Untitled work by Ed Handelman is featured on the poster for this year's Saratoga Rotary Art Show.




Saratoga Rotary Art Show

The selection process is what's behind the success of the annual event

By Shari Kaplan

While everyone knows the annual Saratoga Rotary Art Show is a place to see--the work of 175 quality artisans--and be seen--visiting, eating and relaxing with family, friends and neighbors--what most don't see is what goes on behind the scenes. This year's show takes place May 2 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the campus of West Valley College, 14000 Fruitvale Ave. Parking and admission are free. Along with a large quantity of quality artwork, the show also includes free entertainment--stage acts as well as roving performers--and numerous food and drink booths, including the Rotarians' booth and its famous Saratoga Pepperbelly sandwich.

Although little-known by the general public, the presence and influence of people like the artist coordinator, her assistant and the juried show's three judges is omnipresent. In fact, if it weren't for these individuals and their close work with the Saratoga Rotary Club, there wouldn't be an art show at all. The club, aligned with the nearly 100-year-old Rotary International service organization, puts together the show not only to promote artistic talent and share it with the community, but to donate proceeds from the show to the many local, national and international organizations and groups the club supports.

Serving as artist coordinator came naturally to Mary Fleischli. "I've lived here for 40 years and I've always attended the Rotary Art Show, and also I've worked part time at West Valley, so it seemed like a very natural fit," she says. A friend who had previously held the position suggested Fleischli apply, she did and was hired.

"One Rotarian said he chose me because he thought I'd stay around a while--I guess he was right!" she adds with a laugh. Upon taking the position some 11 years ago, Fleischli inherited a thick stack of three-by-five note cards, handwritten with the names and personal information of all the artists who were current or past participants.

Photograph by Don Miller

Saratoga Rotary Art Show judges (from left) Lissa Jones, Carol Hutchinson and Charles Escott examine work from prospective participants. They are joined by 1999 chairwoman Maggie Porter and longtime artist coordinator Mary Fleischli.




Over the years, this database has not only grown in number and in scope--artists hail from throughout California and beyond--but also in its technological organization. Thanks to Fleischli's husband, Earl, an instructor at Heald Business College, all the information now resides safely on a computer database.

Fleischli is responsible for keeping and updating the database, which she often adds to by attending art shows and recruiting artisans who work in various mediums. Her other major responsibility is organizing and running the jurying process, through which the Rotary Art Show ends up with 175 of the best artists in the state and country.

The jurying takes place on the West Valley campus approximately four months before the art show. Artists can either bring their work in person or, if unable to make the trip, can send slides of their creations. For the past several years, the judges have been oil painter Carol Hutchinson, jewelry designer and art instructor Charles Escott and corporate art consultant and photographer Lissa Jones. "The judges all complement one another. I look to them for each of their strengths in their particular areas. I feel they represent a very good variety," Fleischli says.

The trio arrives at West Valley by 8 a.m. and begins by scrutinizing artists' slides. They then move on to view artwork in seven different categories, divided into different time slots and rooms for ease of viewing. The categories are fiber arts, which includes handmade paper, woven items and clothing; crafts, which includes items made of wood, straw, leather and glass; ceramics, jewelry, painting and graphics, photography, and sculpture.

Photograph by Del Carlo

A visitor to a previous Saratoga Rotary Art Show stretches to admire the long-necked work of a sculpture artist.




"It's back and forth all day, until about 3 p.m.," Fleischli explains. "The judges don't know whose work they're looking at. They just rate each piece on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 highest. My role is to keep everything in order, record the votes and then tally them all up that night."

"The jurying is a very dynamic thing," Hutchinson says. "It's an exhausting day but it really excites me as an artist to see everything that's out there. There could almost be two Rotary Art Shows, based on the quality of work that we see."

After Fleischli determines the top vote-getters in each category, she sends letters to each artist--some to thank them and encourage them to apply next year; others to congratulate them on earning booth space in the upcoming show.

"Mary really is the show," Hutchinson says. "In the end, she's the one who puts it all together and helps ensure a really balanced group of high quality work. It takes more talent than I have as a juror or an artist to balance a whole show."

Fleischli's daughter, Heidi Deale, has great respect for her mother's talents, having seen them expand and adapt over the years. Deale, who has been attending the shows since she was a small child in a stroller, now brings her own children to the show. She is also now her mother's assistant, helping with various clerical duties.

"I always remember my mom being there from dawn until dusk and walking around in her blue Rotary shirt. It's been a family event from my childhood and now I'm part of it. It's also part of my own children's childhood," Deale says.

Photograph by Del Carlo

A little art fan comes face to face with a big cat at a previous Saratoga Rotary Art Show.




"I don't know if it's the show evolving or my knowledge evolving, but I've noticed so many different artistic techniques and styles now. Each year, it's continually new and exciting. I think that's what keeps the show fresh and interesting," Deale says.

And that is thanks to jurors like Hutchinson, who, like Fleischli, is a longtime Saratogan and Rotary Art Show aficionado. Her involvement with the show began in the early 1960s, where she sold her paintings for some 18 years. Her husband also became a Rotarian, which furthered her interest. After becoming active in an art gallery and later developing a busy portraiture business, Hutchinson stopped participating in the show as an artist. About a decade ago, however, she began participating as a judge, and continues to this day.

At the time she began judging, a friend of Hutchinson's was serving as both artist coordinator and judge and had to leave town for a family emergency on the first of two days' worth of judging. Hutchinson filled in for her friend, enjoyed the job and found out later that her friend was quite impressed with her jurying ability.

Photograph by Del Carlo

A Saratoga Rotary Art Show visitor to a previous show wonders how to carry her latest purchase.




"I spend a lot of time in galleries and museums and I study art whenever I can," she says, adding that as an artist as well as a judge, she always pays attention to what sells best in galleries and tries to attend art shows when she can. Hutchinson plans to remain a judge for as long as the club wants her because, she says, she enjoys the enlightening experience of seeing what's new in art each year; she also likes being part of one of her favorite community events.

Just as art, according to Hutchinson, "is the integration of [many] elements--color, composition, balance, line--into a beauteous, harmonious whole," so is the annual Saratoga Rotary Art Show.

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For information, go to the Saratoga Rotary website: http://www.saratogarotary.org or contact Mary Fleischli, artist coordinator, 252-3922 or email: efleisch@pacbell.net or Donald Miller, 867-7653 or DMILLER863@aol.com.

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