Art View
By Jim Christiansen
March does take off with a bang this month. “Young at Art,” the annual student show opens at Mistlin Gallery, with a run to March 19, where it finishes with an artist reception and Awards Ceremony at 2:30 pm. Student art featured in several age categories and media, from preschool to High School. Open Studio maps are available March 1, at Mistlin Gallery, Carnegie Arts Center, Chartreuse Muse, The Artist Loft, Crow Trading, Oakdale Chamber of Commerce, Modesto Convention and Visitors Bureau. Maps are $10, and Students 18 and under get in FREE with a map holder. Stanislaus Artist Open Studio now has 81 artists, at 43 locations. This year the raffle drawing for the 6 $200 gift certificates, good to spend at one of the studios of your choice on the tour, will be done by Art Walk Night in April, in advance of the tour, with time to plan your trip. More information on that next month.
There are a few shows in progress from last month. Mary Bucknam Oil Paintings featured at McHenry Museum to March 6. Nadine Barret among artists featured at Still Smoking. “Welcome to the Pacific” featuring Artist Dean De Cocker at the Main Street Gallery, and “Missing Volumes” by Christian Hali at the Building Imagination Center, both CSUS galleries on Main Street in Turlock, run through March 24. Carolyn Huff Photography Gallery will feature Artist, poet, author Georgene Lang through March. Central Valley Art Festival will run two nights of pop up art show at Stanislaus State, March 4 and 5, 7 pm to Midnight. For more information on that one, see www.centralvalleyartfestival.com If you’d like to take and oil painting class, refer to last month’s Art View for David Bienkowski’s 6 class course, March 10 to April 11.
The Central California Art Showcase artists beware the ides of March, is the March 14 receiving date. March 4 is the announcement of acceptance, and the show will open at both the Mistlin Gallery and Carnegie Arts Center April 1 to May 27.
Art Walk maps change this month, with a new listing of venues featuring local artists listed for the Downtown Modesto Third Thursday. The map will be good until September. Some changes being floated for Art Walk, and patrons and artists might want to weigh in with some suggestions. Our every month schedule is one of the few art communities that put and art walk on, but the frequency of our monthly get out downtown event might change. An “Art Alley” is proposed from J Street down to the Chartreuse Muse, that may include more murals to those walls, and pop up opportunities for artists to expand opportunities to show. As yet to be organized, including how to apply, fees if any, etc. This has been interactive event for over a decade, so if a fan of art walk, patron, participating artist, get some feedback into the project. Website is www.modestoartwalk.com For Pop Up street artists, I met one this art walk by Preservation Coffee. Evan, with hand crafted crystal and mineral pieces for healing crystal art. Always check out our downtown venues off the map, for the local artists, poets, musicians they may have on hand, during the monthly Third Thursday Outing.
The “Art of Justice” art show and fundraiser for the Stanislaus Family Justice Center returns for another great show, where local artists are paired with the works of the centers younger student artists with a theme or message, to produce and inspired work of art donated to the fundraising effort. My pick this year involves the exercise of “The Monster in Me” with “hecka colors, hecka legs. Show will be staged at the Center on I Street, March 23. Over 77 works of art worked on this year.
