is your unexpected but beautiful place?

Culinary garden at the CIA at Copia, Napa

Savor the Culinary Garden at the CIA

April 8, 2023Silvia

Not only should you check out the Chuck Williams Culinary Arts Museum when you are in Napa, you should also make a stop at the culinary garden. This gem of a cuisine garden is in front of the CIA at the Copia. While it features a variety of citrus trees on the right side, the main attraction is the 32-bed-garden. It is as educational as practical. Everything this edible garden has to offer is used by the CIA. In rare cases the website promises to offer any surplus at the Marketplace. The two gardeners Jacob Tracy and Rachel Kohn Obut show their love for the job and the sustainability of the land by ensuring crop rotation, no-till gardening, and an interesting array of local and climate related plants.

Currently they are working on offering garden tours, summer produce and flower sales.

The little stone walls invite you to sit down and take in the beauty and smells. You could even bring lunch from the next door’s Oxbow public market. The only thing you are asked to not do is sample any produce. Nevertheless they do offer a seed library! Get inspired and start your own culinary garden.

I hope you will take some time to enjoy the culinary garden at the CIA.

Entrance to the Chuck Williams Culinary Arts Museum, Napa

Inspire your Culinary Creativity, Culinary Arts Museum, Napa

March 31, 2023Silvia

If you are in Napa, CIA is short for the Culinary Institute of America. The CIA expanded its campus in 2015 when it bought part of the Copia, a museum and event venue that declared bankruptcy in 2008. Now this is the site for the Business part of the CIA. In 2017 the Chuck Williams Culinary Arts Museum opened. Named for the founder of Williams-Sonoma, this museum showcases his extensive 4,000 pieces cookware collection.

Chuck Williams through his store and cookbooks introduced Americans to French cooking and authored more than 100 cookbooks. At the museum you will be greeted by porcelain boar heads and everything you need to butcher an animal. If that is not your area of interest maybe you’ll like the 30 different rolling pins? I was fascinated by the wall of shiny copper bundt pans. Additionally, the old mixer and mixing utensils are ingenious pieces of equipment.

Although by any standards a small museum, it is still worth the trip and admission is free. Opening hours are every day from 11 am to 5 pm; except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. The Chuck Williams Culinary Arts Museum is located on the second floor of the CIA at Copia, 500 1st Street, Napa, CA. I recommend you stop at the gift shop afterwards, if you like cookbooks and the latest and greatest of cookware.

Do you have a favorite kitchen utensil?

Sign for di Rosa with red sculpture in the back

Picnic and Art, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa

March 24, 2023Silvia

Once the rain is gone I’m looking forward to a picnic. A classic spot for a picnic is Napa. You can combine it with wine tastings surrounded by vineyards. If you want to step up your game, impress someone special, or just not into wine, I recommend visiting di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art.

Di Rosa hosts two galleries with a focus on contemporary artists from the Bay Area. However, there is much more to discover. Located in a nature preserve within wine stocks, you walk by sculptures, an immersion of nature and art.

When we visited last weekend we saw Willian Allan’s Negotiations with Eden in gallery 1. Allan was a leading figure in the Bay Area’s Funk scene in the 1960s and 70s. His fish paintings show off a whimsical trait reflected again with the painted beans in a few display cases. This playful view on art, e.g., lucky number beans or birds eyes painted on beans, continues in his photographs where he reveals an eye for nature’s curiosities. Negotiations with Eden is open until May 14th, 2023.

Gallery 2 is labeled The Incorrect Museum – di Rosa’s permanent collection with a focus on ‘beat,’ ‘funk’ and other key movements in Bay Area art history. My favorite was the house of bottles in an outside area: Mildred Howard’s Memory Garden Phase 1. You can actually go inside the bottle house!

Due to the heavy rain the sculpture meadow, as well as another installation, were closed to the public. A bit unfortunate since I was looking forward to seeing the sculptures. However, while there were some sculptures on the way to the gallery 2, I can see myself returning on a sunny day with some friends, a picnic basket, and enjoying the sculpture garden and installation we missed.

