BEST YARD SALE EVER
Our Best Yard Sale Ever on April 9th raised over $3000 to support Artstart's mission!
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Thank you to the hardworking volunteers who helped sort, organize, setup, sell, and clean up for our Best Yard Sale Ever on April 9th! And an extra special Thank You to the community members who showed up and shopped for a good cause! |
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We were able to do some Spring cleaning, meet lots of new people, and make bit of money. We raised over $3000 to help teens explore their creativity through art! |
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TRANSFORMING LIVES - STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY
The Assistance League of Sonoma County mural unveiling on March 23rd
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On March 23rd, the Assistance League of Sonoma County
and Artstart unveiled Transforming Lives - Strengthening Community, a mural designed and fabricated by Artstart with input and funding from the Assistance League of Sonoma County.
If you weren't able to attend the unveiling celebration, we invite you to stop by the Assistance League thrift shop at 5 West Sixth Street in Santa Rosa and enjoy the beautiful mural!
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UPCOMING & ONGOING EVENTS |
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SAVE THE DATES for the Artists for Artstart Silent Auction Fundraiser!
Online Auction:
July 9-14
In-person:
July 16, 2022 at Artstart
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TEEN DROP-IN SESSIONS
Tuesdays and Thursdays
4:00pm - 6:00pm
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If you have an hour to spare, come spend it with us making art!
Help paint murals, break and place tile for mosaics, and more!
Teen drop-in sessions are happening every Tuesday and Thursday from 4-6pm at the Artstart studio.
All experience levels welcome!
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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
We love welcoming new people into the Artstart experience!
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Whether you would like to volunteer on one of our committees, help out on one of our art projects, or serve on our Board of Directors, we encourage you to get in touch to find out how you can support Artstart!
707-546-2345
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SPIRIT OF HEALING
The Pomo Project Mural
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Please join us for the Spirit of Healing Mural Unveiling Celebration! Thursday, May 26 at 6:00 pm on the Elsie Allen High School campus. |
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Where: Elsie Allen High School, Santa Rosa, CA
When: Unveiling celebration March 26 @ 6:00 pm
Lead Artist: Hannah Day
Assistant Leads: Annalisa Sher, Chris McKee, Lina Chambliss
In April we started the first step of installation, painting the landscape backdrop using a bright red and yellow underpainting, followed by slowly building up our natural landscape colors.
We will be painting the landscape backdrop all month, and for each day of install we have a crew of 3 Artstart Lead Artists, several community volunteers, plus 2-5 Elsie Allen High School students being mentored in this mural's style of painting.
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The smaller mural elements (animals, trees, and insects) have been painted on mural fabric pieces by Elsie Allen students, community volunteers, and Artstart artists. This work has been ongoing since January and is now nearly complete! |
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Meanwhile at the Artstart studio, we have 3 Elsie Allen students completing an internship with us on Mondays, painting the final figurative pieces. One of the figurative pieces is being painted in class by Elsie Allen students during the week, with the guidance of Lead Artist Ani.
In May we will adhere all of the painted pieces to the wall and seal the whole mural. An Unveiling Celebration is scheduled for May 26 at 6:00 pm on the Elsie Allen High School campus!
Bringing this mural from idea to reality was a long journey, beginning with artist and muralist Joe Salinas (a Kashia Pomo, founder of the Pomo Dancers of Sonoma County) over 10 years ago. Read the inspiring and fascinating full story on The Pomo Project website.
We are grateful to The Pomo Project, the Elsie Allen High School Foundation, the Richard A. and Elizabeth T. Randolph Rotary Donor Advised Fund, and the City of Santa Rosa Community Advisor Board (CAB) for their generous grant funding of this project.
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SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE
The Amarosa Academy Mural
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Where: Amarosa Academy, Santa Rosa, CA
When: Planned completion end of 2022
Lead Artist: Erika Lutz
Assistant Leads: Alina Nuebel and Kaya Gately
The Amarosa Academy mural will be a 480 square foot mural in the courtyard of Amarosa Academy, an alternative education high school in Santa Rosa.
"This whole process is so fascinating! I never knew art could be like this."
- Fernanda, Special Night Crew Teen Apprentice (age 13)
"I'm learning it's OK if it's not perfect, just relax and keep going."
- Yaribeth, Special Night Crew Teen Apprentice (age 16)
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Since November 2021 we've been working with Amarosa students to translate their stories of resilience and growth through this mural. In addition to the design input from students, the mural design was heavily influenced by the work of MC Escher and Charley Harper, intended to complement the architectural elements of the school as a metaphor for the labyrinth-like journey of inner and outer transformation. |
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Throughout April, a team of volunteers and teen apprentices (known as the Special Night Crew), with guidance from Lead Artist Erika, have been working onsite at Amarosa Academy.
