Santa Rosa Navy air base gets new life

When the doors to artFlare open on Saturday, May 2, guests will get a peek at more than just the first exhibit of this new eight-member Sonoma County art collective. Guests also will get a look inside the second of two World War II naval barracks in southwest Santa Rosa that have been transformed into art hubs.

Both buildings and a nearby ammunition bunker are reminders of the air field that was built in 1943 as an auxiliary site to Alameda’s naval base. It was abandoned in the early 1950s and then reopened in 1966-67 as the local airport, Santa Rosa Air Center, which closed in 1991.

The city has grown up around the Finley Avenue site, near South Wright Road and Sebastopol Avenue, although one runway and other traces of the original occupants are still evident.

Building 32 has been consistently used since the early 1980s and now boasts tenants that include 24 artists. Greg Brown has the master lease for Studio Santa Rosa, which he founded with his late wife, Margo, 30 years ago. “It has been art studios ever since opening,” he said.

But Building 33 had been sitting vacant for some time and was in bad shape when current building manager Julian Billotte first saw it. With experience managing a similar space in San Francisco, the Hunter’s Point Shipyard, he and his wife, Anna Wiziarde, began a five-year renovation project.

Building 33 now houses Wiziarde’s art studio; Capricho, Billotte’s gilding and conservation studio; and a variety of other small businesses and art studios. “So far we have several painters; an astrologer, Sacred Stars Astrology; and a nonprofit organization, World Stewardship Institute,” he said.

California Sister, a flower arranging business that plans to grow flowers on the grounds, is in the process of moving in, and members of artFlare, which signed a lease in February, will hold a grand opening 1-5 p.m. Saturday.

It also will be the first public event to take place in Building 33 since Billotte and Wiziarde began their renovations.

“We’re excited to have artFlare here because they are really active,” Billotte said. “We like to see people do art.”

Founder Nina Ayin Reimer said she came up with the idea of a group with “not so much a feminist but definitely a female perspective” on art. In 2014, she began calling friends, she said, “and I sort of spread the word. I said, ‘Is anybody interested in having an art group?’”

Over time Reimer was joined by seven other women: Mary Prisland, Barbara Goodman, Monica Bryant, Batja Cates, Marge Mount, Cynthia Poten, Sharona “Chacha” Tracy and the late Sharon Maser Danaceau.

All currently live or have lived in Sonoma County. They share a common work, exhibition and teaching space, as well as a goal to “ignite and illuminate the bond between art, nature, and community,” part of art Flare’s mission statement

Each of the original members joined at a different time. Bryant, who chaired Ursuline High School’s art department from 2002 to 2011, learned about artFlare from Cates.

“I play in the New Horizons band with Batja, and she told me about it,” Bryant said. “I was very excited to get in on a group of women artists. It coincides with a time in my life when I am reconnecting with art.”

She describes the group as “experienced women with a maturity about giving back and helping one another.”

Reimer and Goodman discovered Building 33 during a First Saturday event at Studio Santa Rosa. Although they had originally planned to work and have shows in a variety of spaces, they crossed the street to meet with Billotte in Building 33.

“It’s in a great location for all of us who live in different places in Sonoma County. It’s pretty central and we have all day sunlight. It’s just beautiful,” Reimer said.

Prisland adores the wonderful light that fills artFlare’s two large rooms, “light from the east in the morning and direct sun from the west in the afternoon,” she said. “There’s a vista of the flatlands of Sebastopol. It’s very peaceful and quiet.”

Added Goodman, “It is exciting to be part of transforming this old, empty, neglected building into a living breathing community.”

Mount said artFlare’s rooms and the buildings are well set up for artists. “It’s a wonderful place to create and bounce ideas off each other. Being an artist is a very isolating experience. Whenever you can get that support, it is important.”

For Bryant, working at Finley Avenue is like coming home.

“In the 1980s, when Greg (Brown) started Studio Santa Rosa, I was one of the first ones into that,” she said. Bryant assisted in creating sculptures and participating in artist events at Brown’s then-fledgling center.

“Then came life and children, and my partner and I lived in Singapore. Now I’m back. In a way, it feels a little like full circle to get into that Finley space and work again,” said Bryant.

Tracy said one of the most important parts of artFlare’s upcoming show will be its honoring of Danaceau, her late partner. In 1985, Danaceau founded the nonprofit Women’s School of Healing Arts and Sciences in Sebastopol.

“Sharon is an honorary member of our group. She was a photographer and artist who will be remembered in our show.”

The show will feature photography, etchings, oil and acrylic paintings, collage, sculpture and mixed-media works, including scenes of gardens in bloom, birds in the Laguna de Santa Rosa and a New York cityscape involving male and female dancers.

“In the show, we’re celebrating rebirth and new beginnings, as well as rain,” Poten said.

Tracy had stopped creating art for more than 20 years to recover from a serious car accident and to care for Danaceau as she battled cancer. She credits the group’s energy with helping her move forward as an artist.

“The sisterhood of my artists and the diversity, the incredible creativity we each bring (is very positive). Everyone just cooperates to make it (artFlare) happen. We all just want to see it fly,” Tracy said.

“You walk through the door of (our studio) and you can feel the creative energy.”

Billotte and Wiziarde also plan to bring potters into the fold, are considering a wood-fired kiln and hope to convert the bunker, which once served as a punk rock venue, into a recording and music practice studio.

“Rites of Spring” opens May 2 and runs through 5 p.m. May 7 at Building 33, at 3840 Finley Avenue in Santa Rosa. The public is invited. Parking is free. To learn more visit artflare.net.

EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described Greg Brown’s wife, Margo, and the name of Julian Billotte’s business, Capricho. This story has been updated to correct those errors.