31st Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition opening this Friday at EmeryTech Building

October 3, 2017
3 mins read

Emeryville Celebration of the Arts, Inc., announces that the 31st Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition will be on display at the EmeryTech Building, located at 1475 66th Street in Emeryville. The annual juried show, featuring works of nearly 100 artists and craftspeople who live or work in Emeryville, is held at a different location each year – generously donated by a local Emeryville business. This year’s space has been donated by EmeryTech and Clarion Partners.

The East Bay enclave of Emeryville, well known for its active arts community, was recently designated by the California Arts Council as one of 14 districts that will serve as premier state-designated Cultural Districts, highlighting thriving cultural diversity and unique artistic identities within local communities across California.

Volunteers and staff are busy preparing the space for Friday’s Opening.

“Emeryville, for its size, has an amazing number of creative thinkers and makers, many publically known and even more working behind the scenes in support of artistic and cultural endeavors” offered Sharon Wilchar, Exhibition Coordinator. “As the non-profit partner to the City of Emeryville Rotten City Cultural Arts District, Emeryville Celebration of the Arts has been an anchor in developing an active, engaged arts community over the last three decades. With this new District designation, we all look forward to enhancing and deepening this community, to bringing us closer to the reality of a Cultural Arts Center in our city, to developing more artist live/work spaces, and to broadening our supportive environment for creative businesses.”

The Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition serves as a celebration of the city’s thriving collective creativity and an invitation for community members and visitors to experience a sampling of artwork created by Emeryville artists. Each year a panel of Bay Area art professionals is invited into private studios and art spaces to select the pieces for the annual exhibition. The result is a carefully curated group show featuring the works of nearly 100 artists and craftspeople that live or work in Emeryville. The exhibition is open to artists of all media and includes paintings, sculpture, photographs, ceramics, textiles, furniture, jewelry, glass works, and performance.

The annual exhibition continues to uncover emerging talent along with new work by established artists. This year the contributing artists include painters Jesse Walton and M. Louise Stanley, printmakers Nora Pauwels, Linda Lee Boyd and Kazuko Watanabe, photographers Jeannie O’Connor and Harley Jensen, ceramic artists Cuong Ta, Jered Nelson and Jeff Margolin, and sculptors Cheryl Koon,Jeffrey Hantman and Mark Galt. The 31st Annual Exhibition has expanded to include a special multi-media performance piece by songwriter and music-video producer Shadi Shamsavari and a poetry reading with Emeryville Poet Laureate (2013-16) Sarah Kobrinsky and fellow poets.

Independent curator and exhibition designer Kathleen Hanna is curator and juror for the 31st Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition. Ms. Hanna brings a deep knowledge of Bay Area arts and fine craft. “I have been guiding jurors for the Emeryville Celebration of the Arts through artists’ studios for six years and the exclamation that never fails to be uttered is ‘I had no idea’ and they are absolutely right,” stated Hanna. “This tiny enclave in the middle of the East Bay must have more accomplished artists per square foot than any other village in California and this exhibition provides the opportunity to collectively celebrate these artists and their work.”

The other 2017 jurors are Shelley Barry and Danielle Fox, Principals, SLATE Art, Oakland and Elizabeth Shypertt, the co-founder of Velvet Da Vinci Jewelry Gallery, San Francisco.

“The Emeryville artist community is truly a Bay Area gem,” said Shelley Barry. “From the quirky, artistic and whimsical art studios that we visited, to the reviewing of all the incredible works of art submitted by both professional and novice artists, it was special experience and I was honored to be a juror for the 2017 Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition.”

“The experience opened my eyes to the number of artists working in Emeryville ranging from emerging to very professional,” added fellow juror Danielle Fox “There were treasures to be found in the oddest places! It is very clear that this exhibition means a lot to the community.”

“It was a privilege to serve on the jury for this year’s annual art exhibition. I saw wonderful work with the added bonus of getting to meet the artists and see their workspaces,” said Elizabeth Shypertt. “It was such an interesting experience and has resulted in a fascinating collection of diverse works.”

There will be a gala public reception with the artists in attendance on Friday, October 6, from 6 pm to 9 pm, with live music by The doRiaN Mode: Vintage Jazz & Blues. A no-host bar will raise funds for the Emeryville Youth Art Program.

More Information:

Dates: Oct 7 – Oct 29
Hours: Daily from 11 am – 6 pm
Cost: Free
Web: emeryarts.org
Phone: (510) 652-6122

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