The ART of STUFF

Usually, you go to a museum to view capital-A Art. The Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History democratizes the whole process in its current exhibit, Santa Cruz Collects, wherein ordinary local folk like you and me are invited to show off their personal collections of stuff.

Got a thing for shoes? Check out the vintage footwear from all eras collected by Judy Steen, research librarian and aficionado of historical costume.  The variety of shoes in so small a space is amazing! These are downstairs in the Atrium, fetchingly displayed in this wonderful cabinet painted by Watsonville artist Carol Bowie.

Other collected objects include the humble—Lance Linares' bottle caps, Bruce Bratton's international toothpaste boxes and tubes, and Stacy Grant's (I kid you not) dryer lint. Some are formed around domestic objects, like Nita Gizdich's garden gnomes, or Dusty and Craig Miller's fantastic display of vintage toasters.

Others qualify as found art, like Daymel Shklar's aquarium tank full of sea glass, or the crushed metal forms  culled, again, by Grant. (She has seven different oddball, yet strangely compelling collections on display, including a wall full of multicolored beach sand in tiny vials, as varied as seeds or spices.)

And some collections are plain weird. (My favorite category!)  Assemblage artist Jack Howe shows a vast array of the found junk he uses in his work, ingeniously  displayed in three twin bed-sized boxsprings, their rusting coils a perfect network of cubbyholes. Local veterinarian Dr. David Shuman displays his collection of bleached animal skulls, gorgeously mounted in the corner of the Solari Gallery, under the skylight. Dr. Bruce Damer presents a tower of quaintly clunky vintage computers that seem to date from the Flintstone era.

Here's one of my favorite collections in the show. These are electric drills from all eras collected by woodworker Sandor Nagyszalanczy, a craftsman who has published many books on woodworking, tools and home projects.

Normally, I would never look twice at a drill, but look how strikingly these are displayed, like so many Buck Rogers ray guns!

Some are sleek, chrome Art Deco models, others more of the Rube Goldberg variety, but all are endlessly fascinating. (I'm sure Nagyszalanczy must have built this giant wooden mandala of a display board, too.)

Be sure to click on the image and see them in more detail!

I was also drawn to this grouping of Native American "baby baskets." The collector is Dean Silvers, a longtime Santa Cruz  elementary school teacher and self-taught historian. He is also an avid collector of California Indian baskets, Latin American crafts, and Native North American art.

I did a lot of research on Native American baby-carrying devices for my first novel, The Witch From the Sea. In the northeast, among the Iroquois (the heritage of my fictional heroine), they were carved out of wood and called "cradleboards." Most of my tribal research for The Witch ended up on the cutting room floor, but if you're interested, I've posted more info on cradleboards on my Witch website.

I assume these are all California Indian basket cradles, and possibly reproductions of vintage designs. (Maybe the tiniest ones are for dolls?) Look at the intricate workmanship on these pieces. There is nothing like seeing  such beautiful artifacts in person to make history come alive!

Santa Cruz Collects is up and running at the MAH through November 25.

INTO THE WOOD

Hot on the heels of its excellent Big Creek Pottery retrospective exhibit last spring, the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History continues its commitment to local art and artisans with its current show, Studio Made: Santa Cruz Woodworkers. The show is already into its second month, but I just caught up with it at First Friday last week, and what exciting work it is. If you just love woodwork, that most soulful medium, or if you're a fan of expert hand crafting in general, you need to run out and see this show, like, now.

10 members of the SC Woodworkers collective are featured in the exhibit. You may have noticed some of their pieces decorating the storefront windows of the cavernous Rittenhouse Building downtown, but there's nothing like seeing this work up close, brightly lit, and in detail, to appreciate all the nuances.

Work ranges from massive cabinetry and media centers in vibrant, contrasting wood grains by Om Anand, to an absolutely amazing collection of teeny tiny vessels of wood, palm nuts, and seed pods by Joshua Salesin. (Turned on antique lathes, Salesin's incredibly intricate and diverse pieces, ranging from fingernail-size to about and inch or two high, may be the most breathtaking objects in the show.)

In between, feast your eyes on the dashing, organic lines of Roger Heitzman's chairs, the glorious unfolding wood burl sculptures of Gary Stevens (above), and the lovely inlay work of Matthew Werner, on a variety of pieces.

I was especially knocked out by this three-legged corner jewelry cabinet by Michael Singer. It's a deceptively simple, even demure piece, until you open the doors and discover the layers upon layers of tiered, swing-out drawers and irresistible cubbyholes within. Functional and gorgeous; I loved it!

