After the immense success and interest in the recent Gold Rush Fever! exhibit in July, the Dana Adobe Nipomo Amigos (DANA) opened up space in the historic building for local artists to share a variety of media.
“Since we finished the house, we have always utilized one side as a historic home, and the other side for exhibits,” said DANA executive director Marina Washburn. “I think now, to keep it fresh and widen our audience base, we want to rotate these exhibits.”
Throughout the year, informational and historical exhibits like Gold Rush Fever! fill the gallery space, but the DANA is now reserving the summer months exclusively for local artists. One artist in the inaugural exhibition is DANA project manager Aaron Regez, who photographs the Central Coast and the DANA property.
“I’ve been taking pictures since I was a kid,” he said. “I got more into photography because I started documenting the restoration process here, so I have taken thousands of pictures of the house over the years.”
Regez works with high dynamic range and time-lapse photography, the results of which are still shots that exhibit a deep vibrancy of color and depth. He uses these techniques to capture the Dana Adobe, the grounds, and some of the livestock and wildlife on the property. His time-lapse works are truly awesome; he uses hours upon hours of photographs taken every few seconds to patch together a moving image. A simple media installation runs a looped reel of Regez’s time-lapse images, which show beaches and mountains cloaked in fog banks or draped in sunset, and stunning processions of the Milky Way Galaxy across the night sky.
“It fits with our mission to be open and available and educate the public and connect people with local history,” Washburn said. “A lot of Aaron’s work is quite amazing, so being able to showcase his work is great.”
The rest of the artists showing in the gallery, which spans two rooms, were handpicked by the DANA based on a local connection expressed in their work. Sculptor and mixed-media artist Karen Floyd’s 3-D works take inspiration from natural forms, many of which include local flora and fauna.
The wildlife photography of Richard Hansen is also on display.
Hansen, who lives in Morro Bay, specializes in capturing images of birds engaged in some notoriously difficult-to-photograph behaviors like hunting and flying.
Carolyn Leach is a local watercolor artist who enjoys flower and landscape forms. Several of her stunning landscapes, including a depiction of the Dana Adobe, hang in the space as well.
Washburn explained that each artist, though encouraged to bring Dana-related art to show, was told to bring whatever works they felt like showing.
“The rancho was so much bigger, and so was the story of Dana, connecting throughout the county and the Central Coast all the beautiful things here,” Washburn said.
“So why not embrace that beauty and invite it back in?”
The exhibit shows along with the rest of the Dana Adobe on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. to the public, and throughout the rest of the week by appointment.
Catch the show
The Dana Adobe Nipomo Amigos shows the art of Carolyn Leach, Daniel Kuras, Karen Floyd, and Aaron Regez through Sept. 28. The Adobe is open Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. or by appointment at the Dana Adobe Nipomo Amigos, 617 S. Oakglen Ave., Nipomo. More info: 929-5679, dana@danaadobe.org, or danaadobe.org.
Arts Editor Joe Payne always enjoys a visit to the Dana Adobe. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 21-28, 2014.