The Sonoma County Art Trails, a non-profit organization based in Sebastopol, celebrated its 40th anniversary this October, with 124 different artists coming to share their work. It happened for two weekends, Oct. 19-20 and Oct. 26-27. A variety of different kinds of art are shared here from glass blowing and mixed media art to photography and painting.
The Art Trails allow people the time to explore and understand the in-depth beauty of Sonoma County’s wine country vineyards, sinking into the fall colors. Meet with local artists, learn what inspires them, and observe some of their masterpieces. The Art Trails allow you to enjoy the scenic landscape including the country roads and corridors. It helps build a community by encouraging visitors to support artists directly and talk with them on a personal level. There is also a preview exhibition at the Sebastopol Center of the Arts, where each artist has a representative piece of artwork on display.
Both the collector’s guide and the self-guided tour are free. However, if you are interested in a more in depth tour of the artwork, then you can go down to the Sebastopol Art Center. Each exhibit in these centers has at least one piece of artwork per location, so if you find a piece that you like, make sure to check out some of their other works at their studios.
All the new promising artists had to submit an application to get a spot in the show and share their process, past work, and supplies they used to create it. A new jury is composed every year to decide who is admitted into the program. This team is made up of different artists and two rotating members of the Sonoma County Art Trails. After viewing the artwork, they rank the artists based on their quality, creativity, skill, professionalism, and craftsmanship.
Each year the people of Sonoma County hand out over 50,000 copies of the Collector’s guide, most of which are given to incoming tourists and locals. This year, a few of the artists that were chosen were Teri Sloat, Tamra Sanchez, and Luann Udell. All three of these artists are well-known for different things. Teri Sloat is known for illustrating children’s novels. Her most popular books are “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Trout” and “Hark! The Aardvark Angels Sing.” Tamra Sanchez is well known for painting and using pastels to capture animals and plants in nature, and Luann Udell is known for her jewelry made of trade beads and semi-precious stones.
Overall, The Sonoma County Art Trails are a great activity for those of all ages. It is a wonderful source for learning about different kinds of artwork if you are interested in starting your own creative journey.