Singer's glass-topped Fandance Coffee Table is pretty impressive too, with its sweeping, fan-shaped bamboo base.

I'm also a huge fan of Ronald Cook, whose lovely, hand-crafted replications of antique instruments like dulcimers and rebecs (decorated with his signature tiny carved faces) have been thrilling Santa Cruzans for years. An assortment of these are on view at the MAH show, but so are some completely unexpected delights. Like this hand-carved chess set (look at the character in all those faces!), along with the chessboard, the formidable gaming table on which it sets, a pair of medieval-style trestle stools, and the wooden chandelier that hangs down over the entire ensemble!

And these are just a few highlights of a fascinating and inspiring exhibit. (While you're there, don't miss the companion exhibit, Furniture Design, up on the third floor. I liked the strong, rakishly asymmetrical Black Mamba chairs by Fred Hunnicut, and John Baer's ingenious Jet Cone cocktail table and wine bucket made of found metal objects.)

Also, big kudos to Nina Simon for continuing to open the MAH not only to local artists, but the community as well (especially kids). The interactive play stations she's set up throughout the museum are an interesting way to conquer visitors' fear of art and get them to engage with and enjoy the exhibits.

(The Santa Cruz Woodworkers show is up at the MAH through Novembr 13.)

PERFECT BLENDS

Art and wine. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

The folks at the First Friday Art Walk think so too. To spice up this month's midsummer edition of the popular event (taking place this Friday, August 5), FFAW joins forces with a slate of some 20 Santa Cruz vintners to present the August Wine Walk, where art patrons will be able to sample local wines at select FFAW venues around town.

Here's how the Wine Walk works. Participants purchase a $20 ticket in advance (online at First Friday Santa Cruz or in person at the Museum of Art and History), to be redeemed on the day of the event for a commemorative wine glass and wristband. Beginning at 4:30 p.m., Friday, ticket holders come to Abbott Square, next to the MAH, to pick up their wine glasses and wristbands, along with a list of participating Wine Walk locations, before heading out on their own personal art and wine adventure. (For Westsiders, a pick-up station for glasses and wristbands will also be set up at the R. Blitzer Gallery in the old Wrigley Building.) Tickets may also be purchased for $25 on the day of the event—while they last—but patrons are encouraged to buy theirs early, and avoid the, er, crush. A portion of ticket proceeds will benefit the MAH.

As usual, you'll find work by local artists (painting, sculpture, photography, fabric, ceramics, woodworking), in a staggering variety of venues countywide—cafes, beauty salons, banks, shops and boutiques, from the Eastside to the Westside, Louden Nelson Center to Squid Row Alley, Pleasure Point to Davenport. Designated art galleries, like the Santa Cruz Art League, Felix Kulpa, Michaelangelo, Artisans, and the MAH also participate in the festivities. All venues are open to the public from 5 to 9 p.m., and admission to the Art Walk venues, as always, is free. (Read more)

And while you're down there, picking up your commemorative wine glass this First Friday, don't forget to step inside the MAH to see what's new. Incoming director Nina Simon is committed to turning the space into a cultural hub and destination in downtown Santa Cruz. In addition to three new shows on view in the museum's galleries, the MAH is also playing host to the finished, 30-minute pilot episode of "Junk Art Scramble" (playing in one of the ground-floor committee rooms), and to chalk muralist Shirley Lehner-Rhoades, whose Italian Renaissance-inspired Madonna and Child has been chalked onto a 6x8-foot square of the concrete atrium floor. (It will vanish like Brigadoon after Friday, so don't miss it!)

Also new at the MAH are interactive elements designed into each of the gallery exhibits that invite patrons to create their own furniture designs (in the Furniture Design exhibit on the third floor), play the "Name that wood" game in the Santa Cruz Woodworkers show in the Solari Gallery, and share your favorite recipes (and/or your most hated foods) at the "Foodies In Exile" painting exhibit on the first floor.

It's all part of Simon's campaign to remake the MAH into a fun, vibrant community center. Drop in and let her know what you think!

(Above: Heather Young invites you to sample art and wine at Art du Jour (1013 Cedar Street), downtown, at the First Friday Art and Wine Walk.)