On the second Sunday of the month they also offer nature hikes through the Sculpture Meadow and up the northern side of the property. Hikes start at 10 am, advanced tickets are required.

di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art is located on 5200 Carneros Highway in Napa, CA. General Admission is $20, senior, military and students are $17, under 17 free. Opening hours are Friday to Sunday, 11 am – 4 pm.

Do you know of great picnic spots?

Entrance to the exhibit Fearless by Ana Lazaro

Celebrate Women’s History Month

March 17, 2023March 17, 2023Silvia

March is Women’s history month. A great way to celebrate is to check out your local library to see if they have anything special planned. I went to the Yolo Library in Davis and they currently have three (3!) exhibits to celebrate women.

The first exhibit is Fearless by Davis based artist, Ana Lazaro, in the Blanchard Room. The Blanchard Room is the left entrance of the library and is open during opening hours. Lazaro’s works are mostly acrylic on wood and depict famous women, like Maya Angelou, Dorothea Lange, and Dolores Huerta. The portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is especially striking. I enjoyed the short biography of the subjects and the notes about the books and other library materials available to borrow. Some of the pieces are auctioned off as giclées (high resolution prints) to benefit the Friends of the Yolo Library.

For the second exhibit you have to go to the other end of the library. Herstory 1 & 2: The Legal History of Chinese American Women is shown until the end of May in all Yolo County libraries. This collection of legal milestones was curated by Dr. Chang C. Chen. An amazing reference to brave Chinese American women from women’s suffrage, to the first Chinese American female to hold the office of Secretary of State, and other less known stories.

I was delighted to see a collage of Riot Grrrls at the teen center. Pictures of women in all shapes and colors ready to riot.

Mary L. Stephens Davis Library

is located at 315 E 14th St in Davis. Opening hours are Monday 12 to 8 p.m, Tuesday to Thursday 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Sunday 1 to 5:30 p.m.

Does your library have an exhibit celebrating women?

A small pink tractor is parked next to some antique tractors

Count the Tractors at California AG Museum, Woodland

February 17, 2023Silvia

It is no surprise that Woodland has a museum for agriculture. Surrounded by fields and orchards, agriculture is ever present. But I did not expect to learn about the many different kinds of tractors.

The California AG Museum has over 100 tractors. All shapes and forms, from horse drawn, to steam, to fuel powered. The machines stem from a collection from Fred Heidrick Sr. and his brother Joe. Previously the Heidrick Ag History Center, it expanded in 2015 to the California Agriculture Museum.

The tractor’s history is fascinating. Beginning in the late nineteenth century tractors had metal wheels. It evolved with spikes then large rubber tires, and even tank-like tracks. One tractor built to tow artillery, the Hold “120” HP, was almost to France when World War I ended. Today, this is thought of as the only one of its kind. But with more than 100 antique tractors everyone can find their unique fascinating piece of farm equipment. Maybe it’s the white and red painted caterpillar? Clown-like made up for the county fair it stands out from its yellow family members in the rows ahead.

On our visit there was a huge party going on. The kids all got their own little tractors to zip around the museum. It definitely added to the fun!

Admission to the California AG Museum is $10 for adults, students, seniors and veterans $8, kids 6-12 $5, kids under 6 free. It is located in 1958 Hays Lane, in Woodland, CA. Opening hours are Wednesday – Sunday 10 am to 4 pm.

Do you have a favorite piece of farm equipment?

Enjoy the Avant Garden, Benicia

February 10, 2023Silvia

You might know by now that I love gardens. When I was wandering and discovering Benicia I really enjoyed finding the Avant Garden on First Street in downtown Benicia. What a great name for a community garden!

It turns out, and not surprisingly for Benicia, it also has a cool history. The first community garden in Benicia was established in 1999 on East 2nd Street on a lot owned by the Heritage Presbyterian Church. Named after its founder the late Dr. Ed Swenson, the Swenson Community Garden teaches organic farming practices. In 2003 Swenson founded the Benicia Community Garden (BCG) which is now a county wide organization and known today as Sustainable Solano. Swenson believed that community gardens can produce a “second harvest” of social, economic and ecological benefits. Way beyond gardening, Sustainable Solano hosts free classes on local foods, has a community share plot to share produce for people in need, and teaches sustainable urban agriculture methods.

