On July 3rd, join us for our opening with featured art — ceramic masks by Susan Blackwelder and baskets by Denise Roumbanis — as well as wine pouring by Nelson Family Vineyards, and music by Don Haupt. The art will be on display throughout the month of July.

When Susan and her family settled in Ukiah, she began taking art classes at Mendocino College. She was ready to fulfill the creative dream she had as a child of wanting to be an artist. She found that she enjoyed the challenge of capturing the likeness of a subject in watercolor. When she started exploring ceramics with teacher Mac Magruder, making masks out of clay seemed like an obvious direction. Susan is showing masks from her own collection and from private collections of her work. Her drawing and paintings will also be shown in the gallery.

Denise has been a resident of Mendocino County for twelve years, but began her study of baskets when she lived in Sonoma County. She studied pine needle basketry with Native American artist Lucy Parker, daughter of Julia Parker, both well known Pomo basket makers who live near Yosemite. She enjoys any basketry that uses the coiled method, and likes experimenting with varied materials such as tules, wild iris leaves, redwood bark, and any other natural material that she can gather. She will be showing a collection of fifteen baskets. Denise hand dyes some of her materials, and also embellishes the baskets with feathers and beads. 

Hanna Vogel, a ceramic artist, will be a guest artist featured inside the gallery.

At the Annex of Art Center Ukiah, Nelson Family Vineyards will be pouring wine and sharing one of their featured performers, Don Haupt, from their first ever Blues Festival, Reds, Whites, and The Blues on July 4th. He is an incredible performer and not to be missed. Music from 5:30 – 8:30; donations appreciated.

For over 50 years, the Nelson Family has been farming vineyards in there fertile valley hidden in the Hopland Hills.  The old tractor once used to till the rugged soil, now stands as a symbol of there passion for sustainable farming and belief that great wine is born in the vineyards.  The once working sheep ranch and orchard operation of 1952, has contributed in creating the unique biodiversity that exists in the Nelson Family Vineyards today.

Keeping strictly to the tradition of the self accompanied blues-singer, Don Haupt packs the sound and energy of a full band into a one man show. Whooping vocals and a hefty hand on the guitar playing backed by a right foot not just tapping but stomping the stage so hard it is felt through the floor clear into the back row. The songs are old standards from the 20s and 30s, dusted off and polished clean again. Songs like Son House’s “Preachin Blues” and Robert Johnson’s “Traveling Riverside Blues” are performed with conviction enough to turn any venue into old-time swamps of Louisiana juke joint.

The Corner Gallery is pleased to present two guests, Paulo Ferreira and Theresa Whitehill, in June as our Featured Artists. The opening reception will take place on the First Friday artwalk — June 5th from 5 to 8 pm. Graziano will pour wine to celebrate the event. Caterer Tony Berno will serve appetizers and may perform some "live" assembly of some of his sophisticated appetizers as "food art." Ferreira and Whitehill will show their letterpress broadsides (see image at right) and paintings.

Paulo Ferreira: Artist
A native of Lisbon, Portugal, Ferreira has lived most of his life abroad—England, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and the United States. His work encompasses oil painting, often incorporating encaustic and marble dust; assemblage; and bronze, marble, and ceramic sculpture. Ferreira’s professional experience includes interior and graphic design, theater production and management, marketing, studio photography, and commercial illustration. His work has been exhibited in San Francisco’s Vorpal Gallery, the Mexican Consulate, the Mendocino Art Center, and other venues in northern California, Ibiza, New York, and Lisbon. Read more about Paulo here.

Theresa Whitehill: Poet
Born and raised in California, Whitehill studied poetics with William Everson at UC Santa Cruz in the mid-70s, and Book Arts under Kathleen Walkup at Mills College in the early 80s. She has lived in Mendocino County since 1984 and is well known to Mendocino county poetry audiences. Évora a Doce, her poem about Portuguese soul and food, was published as a limited edition letterpress broadside by Alice Waters and Richard Seibert in 1997. In the spring of 1998 she served as Poet-in-Residence at Stags’ Leap Winery, and went on to write and design an estate book on the winery’s history, winemaking, and culture, a project that resulted in the five-volume Stags’ Leap Winery: A Guide to the Estate. She is currently serving as Poet Laureate for the City of Ukiah. Read more about Theresa here.

