A neighborhood in ‘Transition’

For his work “Transition,” a photographic collage of Boyes Hot Springs buildings both past and present, Michael Acker received an award at the “2012 Left Coast Annual” show at the Sanchez Art Center in Pacifica. The Springs artist was awarded the Juror’s Exhibition Award, receiving $250 plus an exhibition in 2013. Acker works with new and archival pictures, watercolor, and collage to build layered images of his neighborhood. His research led to last year’s centennial celebration of the Boyes Hot Springs post office. He also designed the community-inspired mural on the Grange Hall. “The history of the area is long and interesting but not as storied or as well chronicled as that of the town of Sonoma, just next door,” he said. “To me, this is what makes it worth studying and making art about.”