A photo of Christine Ford, jewelry maker (painting the wall), Sal Guardino, co-founder of the Arts Guild, and sculptor David Prevost, preparing the gallery on First Street East.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
For 30 years now, a changing group of Sonoma Valley artists has maintained its independence from commercial art galleries by controlling the exhibition and sale of its work. The Arts Guild of Sonoma – a cooperative of artists – runs a gallery on East Napa Street, in the La Haye Art Center.
Artists Sal Guardino, Richard Roth and the late Ray Jacobsen founded the Guild in February 1977. The first members also included Donna Guardino, Beverly Prevost, Marguerite Pendergast, Dave Prevost, Chris Ford and John Mercer. Other goals of the group back then were to give artists a means to communicate with their peers and to add the visual arts to Sonoma’s fame for food and wine, goals it still pursues today.
At first, the Guild organized art shows at the Sonoma Mission Inn, and in 1978 its first and well-remembered “Erotic Art Show” at Spanish Kitty’s, a former house of ill repute in El Verano. Later that year, the Guild opened a permanent gallery, on the east side of the Plaza in El Paseo. It became so successful that the group needed a bigger space, moving into what is now Basque Boulangerie, where it stayed until about a dozen years ago, when it opened the current space.
Today, the Guild includes about 30 artists, who must apply for membership, then pay modest annual dues and share the work of running the gallery. Former president Sandra Lane, a painter, claims it’s the oldest juried group in Northern California. Each member must exhibit three times a year and the gallery opens a new show at the beginning of every month. Unlike commercial galleries, which keep half or more of every sale, the Guild keeps only 15 percent. And it takes good care of the work. (Lane recalls a commercial gallery returning her paintings smelling of cigarette smoke.)
With more money going to its members, the Guild operates on an annual budget of about $25,000, made possible partly by the generosity of the La Haye family, which has never raised the rent for the gallery. The Guild gets additional support from 150 non-artist community members, who receive discounts on purchases. It is run by a board comprising six artists and two community members.
“The Guild wants to educate the public about art but not be pedantic,” Lane said. One aspect of that is the annual March student art show, open to all students living in Sonoma.
It also, of course, wants to encourage new collectors. Last year the Guild started “Collector’s 101,” a changing group of work that sells for one-third below the regular prices, with some pieces under $100.
Current president Thena Trygstad – who creates mixed-media sculpture, mostly from gourds – wants to revive the Guild’s hands-on workshops for the community, at which a member artist explains and demonstrates a particular medium. She hopes to begin a regular evening series this spring.
Arts Guild of Sonoma
140 E. Napa St., Sonoma
707.996.3115
www.artsguildsonoma.com
February hours
Fri. – Sat. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Sun. – Mon. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
