Benicia Headlines

Granite Spring  – oil painting by Rosemary Henze

• WHEN: Opening Reception: Sat., Oct. 12, 6-8pm. Exhibit runs through Nov. 3, 2019 on Wednesdays- through Sundays each week, 12 – 5pm.
• WHERE: Arts Benicia, 911 Tyler Ave in Benicia
• WHAT: Uplift: Celebrating the Sierra Nevada.

Arts Benicia’s newest exhibition will showcase the visual imagery, science and rich cultural elements of the Sierra Nevada range, which defines the landscape of inner California, dictates its watershed and influences its culture and climate. These artworks, selected by Juror Jeanne Lorenz, represent or refer to the range’s terrain, ecology, geology, history, recreation and endemic species of plant and animals.

Granite Spring by artist Rosemary Henze is the first painting that she has ever entered into an exhibition. “ I didn’t have any inclination to enter my work in exhibits since I consider myself still in the midst of a big learning curve,” commented Rosemary.  “But one of my artist friends sent me the announcement about the exhibit in Benicia focusing on the Sierra Nevada.  Because the Eastern Sierra is deeply embedded in my family history and has always inspired me to paint, I decided to submit my most recent oil painting from that area.“

According to Rosemary, painting and drawing in the mountains deepens her appreciation of the natural world and offers her a way to quietly meditate even while others are around her. “In my recent work in the Eastern Sierras, I explore the idea that from our human standpoint, rocks seem so permanent, yet they move, change shape and form, dissolve or even become molten lava. Though the time scale is longer, they are not so different from us or from the plants that grow in the crevices.

Uplift: Celebrating the Sierra Nevada runs from Oct. 12 through Nov. 3 and the Benicia Arts Gallery is open Wed. – Sun. 12-5pm.

Participating artists

Karla Austin | Della Barnett | Brandin Barón | Annette Batchelor | Ruth Beeve |Carla Bratt | Mark Bremer | Beverly Brown | Arnold Chao | Lisa Cooperman | Merry Curran Gregg | Carol Dalton | Sheila Daube | Susan De Haven | Kelly Dean-Crowley | Michael Depue | Veronika Doljenkova | Lorrie Fink | Barbara Foster | Barry Gordon | Ellen Gust | Rosemary Henze | Peter Hubbard | Linda V. Hubbard | Darrell Hunger | Renaye Johnson | Barbara Lawrence | Jan Lightfoot | Cecile McNulty | Patrushka | Dixie Mohan | Janice Nakashima | Jann Noddin | Marc Pandone | Jean Purnell | Jack Ruszel | Robert Schweibert | Kate Snow | Topher Straus | Gerald Thompson | Christopher Wagner | Marilyn Wear | Jack Weaver | Chris Wright | Jane Ziegler

Jeanne Lorenz, Juror

Jeanne Lorenz’s artwork focuses on concepts, events, and spaces in which humans collaborate with natural systems. Her familiarity with the Sierra Nevada includes a five-month hike of the Pacific Coast Trail. She holds an MFA from Yale University, a BFA from CCAC, and is currently a professor at Solano College where she has taught painting, color theory, design, murals, and printmaking.

Arts Benicia is wheelchair accessible from Jackson Street.

Arts Benicia is a community-based non-profit organization that provides quality exhibitions in its gallery and at other venues in Benicia, engaging public programs, stimulating workshops for adults, and inspiring family and youth art programs. For over 32 years, Arts Benicia has been a vital part of the local and regional arts community, furthering and supporting artistic development, and enriching the larger community. For more information: [email protected]; 707-747-0131; artsbenicia.org.