Winterblast shows off Santa Rosa’s artsy side

Rain thinned the crowd but did not dampen the fun at the Winterblast arts festival Saturday night in a neighborhood near downtown Santa Rosa.

About 2,500 visitors - half the size of last year’s crowd - attended the annual event, a quirky showcase of the city’s vibrant and unique arts enclave known as SOFA, for South of A Street.

The festival, which features open studios and galleries and a parade of wheel-borne sofas decked out in colorful lights, has been held for the past 12 years and still draws plenty of newcomers.

It’s grown significantly and this year for the first time received city funding of about $4,000, said James Podchernikoff, owner of Atlas Coffee Co. and lead organizer of the event.

“It’s gotten a lot bigger in the last three or four years,” Podchernikoff said.

The public money helped pay for event permits and a large street stage, though it was sidelined by the rain.

Forestville couple Bonnie Hill and Erik Paul attended the festival with their 2½-year-old daughter Aunaka Grace. The toddler drew a small crowd of spectators as she stomped around in a puddle of rain in Art Alley not far from well-known Sonoma County artist Mario Uribe’s studio. Hill and Paul, who are themselves artists and have visited the SOFA district, said it was their first time attending the festival, which they learned about on Facebook.

“We just love supporting the local arts community,” Hill said. “And we get inspired seeing the work of other artists.

For 24-year-old artist Daniel Doughty, Saturday’s Winterblast was a sort of inauguration of his “studio,” a narrow garage storage space he’s renting from Uribe. Doughty’s displayed work included painted circles framing Buddhas.

Those familiar with Uribe’s work saw the influence.

“Mario is my mentor,” Doughty said, adding that without Uribe’s help and guidance he would still be washing dishes and making cheese.

The rainy weather created an ideal atmosphere for those seeking “gourmet comfort food” at the Foodie Farmhouse food truck parked on the west side of A Street. Paul Malone and Amanda Janik stood in the street eagerly waiting for a Foodie Frankfurter and mac and cheese dish.

It was the couple’s first visit to Winterblast as SOFA residents. They moved to the neighborhood they call one of Santa Rosa’s hidden treasures a few weeks ago. Their second date as a pair was in 2011 at their first Winterblast.

“It’s a great community event,” Janik said. “We see a lot of our friends and neighbors here.”

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@renofish.