Colored Horse Studios was founded in 1993 by husband and wife partners, poet and designer Theresa Whitehill, and artist Paulo Ferreira, as a venue for their literary, artistic, and commercial design work. Their studios are located in Ukiah. The letterpress broadsides of Colored Horse Studios and Whitehill’s poetry are in the collections of the Getty Museum, the John Hay Library of Brown University, the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley, Stanford’s Special Collections Library, the New York Public Library, the Special Collections Department of UCLA, the San Francisco Public Library, Mills College Special Collections, and City College of San Francisco, as well as many private collections. Read more here.

After being two of the featured artists on Friday evening, founding members Carol Heady and Minnie McQueary led an afternoon art lesson for young artists on Saturday, May 2nd.

Carol gave a demonstration to both adults and children on "Pastel Animal Art", while Minnie showed wet watercolor techniques to the children. They all learned "hands on" about applying color to different types of watercolor paper and the addition of salt technique to give their artwork both depth and design.

Much was learned in this on going series of demonstrations and lessons!

This Friday, May 1st, from 5 to 8 pm the community is invited to enjoy featured art by potter Adriana Dakin, wood worker Sun Wolf, illustrator and painter Carol Heady, and painter Minnie McQueary. We have a special treat — champagne pouring by Scharffenberger Cellars and live oldtime fiddle music by Brown Chicken Brown Cow String Band (you can hear great pieces on their webpage)!

Adriana has created a dinner setting for the occasion — matching handmade plates, mugs, casserole, bowl, and salt woman.

In December, Art Center Ukiah expanded into the building next to the center's Corner Gallery, and began offering classes. We are lining up a full slate for the Spring.

Well-known local artist Christine Hamilton, member of the Yokaia Tribe, has offered to give classes in the making of coil baskets. A student of Elsie Allen at the age of nineteen, Mrs. Hamilton has been teaching traditional Pomo culture, dance, regalia and basket making for sixteen years. Her baskets are available at the Grace Hudson Museum. She has exhibited her work at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York and the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. The local community is encouraged to take advantage of this unique opportunity. She will supply the native materials which she has gathered in the traditional way. Classes will be held at Art Center Ukiah, 203 South State Street (next to the Corner Gallery), in 3 parts: Saturday January 17th 3:30-5:30 pm, Sunday January 25th 3:30-5:30, and Saturday January 31st 3:30-5:30. Sign-up at the Corner Gallery between 11 am and 6 pm, Tuesday through Saturday, or call 707-462-1400.

See all our classes here.

This Friday, November 7, from 5 to 8 pm, we celebrate the opening show of three Corner Gallery artist cooperative members — Elliot Little, Rose Peterson Myers, and Carol Heady.

Eaglepoint Ranch Winery will pour their wines made from grapes harvested exclusively at the Scharffenberger family's ranch in Philo. A member of the Coro Mendocino Group, Eaglepoint Ranch Winery ranks among the top fine wine making vintners of Mendocino County. “Seriously good wine,” writes Thom Elkjer of the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Broadcasters, a local 4-piece band with Chris Gibson, Dori Kramer, Phylee Binder, and Marc Levine, will play soulful and danceable originals and old favorites.

Joan Nelson is providing a special treat as well — Joan's English Toffee!

Collectors of Rose's and Carol's art will be happy to know that they will be offering 50% off of all paintings and pen and ink drawings during the First Friday reception. 

About the Artists

Originally hailing from New York and New Jersey, Elliot Little has lived in Mendocino County for 35 years. His photography is a celebration of the beauty around us. The main focus of his current display is the intimate splendor of our local autumn, which can be compared in beauty to the fall New England colors. His words of advice for young photographers is: “Enjoy it. I remember going out in my rainsuit to see wildflowers coming out, lying on my stomach, breathing with the wind, and trying to get a shot.” He started photographing landscapes rather than close ups of flowers because he wanted to see where the flower grew.

Rose Peterson Myers enjoys many different art forms, and is showing several different media this month. New bright and bold florals in traditional watercolor on paper are presented along with baskets, decorative art pieces, and a wine barrel head painted in acrylic of a summer vineyard landscape to celebrate our fall grape harvest. To complete the show, she is offering a preview of several jewelry pieces, more of which will be offered during the holiday boutique in December. 

Carol Heady has been drawing for over 40 years, developing her own recognizable style.  She and her husband take trips into the wilderness with pack mules, and from these trips she gets the inspiration for her art works. She has won hundred’s of awards in competition art shows, and has illustrated books and western catalogs. Her colorful pen and ink drawings, colored with photographic ink, have a new look. 

Date and time: Friday, November 7, 5 to 8 pm
Where: Corner Gallery, Art Center Ukiah, 201 S State Street, Ukiah
Musicians: The Broadcasters
Winery: Eaglepoint Ranch Winery
Wine and refreshments will be served.