By Pamela Dozois
Contributing Writer
A juried show and sale of contemporary “art of the West” will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 6 and 7, at Flag Is Up Farms in Solvang.
Called “SLOPOKE 2018,” it will bring together artists and collectors in the Santa Ynez Valley, as did the once-popular Peppertree Art Show.
Cheri Cappello poses with her re-creations of Native American garments, pipe bags, and other artifacts.
The art show will feature paintings, drawings, sculpture, mixed media and photography depicting historic and contemporary life in the West.
Proceeds from a live auction will support the nonprofit Join-Up International and its Horse Sense and Healing workshops, which help veterans and first responders with post-traumatic stress injuries.
An opening reception at 5:30 p.m. Friday will be for local dignitaries and artists. The exhibition and sale will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday at Flag Is Up Farms.
Gayle Garner Roski, a nationally recognized fine artist and Los Angeles native serves as jurist for the show. Her work is shown at the Autry Museum’s annual Masters of the American West Fine Art Exhibition and she serves on the executive boards of the Los Angeles Cathedral, the prestigious California Art Club and the University of California’s School of Fine Art, which bears her name.
Established in 2011 by Tom and Sherie Burgher, owners of the Seaside Gallery in Pismo Beach, SLOPOKE originated as a gallery-sponsored multiple artist show featuring Western art. In 2016, SLOPOKE was spun off in a reorganization as a stand-alone public art show, partly in response to former Peppertree participating artists, Pat Roberts and Cheri Cappello, who believe there is a demand for a Western fine art exhibition in the Santa Ynez Valley.
“Cheri Cappello and I were exhibiting at the San Dimas Art Festival in 2016 and we were talking about how much we missed the Peppertree Art Show. Bob and Irma Eubanks operated the Peppertree Art Show for 33 years but it was discontinued in 2008, several years after Irma’s death,” said sculptor Pat Roberts, the owner of Flag Is Up Farms with her husband Monty Roberts.
“I said to Cheri, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could revive that show?” she continued. “At that time Cheri was exhibiting at the Seaside Gallery so she spoke with Tom Burgher, the owner of the gallery, about our idea. … Tom and I met to discuss some ideas and I suggested that we test the waters and hold a small show, to start off with, at Flag Is Up Farms. We held ‘A One Night Stand’ in the courtyard by the fountain in front of the main training barn. A percentage of the money went to Join-Up International. We didn’t raise much, but it was a lovely afternoon. That was the foundation of SLOPOKE coming to Flag Is Up Farms, thanks to Tom.”
“I cannot express my gratitude enough to Pat and Monty for doing this show. … I’ve always hoped that there was a way to revive or reinvent the Peppertree,” Cappello said.
Since its inception in 2011 SLOPOKE (SLO for San Luis Obispo and POKE as in cowpoke) has grown each year to become a regionally known high-quality event for western artists and art collectors. It is currently the only Western art show in Santa Barbara County.
“We are now hosting this event for the 8th consecutive year,” Burgher said. “It’s the best little Western art show on the California Coast. … We seek the best Western artists available who create works that are different from what is usually displayed as Western art. … We think of ‘art of the west’ as contrasted with ‘western art.’”
SLOPOKE will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 6-7, at Flag Is Up Farms, 901 E. Highway 246 in Solvang. Admission is $25 at the door or $20 online in advance.
For more information, visit the-slopoke.com or call 805-77
