A highway runs hundreds of miles up and down the state, carrying visitors at 65 mph—or more—to where they want to go. Every convenience can be found along the way: a place to sleep, a place to eat, a place to rest. But it wasn’t always that way. At one time, the 13-room adobe home of William Goodwin Dana was the only stopping place between missions San Luis Obispo and Santa Ines.
Nipomo was a much different place then, and that’s a little of what organizers wanted to capture with “Rancho Nipomo, Views Now and Then.”
The Dana Adobe will play host to an art fair showcasing perspectives of Nipomo by local artists, both the way it was and the way it is. The event is a first-ever collaborative effort with the Nipomo Arts Commission and brought out submissions from artists throughout Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
Organizers juried selections and accepted more than 27 pieces, which will be judged by local artist Sandra Kay Johnson. The winners will be announced on May 16 at the art fair. Pieces will be for sale.
Alan Dauris and his wife Helen, both Dana Adobe board members, said they’ve had an interest in seeing an art fair held on the Adobe grounds for some time.
“We can build up the Dana Adobe, not only as a historic site, but also have people understand it as it was in William Goodwin Dana’s time when they had other cultural events, like this art fair, here,” Alan explained.
He said the Adobe has been host to several successful concerts, but the art fair will take its cultural potential to the next level. It’s already attracted a lot of talented artists with some unique perspectives on the theme.
Some subjects relate to the actual Dana Adobe structure. But the rules didn’t limit the artists to just the Adobe.
“It could be anything within the boundaries of Nipomo relating to what it looked like in the past or in the present,” Alan said. “We wanted to give the artist freedom with the subject with the overarching theme of the views of Nipomo then and now.”
Shirley Horacek of the Nipomo Arts Commission said submissions included models, masks, acrylics, pen and ink, and even a quilt. The pieces portray everything from the adobe itself to burros on the grounds to landscapes in the area.
“We are pleased with the selection, and I think it will be a good show,” Horacek said.
Arts Editor Shelly Cone doesn’t look at the past and sometimes breezes through the present. Catch her at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 13-20, 2010.