Rydell 3

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Rydell 3 at Sanchez Art Center
Jody Alexander, Jim Denevan, and Elizabeth Stephens

Sanchez Art Center will host an exhibition of work from the three artists chosen as 2014–15 Rydell Visual Art Fellows: Jody Alexander, Jim Denevan, and Elizabeth Stephens. The exhibition is curated by Susan Hillhouse Leask. Showing concurrently are the Buddy Show by the Art Guild of Pacifica, and Veterans Art Guild Exhibit. An opening reception will be held Friday, March 4, 7–9 pm, with music provided by Kathleen and Henry Salvia of the Flying Salvias.

The Rydell Visual Arts Fund was created by Roy and Frances Rydell to promote Santa Cruz County artists and arts organizations. Eligible artists are nominated by regional visual arts organizations. Final selections are made based on artistic merit by a panel of arts professionals from outside the Santa Cruz area.

Jody Alexander is an installation artist who is fascinated with books, especially old or discarded books. She listens, hears, and then captures the tales they still tell about who we are and our heritage. Alexander’s installation is titled KEEP: Modern Library. It was inspired by withdrawn library books, Japanese textiles, the art of mending, and a KEEP stamp that was discarded from a library. The installation contains materials that were culled from a library in its regular pruning and updating process. To Alexander, these discarded objects are fascinating, and she weaves them into an appealing narrative about “the different ways we keep things (physically and emotionally), the importance of keeping things, and the equally important process of letting them go.” Alexander has exhibited her work throughout the U.S. and internationally.

Jim Denevan works with the earth, including the sand in deserts and on beaches, where his painstakingly drawn patterns are certainly doomed to disappear with wind and tides. But they are beautiful to behold, and we can see in his photographs that it’s a slow and arduous process requiring intense concentration as well as physical strength and stamina. The artist creates gigantic spirals, and concentric rings of circles within circles, like dancing mandalas. Indeed, Denevan likens his compositions to music and dance because of their ephemeral and temporary nature. His materials are sand, earth, grass, ice, snow, water, and fire, and his “drawings” are made in large open areas with simple tools. Denevan’s work has received national and international recognition, in exhibits, commissions, and in film and television.

Elizabeth Stephens is a new-media artist who aims to inspire empathy with and compassion for the Earth. Her projects include visual art, performance, photographs, video, costumes, and installations. With her partner Annie Sprinkle, Stephens has created numerous performance art weddings, in which, along with their guests, the couple married the Sea, Sun, Rocks, Sky, and other nature entities. These explorations of the metaphor of “Earth as Lover” have been performed internationally, including in Mexico, England, France, Spain, Finland, and Canada. One such event, “Wedding to the Appalachian Mountains,” evolved into a feature documentary about the environmental devastation and social justice issues caused by mountaintop removal coal mining in that area. This feature-length film, Goodbye Gauley Mountain: An Ecosexual Love Story, will be shown in the Mildred Owen Concert Hall, courtesy of Pacifica Performances, at 8:30 pm on the exhibition’s opening night. The film contains some explicit material.

Showing concurrently in the East Gallery is the Veterans Art Guild Exhibit, co-curated by Nava Attia-Benoit and Ashley Leonard. This is a return engagement for the group, following their previous, well-received show here in 2014. The Veterans Art Guild that began at the VA has been earning a positive community reputation. Members are involved in theater and storytelling arts projects as well as visual arts. This work helps veterans improve physical stamina and dexterity as well as improve social and problem-solving skills. Experiencing their own creativity and participating in community events can help veterans overcome the damages suffered in war, as well as evolve out of their “patient” status within the VA to participate more fully in society.

In the West Gallery, the Art Guild of Pacifica presents a favorite exhibit called the Buddy Show. Each Art Guild member who participates invites a friend who is not a member to exhibit along with them. In the Buddy Show, the Guild has found a wonderful way to promote Guild membership, and to bring in some new artistic expressions and fresh approaches, as well as to celebrate the importance of friendship.

After opening night, the galleries are open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 1 to 5 pm, and by appointment, through Sunday, April 3. Sanchez Art Center is located at 1220 Linda Mar Blvd., Pacifica, California, about a mile east of Highway 1 and the Pacific Ocean. For more information about Sanchez Art Center programs, call 650-355-1894 or visit http://www.SanchezArtCenter.org. For information about the Art Guild of Pacifica: http://www.ArtGuildofPacifica.org.

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