WHAT'S IN A POT? (BIG CREEK POTTERY II)

Despite drenching rains (geez, what next, a plague of locusts?), the Big Creek Pottery show went on at the MAH over the weekend. Settling in for a four-month run (through july 17), the exhibit features 70 gloriously functional pots from Bruce and Marcia McDougal's personal collection—their own work (like Bruce's pitcher, right), an abundance of student work, and several pieces by the master craftsmen and women who taught workshops at their school over the years. These include diverse work from such iconic ceramicists as John Glick, Michael Cardew, Warren McKenzie, Toshiko Takaezu, John Reeve, Jim and Nan McKinnel, Michael Casson, Karen Karnes, Cynthia Bringle, and a few other names I'm sure I'm forgetting.

While personal styles vary widely, what all the pieces in the show have in common is their functional aesthetic. Insisting that their students learn the basics of pottery-making—from building their own kickwheels to throwing and glazing clay, to a variety of firing techniques—the McDougals and their guest instructors promoted the ideal of beautifully hand-crafted work wedded to utility. The work in this show is a testament to that ideal, a happy blurring of the distinctions between humble pottery and "fine art." These wonderfully glazed platters, jars, bowls and covered pots, elegantly shaped pitchers and vases, command as much respect as any other artwork you'd find in a museum gallery, yet they're just itching to hop down off their pedestals and get to work in a functioning kitchen.

(If I had to pick my personal best of show, it would have to be Bruce McDougal's playful pair of goblets. They're about 8 inches tall, wide-bowled, and glazed in deep midnight blue, but Bruce has unleashed his inner cartoonist with the stems: two sturdy little figures bear up one goblet bowl; the other stem is a jaunty little robed wizard.)

Visitors should also prepare to be amazed at how the Solari Gallery has been transformed with a few new coats of paint, in colors personally selected by Bruce and Marcia. Gone are the plain, white gallery walls, replaced with a palette of the vivid, earthy, folk art colors—curry, deep brick, pea-soup green, aqua—that the McDougals surround themselves with every day.

These colors not only provide a suitably warm setting for the pots, they make an effective backdrop for the 140 vintage black-and-white photographs from the heyday of the school (open from 1968-1983) which is really the heart of the show. Simply as a time capsule of '70s-era commune life (not to mention the hairstyles and clothes), these photos would be worth the price of admission! Kudos to guest curator Karen Thuesen Massaro for amassing this wealth of material (including a display box of old BCP flyers, brochures, and several other pieces of fascinating paper ephemera, as well as correspondence from some of its esteemed visitors) into a coherent, thematic, and relatively chronological exhibit. Check it out this week on the First Friday Art Tour.

The flyer that launched a thousand enrollments

(My only suggestion: move the identifying labels to the front of the pedestals. Too many of them are posted around on the sides, which makes them harder to see, especially if there's a crowd in the room.)

INCANDESCENT MOMENTS

New MAH exhibit celebrates the alchemy of fire, clay, and imagination that was the Big Creek Pottery School

Bruce and Marcia McDougal have always thrived on "the excitement of the moment." Ask what this means, and Marcia offers a typically direct and resonant response: "Like the first time your baby smiles at you."

The McDougals' lives as artisans, craftpersons, and local cultural icons have been full of such incandescent moments. Potters, jewelry-makers, teachers, hoteliers, international travelers, collectors of doors from all over the world, longtime proprietors of the Davenport Cash Store and Bed and Breakfast, they have been at the heart of cultural life in Santa Cruz County for close to 50 years. But it's their role as founders of the fabled Big Creek Pottery School, up Swanton Road, from 1968 through 1983, that is currently drawing them once more into the spotlight. The McDougals, their work, and their school are the focus of a major retrospective opening this week at the Museum of Art and History: "Big Creek Pottery: A Social History of A Visual Idea."

The exhibit is guest curated by Karen Thuesen Massaro, herself an accomplished ceramic sculptor, educator, and Santa Cruz County Artist of the Year for 2003. Massaro moved to Santa Cruz from Wisconsin in 1980; she was never a student at Big Creek Pottery, but she remembers seeing enticing ads for the school in "Ceramics Monthly" magazine as an art professor in the Midwest. But it wasn't until she curated the exhibit, "Time and Place: Fifty Years of Santa Cruz Studio Ceramics," for the MAH in 1997, that she met the McDougals in person. Interviewing them for that show, she became fascinated by both the history and influence of BCP. (Read more)

That's Marcia and Bruce today (above), still intrepid, and full of ideas and enthusiasm. Here's a photo from the multi-media MAH show of Bruce evaluating student work hot out of the kiln at BCP, 1970.

The Big Creek Pottery exhibit opens at the MAH this Saturday, March 26, and will be on view through July 17. (Click here for more info.) The show includes 70 pots and some 140 vintage photos, so plan to spend some time and take it all in.