The Santa Ynez Valley is home to more than picturesque, rolling hills draped with grape vines. The hills are also alive with artists specializing in various media. Their collected creations are so numerous that the art galleries in the valley can’t contain them.
In an effort to showcase the work of its more than 100 member artists, the Artists Guild of Santa Ynez Valley began an annual summer series years ago, Art in the Park, which brings together creators of various flavors to share, sell, and mingle with the public. This season’s installment of the event began last month, with the next event scheduled for May 9 and continuing through the summer at the Lavinia Campbell Park in Los Olivos.
“The first event was great; we got wonderful feedback from the artists that participated and from the people who visited,” said the guild’s executive director Holly Cline. “Everyone thought it was just wonderful, and they enjoyed the variety and the setting.”
Located in the center of Los Olivos, Lavinia Campbell Park provides a lush home for an afternoon of leisurely art enjoyment. Art in the Park offers guild members more than the chance to show and sell, Cline explained, but also a chance to interact with fans and appreciators.
“I think that for all artists it’s extremely valuable to get that energy jolt from interacting with people,” she said. “It becomes inspirational and they take it back to their work so that it becomes a dialogue, not just a one-sided conversation.”
Each Art in the Park event will include more than a dozen members showing a variety work. Some artists can only make one or a few events through the summer, Cline explained, and others will attend all of them.
Local jeweler Kathleen Pareti Donahue is one of the artists who will show off her handcrafted creations at each event this summer. Also the guild’s current secretary, Donahue said the event remains distinct from a typical gallery exhibition.
“There is a lot of art that people make that isn’t framed and hung on a wall,” she said. “So this is a great venue for people who are in the Artist Guild who want to show their work that may not fit in the normal parameters of a gallery where mostly hung art is featured.”
Donahue is a lifelong jeweler who retired her use of heavy metals when she retired from Tiffany’s. She now makes jewelry entirely with needle and thread, fabrics, and various gems or glass beads.
Guild members like Donahue appreciate the chance to show their work outside the confines of a gallery where textiles like jewelry, leatherwork, or sculpture have room to breath. They also enjoy the presence and dialogue with viewers, appreciators, and buyers.
“Being an artist or a crafts-maker is a very isolating job,” Donahue said. “We spend hours and days working by ourselves in the studio at home, so it gives an opportunity to see why people enjoy what they do and get their view on what they like.”
With respect to the artists with more delicate works and attendees looking to beat the heat, Art in the Park also includes a number of artists in the Grange Hall adjacent Lavinia Campbell Park. The air-conditioned hall offers a cool refuge as the summer months heat up, Cline said, and offers a chance for a wider range of guild members to share their work.
“Art is just important; it is the soul of the community,” she said. “I think that making these events available to the public for free is a great service. You don’t have to buy anything, you can just come to enjoy it, but you will probably find something you like and want to get.”
Art in the Park is organized by the guild’s committee Santa Ynez Valley Arts, which began as an effort to bring more arts-based events to the communities of the Santa Ynez Valley and beyond.
Arts Editor Joe Payne enjoys both the outdoors and air conditioning. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 7-14, 2015.
