Photograph by George Sakkestad
Frame and Fortune: Mariko Suzuki is one of the artists participating in Open Studios of South Bay Artists on the weekend of April 24-25.
Local artists will open their studios for tours
Annual South Bay event features 325 visual artists--including many in Willow Glen
By Shari Kaplan
The South Bay has many harbingers of spring--the showy blossoms of flowering plum, cherry and apricot trees; the boisterous return of local songbirds and a slow but steady warming trend. For the past 12 years, another traditional herald of the season has been the Open Studios of South Bay Artists.
Formerly called Open Studios of Santa Clara County, the annual event, which features self-guided public tours and visits with local artists, changed its name last year to encompass participants in South County cities such as Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy, as well as artists in adjacent San Benito and San Mateo Counties. San Benito County joined Open Studios last year, thanks to a joint effort by the Santa Clara and San Benito County Arts councils, and in this 13th year, San Mateo County has joined. Open Studios now includes more than 325 artists exhibiting at more than 200 sites.
For three consecutive weekends--April 17-18 to May 1-2--painters, sculptors, potters, stonemasons, photographers, printmakers, fiber artists, glass-blowers, jewelers and artisans working in metal and wood will showcase their works and techniques as visitors filter through the artisans' studios, which often are in their homes. Other artists prefer to exhibit in teams, each exhibiting his or her wares in a group location.
On Saturday and Sunday, April 17 and 18, the artists of Willow Glen, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Campbell, as well as other areas of San Jose and five other localities, will open their doors. The weekend of April 24-25, studio tours will be available in Saratoga, Cupertino, Sunnyvale and Mountain View, as well as eight other municipalities.
According to Open Studios representative Liz Kraft, a move is under way to change the event from a loosely formed artists' group into a nonprofit organization. By the end of March, all necessary steps had been completed toward that end; by next year, Open Studios will become a program of the newly named Silicon Valley Visual Arts.
"The original purpose will remain--to bring together the general public and the artists who live or work in these geographic areas. At the same time, the artists benefit from meeting the public in an informal setting," Kraft adds.
Participating artists in Willow Glen are: Kent Bond, Willa Briggs, Christine Burgess, Barbara J. Burns, Greg Carlson, Virginia Ferguson, Elaine Frenett, Nancy Gano, Mary Ann Gravitt, Ed Hardy, Nina Koepeke, Lucy Liew, Therese May, Sally McLeod, Chris Sager, Peter Sheremeta, Suzanne Welch, Carole Westlund and Julio Yanez-Pastor.
Free maps are available at Willow Glen Books, 1330 Lincoln Ave. Catalogs with artist biographies and art reproductions are available for purchase. For more information, call (650) 941-5337, 358-0124 or visit www.svva.org.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
