Artist Kathy Mitcham created this year's Saratoga Rotary Art Show poster, of an imaginary Saratoga location (Photograph by George Sakkestad)
By Sue Fagalde Lick
For artists, the Saratoga Rotary Art Show is the show to be in. For the nonprofit groups that benefit from it, the annual May extravaganza is one of the year's most effective fundraisers. For Saratogans, it's the place to be on the first Sunday in May.
Elisabeth Challener, chair of this year's Rotary Art Show, says the show, now in its 38th year, is so well organized that it's more fun than work.
"I'm like the orchestra conductor for a group of talented musicians who know just what to do," she says.
This year's Rotary Art Show will be held May 5 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at West Valley College, 14000 Fruitvale Ave. Art by 175 professional artists, plus a selection of student art, will be displayed across a wide swath of the campus.
Strolling musicians and onstage acts will provide continuous entertainment. The Olympiad of the Arts awards for student artists, musicians, actors and dancers will be presented in the college theater, along with performances by the winners. Food will be on sale at the show and also at Redwood Middle School's traditional pancake breakfast across Fruitvale Avenue.
The Rotary Club reports that 25,000 to 30,000 people attend the event each year. The money raised at the Rotary Art Show has enabled the Rotarians to give more than $700,000 to local organizations, including Montalvo Center for the Arts, West Valley College, Southwest YMCA, Eastfield/Ming-Quong, Saratoga Senior Center, Interplast and Hakone Gardens.
Prestigious Venue
The Rotary Art Show is one of the best, say the Saratoga artists who show their works there. Artists' works are juried, and fewer than half of those who apply are admitted to the show. Approximately 30 percent of the artists are new each year.
"It's a great local show," says watercolorist Margaret Blackwell. "They spoil us rotten." Now that she is showing most of her works in galleries, the Rotary show is the only outdoor show she still does.
"For a one-day show, it's phenomenal," Laurie Coles reports. Coles, creator of the Annie Parker line of oils and lotions, says she is so busy all day that she doesn't have time to sit down. Although the Rotary takes a 30 percent slice off the profits, the show is a big moneymaker for Coles, and she is glad to see the commissions go to local schools and other community groups.
Potter Donna Marie Padrick was delighted that she didn't have to go through the jurying process this year because she finished in the top 20 percent of sales last year. A 15-year veteran of the Rotary Art Show, she says, "It is my best show." She makes lots of sales, has many customers who come back every year and also has a chance to see friends from Saratoga.
Blackwell notes that the Rotary provides lunch and cold drinks for the artists, is fast and accurate with its accounting, chooses only the best artists and provides a good balance of art.
Kathy Mitcham, whose watercolor is the basis for this year's poster, also tries to do the Rotary Show every year. It's a good show and gives her a chance to visit her family and friends, she says.
This is the first year the Rotary has commissioned poster art. In past years, they selected a finished piece of art from one of the artists.
Challener, who as executive director of Villa Montalvo has commissioned art every year for the concert series, says the committee was looking for something unique to Saratoga. They sent Mitcham photographs of local sites, and the finished poster is a composite, with an arched doorway from Villa Montalvo, wisteria from Hakone Gardens, and a flowerbed from a Saratoga home.
The Rotarians liked the finished painting so much they purchased it and plan to auction it to raise money for Rotary charities. The posters have been displayed around town for the past month. Copies of the poster, plus T-shirts and sweatshirts bearing Mitcham's design, will be on sale at the show.
Having her work on a garment is something of a return to the start of her career for Mitcham. The Saratoga High School graduate majored in textile design at UC-Davis and worked as a textile designer in Hawaii for several years. Her designs, mostly florals, were printed on fabrics to
be made into garments. It was great training, she says, because she had to paint eight hours a day.
After she married and moved to Seattle, Mitcham found few opportunities for textile work, so she dabbled in other art fields, including graphic design and interior design, and became a full-time artist doing etchings that were distributed across the country. As the economy changed, she turned to watercolors, her first love. She has shown her work at outdoor festivals and in galleries and has done many commissioned works, including a series of floral paintings for Nordstrom stores.
Paging through her portfolio, one sees many doors, windows, gardens and a few cats. Mitcham's colors are densely saturated, and the paintings often are intensely detailed, with the leaves, bricks and flower petals almost photographically reproduced. In other works, which she calls her "scribble paintings," she employs a looser style.
Study in Black & White
Photographer Suzanne Arnold, a 13-year Saratoga resident, is returning to the Rotary show for the fourth time. She often shares booth space with her husband, Jim, also a photographer, but this year's show is strictly her work, all in black and white. "The black and white is a distillation of what you see," Arnold says."There's a great deal of emotion in it." Color distracts the eye from the emotion, she notes.
Half of the art takes place in the darkroom for Arnold, who has studied Ansel Adams' techniques and uses his zone system of printing. Adams is famous for his grand landscapes, but she says, "I'm more interested in the landscape that has been touched by the hand of man."
The Arnolds both have high-tech jobs and pursue their photography at night and on weekends. They started attending shows six years ago and did 21 last year, packing their car full of matted prints and lugging them all over California, Arizona and Nevada. Their goal is to eventually be able to support themselves with their photography.