This Avant Garden is open to the public to enjoy, take classes, and hang out. To apply for one of the 43 plots you have to sign up on the BCG waiting list. A plot is $85 annually and covers maintenance and the water bills.

What is your favorite community garden?

Browse Some Art, Kaleid Gallery in San Jose

January 20, 2023Silvia

The Kaleid Gallery in San Jose’s SoFA district houses over 60 fine artists and designers in their 4,000 square foot retail space. Every First Friday, except in January and July, they feature a solo exhibit by a resident artist. The artist’s reception is from 5 pm – 9 pm.

If you want some unique gift you should check them out. All art is for sale and you can take it with you at the time of purchase. There are not only paintings, but sculptures, ceramics, and jewelry, to name a few. I also enjoyed meeting some of the artists while I visited.

The most curious piece, and a fun thing to play with, is the Space Palette Pro. A visual music instrument that looks like a mix between an old jukebox and a homemade arcade video game console. Pick a theme from the psychedelic sounding menu and start playing sounds with your fingers on the touchscreen. Sample menu themes are: Blue Purple Cartoon Clouds, Kaleidoscopes Forever, and Swimming in Salmon Blue. I don’t think this is for sale, but instructions on how to build your own are given.

KALEID Gallery is located at 320 S. 1st Street, in downtown San Jose.

Opening hours are Thursdays to Fridays 12 pm – 7 pm, Saturdays 12 pm – 5 pm

And for First Fridays ArtWalk SJ 5 pm – 9 pm.

What’s your favorite art gallery in San Jose?

Description of the exhibit Pertencia: To Belong with views of paintings from Héctor Muñoz-Guzmán

Get a Sense of Belonging, Pertenecer at MACLA, San Jose

January 13, 2023Silvia

Pertenecer: To Belong is the current exhibit at MACLA – Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana in San Jose’s SoFA district. Until March 19th, 2023 you can experience the cultural expression of otherness and belonging from six LatinX Bay Area artists: Pilar Agüero-Esparza, Rayos Magos, Kristina Micotti, Héctor Muñoz-Guzmán, Vanessa Wallace-Gonzales, and Jennifer White-Johnson.

You can feel the struggle to belong without losing yourself and your culture in their works. With interesting choices of materials, like aluminum alloy, leather and burlap, some of the artists play with traditional mediums to make something their own. Others use vibrant colors and imagery to evoke a cultural edge.

On Saturday January 14th you can attend a special artists talk from noon to 1:30 pm, with Pilar Agüero-Esparza, Rayos Magos, and Héctor Muñoz-Guzmán. This is a free event, but tickets are required. You can sign up for tickets on their website.

The gallery at MACLA is always free, but they do have a box for donations. $5 is the suggested donation amount. Gallery hours are Wednesday to Friday 12-7pm, and Saturday and Sunday 12-5pm.

Have you been to a MACLA exhibit?

While you are in the area I suggest you stop by the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art on the same block.

Admire Butterfly Art at the Bohart Museum, Davis

January 6, 2023Silvia

I have to admit I’m not a big fan of insects; only butterflies make me smile. The Bohart Museum of Entomology on the UC Davis campus must have known the appeal of butterflies because it uses the California dogface butterfly as its logo. This museum holds the 7th largest collection of insects in North America and the 3rd largest university collection. If you are a fan of creepy critters I saw them advertise an insect zoo. I profess I did not pursue it.

On my visit I was most enchanted with the butterfly artwork. In the Spiral Galaxy of Butterflies Francisco Basso and Brittany L. Kohler arranged tropical butterflies in a swirl and floral patterns. These butterflies are from a donation that did not include collection data and therefore can’t be used for research purposes. As a fun scavenger fact, they also added a fly. Can you find it?

While the first artwork by Basso and Kohler has multiple species, the second, Birdwing Butterfly, is composed of 112 birdwing butterflies into a nymphalid. These were also donated without collection data.

For your instagramable moment you can pose as a butterfly between two adjacent pillars with painted wings or ride on a sculpture of a Tardigrade at the entrance to the museum.

The Bohart Museum of Entomology is located at 455 Crocker Lane in Davis. Opening hours are Monday-Thursday: 9:00 am – noon and 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm. Admission is free. Or you can tour them virtually here.

Are you an insect fan?