News From Our Towns: Sonoma, Cloverdale, Geyserville

SONOMA

Art program expands

Nonprofit Sonoma Valley art studio ArtEscape is expanding programs for the summertime, with numerous classes, art camps and workshops for artists and aspiring artists of all ages.

Events kick off with a free Family Fun Day and “Glow Show” art reception from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday at the studio, 17474 Highway 12, Boyes Hot Springs.

The gallery will feature interpretations of the “Glow” theme in the new art exhibit running through July 24.

Family Fun Day activities include a blacksmithing demonstration with Anastatia Chiurco of Steel Geisha Designs. Adults and kids can make paper globes with decorative papers in the studio classroom.

Weekly themed art camps for kids and teens begin June 8. Fees range from $100 to $160.

Free drop-in art classes for teens start June 12. A specific medium or technique will be introduced from 6 to 10 p.m. each Friday through Aug. 14. Teens can complete a finished piece of art at each session.

Teachers and mentors will work with teens to “encourage and support Sonoma youth to pursue careers in fine arts,” said Jean Prominski-Shepard, executive director.

Free and low-cost art classes in June include glass bead making, watercolor, string art, mural painting, a dulcimer project and “Weirdo Art.”

Other upcoming events include free workshops for Sonoma Valley teachers from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 15 and July 18. Sonoma Plein Air Foundation sponsors the workshops that offer bookmaking, color theory, patterning and other art processes that can directly apply to classroom curriculum.

ArtEscape is a community outreach program that brings the visual arts to underserved neighborhoods in northern Sonoma Valley. It is affiliated with the Arts Guild of Sonoma, the oldest arts cooperative in California.

For registration or information, call 938-5551 or visit artescapesonoma.com. The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday and by appointment.

Dianne Reber Hart

CLOVERDALE

Beads, gems for sale

Karmic Beads and Gems will hold a three-day show and sale beginning Friday at the Cloverdale History Center, 215 N. Cloverdale Blvd.

Owner Jenny Macias, whose grandparents started the business with opal from Australia, specializes in crystals, fossils, mineral specimens, singing bowls, pendants and Native American jewelry.

Joining Macias will be two other gem vendors, Alain Bloom, a regional artist from Bodega Bay whose display includes turquoise from many different mines, and Tommy DeMaris, a retired Weaverville school teacher who also sells fossils like ammonites and dinosaur bones.

The show runs from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 7. Admission is free.

Mary Jo Winter

GEYSERVILLE

Ready to read?

The Free Bookmobile of Sonoma County will be in Geyserville from 5 to 6 p.m. June 9, parked across from the Park & Ride Visitors Center on Geyserville Avenue. People are encouraged to pick out their summer reading materials from the vehicle’s large selection of donated books.

Deborah Rust