Arnold, who is president this year of Saratoga Contemporary Artists, says she enjoys going to the shows, where she can talk to lots of people and find out what they like and dislike. However, when it comes to choosing paintings to display, she says, "I show my favorites. I want to enjoy what I'm doing."
Suzanne Karlak is also showing photos at this year's show, but with a very different focus. She specializes in "macro shots, pieces of something beautiful." She aims her lens at plants, buildings, old bottles, animals and other things, taking a close-up view, then framing them with carefully chosen mats to bring out the colors. This is her first year at the Rotary Art Show. It will give her a chance to see how people react to her photography, she says.
Padrick, an active member of Gallery Saratoga, looks forward to seeing her friends at the Rotary show. She sells what she calls "functional art pieces"--dishes, bowls, platters, vases, lamps and other items that can be put to use. She studied Chinese painting and uses the techniques she learned in decorating her pots.
Weather is a concern for the artists. Blackwell worries about protecting her watercolors from the rain, but most years the sun shines on the Rotary Art Show. Watercolors used to be the poor stepchildren of oil paintings there, Blackwell notes, but now watercolors outnumber oils.
Each year, Blackwell picks a theme for the Rotary show and spends many hours preparing new works to sell there. This year, she is working with Mariani Vineyards to create a series of paintings of grapes and wine. One year, she painted Saratoga's weathervanes, and another year she picked old buildings. She takes lots of photos of her subjects, she says, "and and then I set up my drafting table and crank them out."
Other Saratoga artists participating in this year's show include watercolorists Kay Duffy and Robert Sugita, photographer Suzanne Karlak, silk painters Magaret Magill and Kavita Singh, and potter Linda Mau. Overall, the show includes 58 painters and graphic artists, 22 ceramicists, 20 fiber and paper artists, 23 jewelers, 25 craftspeople, 11 photographers and 17 sculptors.
In addition to the works by adults, artwork from 35 Santa Clara County schools will be displayed at the Rotary show. These paintings are not for sale, says Pat Richard, who organizes the children's art contest. "They're too precious; you can't put a price on them." They will be judged for first, second and third-place ribbons and up to 15 honorable mentions.
A Yearlong Effort
Planning for the Rotary Art Show begins a year ahead, right after the closing of the previous year's show. The show chairman, chosen from among the Rotarians, works with artist coordinator Mary Fleischli, a West Valley College professor, and a dozen or more committees to put the show together.
On the weekend of the show, more than 100 Saratoga Rotarians, their spouses and children, members of Saratoga High School's Interact club and many of their friends work on the show. Rotarians handle all the financial services, staff the food booths and provide support for the artists.
In conjunction with the Rotary show, the Saratoga Music Boosters hold an annual pancake breakfast from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Redwood Middle School cafeteria. Breakfasts of pancakes, sausage, fruit, coffee or milk and juice are sold for $4. Last year, the boosters served 1,000 breakfasts and made $4,000 for music programs at the five Saratoga schools.
While they eat, people can hear the musicians they're supporting, with live performances by students in fourth through 12th grades. A raffle is also planned.
All of the work is done by volunteers, including six people per shift flipping pancakes, and supplies are donated by local businesses.
Admission to the Rotary Art Show is free, and parking is available in the West Valley College lots. The campus is located at the intersection of Fruitvale and Allendale avenues.
Main Stage Entertainment
9-9:45am: Saratoga High School Jazz Choir
10-11am: The New Originals, pop a capella ensemble
11am-noon: Harmonics Steel Band Quartet, Caribbean steel pan musicians
Noon-1pm: Gypsy Tribe, Flamenco-based instrumental group
1-2pm: Talk of da Town, R&B Motown soul quintet
2-3pm: Saratoga High School Jazz Band
3:15-4:30pm: Sidesaddle & Co., bluegrass band
4:30-5pm: Saratoga Sister City Taiko
Roving Musicians
9-11am: Hurdy Gurdy Man David Miles, Renaissance Faire musician
11am-3pm: Rock Lerum, magician, juggler and storyteller
Noon-1pm: Harmonics Steel Band musicians
1-3pm: Peninsulaires, strolling barbershop quartet
SARATOGA ROTARY ART SHOW TRIVIA
The first Rotary Art Show was held in 1959 in downtown Saratoga.
The art show, in its 38th year, moved to West Valley College in 1981.
Artist Jack Bevier of Carmel has been in the show for the most consecutive years.
Steve Hamilton, known as "Rooster Man" for his outdoor sculptures, is the biggest seller.
The number of artists, in recent years, has ranged from 160 to nearly 200; this year, the show features the works of 175 artists.
Artist Coordinator Mary Fleischli is credited with being the "soul" of the show.
The Saratoga Rotary Art Show ranks as one of the top shows in the country and is the largest on the West Coast.
Artists are screened each year by a panel of judges, and only the best make it into
the show.
Some artists have gone on
to be discovered. Artist Ron Wagner's works are now critically acclaimed.
The Saratoga Rotary nets $50,000 to $60,000 each year on the show, money that is given back to the community.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, May 1, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved