Staff Report
An exhibit that has been 30 years in the making will open Saturday, Aug. 25, at the Elverhøj Museum of History and Art.
The “Past, Present & Future” exhibit celebrates three decades of art in the Santa Ynez Valley with a sweeping overview of some of artists whose work has been shown in the gallery through the years, said Executive Director Esther Jacobsen Bates.
Channing Peake’s “Mystic Celebration”
The public is invited to the opening celebration for the exhibit, from 4 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, to meet some of the 40 artists whose work is being shown and enjoy refreshments. Admission is free. The exhibit will remain on display through Nov. 11.
Since opening to the public in 1988, Elverhøj has displayed the work of more than 400 regional, national and international artists. “Past, Present & Future” marks the museum’s milestone anniversary “with a visual tribute to artists of the past who are no longer with us, and with a curated selection of works by contemporary artists whose art has been shown in the gallery through the decades and are still producing art in the present. The display also spotlights artists whose future successes were nurtured through participation in Elverhøj shows and mentoring by museum curators and art committee members,” Jacobsen said.
Jacobsen curated the exhibition with fine-arts consultant Rita Ferri.
“It’s the largest number of artists represented in a single show during the history of Elverhoj,” Jacobsen added.
Lindy Kern’s “Persephone”
Sharing arts and culture has always been an integral part of the museum mission, following in a custom started by the Brandt-Erichsen family, whose hand-built home was a gathering place for the art community and later donated for a community museum. Many local children who are now adults attended art lessons in the family’s studio and recall fondly the safe and nurturing environment in which they learned to make and appreciate art.
Exhibition programming includes “The Poetry of Transition” at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, with work written and recited by local poets. “Creative Commons,” a dialogue and discussion about the cultural vitality of arts in the Santa Ynez Valley, takes place at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25. Presented in collaboration with the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture, the event will be followed by a social hour.
The works on display include artists of the past: Viggo Brandt-Erichsen, Merv Corning, Gregory DeLeon, Eyvind Earle, Richard Lindekens, Barbra Minar, Martha Mott, Channing Peake and Bud Tullis.
Zoë Nathan’s “Harlequin Muse”
It also includes selected contemporary artists: Wesley Anderegg, R. Anthony Askew, Phoebe Brunner, John Cody, Jim Farnum, Karen Gearhart-Jensen, Rebecca Gomez, Holli Harmon, Patricia Hedrick, Kam Jacoby, Susan Jørgensen, Renée Kelleher, Lindy Kern, Joseph Knowles, Teresa McNeil MacLean, Rick James Marzullo, Ann Raleigh, Pat Roberts, Francis Scorzelli, Ro Snell, Nicole Strasburg, Dug Uyesaka, Carol Wood, Seyburn Zorthian and Pamela Zwehl-Burke.
Finally, the artists whose futures were nurtured at Elverhoj are: Kristen Bates, Mackenzie Duncan, Zoë Nathan, Luis Ramirez, Blakeney Sanford and Chelsea Ward.
Elverhoj Museum of History and Art, at 1624 Elverhoy Way in Solvang, is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Admission is free but a $5 donation is requested. For more information, call 805-686-1211 or visit elverhoj.org.
