Claudia Wager Creates a Salute to the Arts Goddess

Submitted Material
Great poster artwork is a must for Sonoma Salute to the Arts. This year’s 22nd annual food, wine, and arts festival, to be held August 3 – 5, 2007, features artwork by noted artist Claudia Wagar. Her Salute to the Arts Goddess offers a new approach and fresh perspective for both the event and the artist.
“This painting is my gift to Salute to the Arts,” says Wagar. After struggling to paint while she dealt with three major medical problems and the renovation of an historic building just off Sonoma Plaza, the image gradually took form. “The Goddess is ethereal, angelical and expresses my gratitude for this beautiful event, which has given so much to our art community for the past 22 years. She has also given me a new direction as an artist,” Wagar emphasizes.
Family friend, Myranda Ismond, posed as the poster’s model. Myranda did a great job, according to Wagar. “The painting presents her likeness and reminded me that figures are my forte, as well as landscapes. I hope to develop a new body of work around exciting, adventurous portraits, which capture the individual’s essence. I‘d love to create posters for winery’s which incorporate people.””
A survivor of breast cancer, a hip replacement, and Graves Disease, Wagar and her husband, Ken, now operate a vacation rental at The Cooperage, their historic building. It also houses their apartment, as well as art and photography studios, a private frame shop and gallery, and their giclee printer. An award-winning photographer, Ken turns out outstanding giclees of their work, as well as other artists.
The Cooperage Inn’s handcrafted, antique filled suite offers an extraordinary place from which to base a visit to Sonoma Valley. The Wagars scoured flee markets and antique shops to find the perfect furnishings to combine with pieces passed down from Claudia’s great great grandfather. The antiques were saved after a fortune made in the Comstock Mother Lode was lost in the stock market crash of 1929. Four enormous Victorian mirrors Claudia inherited are displayed in The Cooperage Inn’s suite, along with her artwork.
An artist since childhood, Wagar painted her way through school on the East coast; studied print making at Oxford Polytechnic in Oxford, England; and graduated from the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California. Her 17 foot high mural Grandvine I & II, installed in the Landmark Vineyards tasting room, received the American Artist Achievement Award from American Artist Magazine in 1993. She was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1994. Robin J. Dunitz and James Prigoff feature her work in their book, Painting the Towns, Murals of California.
Wagar has served on the Sonoma Valley Arts Alliance Board of Directors, the festival’s sponsoring non-profit organization, for more than a decade. She takes enormous pride in Salute to the Arts. “Our event is truly one-of-a-kind,” she states. “With the wine country as our location and Sonoma Plaza as the setting, Salute to the Arts is one of the most beautifully presented events in the world.”
Wagar’s enthusiasm for Salute to the Arts is shared by the Board of Directors on which she now serves as treasurer. “As an artist I can testify that Salute to the Arts is the best art exhibit I have ever participated in,” she claims. “Art collectors, as well as food and wine connoisseurs attend each year. The weekend of events offers visitors the chance to have a great time, enjoy entertainment, and meet artists, winemakers and chefs in one incredible setting.”
Wagar’s original painting will go to the highest bidder at Big Night, the festival’s Live Auction at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards on Saturday evening, August 4. The event will be limited to 200 guests. For those unable to attend, bids may be submitted in advance in writing by August 1, with the preferred method of payment. Address bids to Pat Summers of Summers-McCann Public Relations at P.O. Box 1385, Sonoma, CA 95476 or 752 Broadway, Sonoma, CA 95476. Please call 707-938-1133 with questions and to make arrangements for live bidding by telephone.
Tickets for the Salute Celebration, the Festivals’ opening night gala are $95 per person in advance, $125 at the door; tasting packages for the Plaza events are $30 in advance, $35 at the event; and a Patron’s Pass, which combines both The Salute Celebration and a Tasting Package for Plaza events, is $125 in advance.
Big Night ~ The Salute to the Arts Live Auction and Feast ~ is $150 in advance; a complete package, which includes the Patron’s ticket and Big Night, is $250 in advance (a saving of $25 per person). A Benefactor’s Package, which includes four complete packages, is $900 in advance (a savings of $50 per person). Benefactors may opt to purchase four complete packages, eight Patron’s tickets or six Big Night tickets and four tasting packages.
For information and tickets, call Summers-McCann Public Relations, the event’s founder and producer, at 707.938.1133, or visit the Sonoma Salute to the Arts website at salutetothearts.com.