First came the underpainting of all the walls. 480 square feet is a lot of underpainting! We were fortunate to have the help of Amandalynn, an amazing artist, muralist, and children's book illustrator - and underpainting superstar! The massive underpainting job was done in less than a day and a half!
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The next step was projecting the mural design and tracing the projected linework, using brushes and paint, onto the walls. This work is ongoing, with multiple Artstart artists, apprentices, and volunteers meeting at the mural site in the evenings to project and paint the design linework.
The project is made possible by funding from Sonoma County Office of Education.
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CASA SERENA
The Manhattan Beach Mosaic
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Where: Manhattan Beach, CA
When: Planned completion end of June 2022
Lead Artists: Jennifer Tatum and Elizabeth Zindler
Assistant Lead: Annalisa Sher
In Manhattan Beach, at the end of Highland Avenue just up from the beach, you will find the city's first Historic Landmark home, a 1932 Spanish Colonial Revival Style home belonging to Annette Mejia Pickens.
In the summer of 2021 Sonoma County artist Carole Watanabe was commissioned to create an ocean themed mosaic for several walls on the property. Carole reached out to Artstart to collaborate on the approximately 4x60 foot mosaic.
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In October the mosaic began its fabrication at the Artstart warehouse. The first templates laid out 32 feet in length. Teens from local high schools, Artstart teen apprentices, Artstart lead artists, Carole Watanabe and her crew, and various volunteers from around the county came to help hand craft clay fish and set the broken tile mosaic. The buzz through out the day was like an old fashioned quilting bee made up of a cross generational community. Stories being shared, creative ideas connecting and formulating new projects, young minds being sparked by lifetimes of adventure. |
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The first 70 feet of the mosaic was completed at the end of February 2022. The client is so satisfied she has asked for another 76 feet! Carole Watanabe generously offered the next section to the Artstart crew of lead artists and teens artists.
Once the mosaic is installed at the client's home in Manhattan Beach, it is going to be a site to see. Everyone at Artstart is incredibly grateful to Annette Mejia and Carole Watanabe for inviting us to collaborate on this educational and skill building project.
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ART ON THE STREET FOR CLEAN CREEKS
The Hinebaugh Creek Bridge Mural
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Where: Rohnert Park, CA
When: Completion planned for end of April / beginning of May
Lead Artist: Annalisa Sher
Assistant Lead: Kaya Gately
The Hinebaugh Creek Bridge mural is coming along swimmingly. Our dedicated crew of teens from Credo High School, alongside ArtStart Artist Kaya and Lead Artist Ani, have completed a beautiful design and have had the design approved by the city of Rohnert Park.
We are now working on painting the elements of the mural and will install the finished pieces onto the bridge at the end of April.
Funding for this project has been a generous grant from the Rohnert Park Small Grant Foundation.
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The students from Credo; Oona, Luna, Emilie, Audrey and Caroline have been such a solid crew. Arriving to the virtual zoom meetings or to our in person sessions with such open minds and full of inspiration and ideas to share and grow the project. Lead Artist Ani says "I feel honored and excited to have such a great team of artists to work with in carrying out this project that will bring some much needed attention to the Hinebaugh creek and other similar water ways." |
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The mural design highlights the animals that call the creek home in hopes that we can build awareness to and inspire us all to be better stewards of this precious ecosystem in our own backyards. The creek is home to our state amphibian , the California Red Legged Frog. This particular critter is also a threatened species so we wanted to make sure to highlight the importance of caring for this creek.
We look forward to install in the coming weeks!
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Where: Artstart, 317 Sutton Place, Santa Rosa, CA
Lead Artist: Alina Nuebel
Assistant Lead: Kaya Gately
The Breezeway Mural is being painted on an exterior wall of the Artstart studio.
Before work on the mural began, this wall, which faces the Recology recycling center and is very visible to Recology staff every day, was rather drab and ugly.
Recology is a generous and ardent supporter of Artstart, and when this mural is completed, we hope that its vibrant colors and whimsical design will bring smiles to the faces of Recology and Artstart staff alike.
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This project is happening in conjunction with the Amarosa Academy mural project. Teens from Amarosa Academy walk from their campus - just down the street - to Artstart to learn the skills required to paint a public art mural. This is training for them in preparation for the first stage of painting on the Amarosa Academy mural next month. |
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Woohoo! You made it to the end!
If you'd like to make art with us, drop us an email. If you'd like to help fund our mission, you may do so here. |
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317 Sutton Place
Santa Rosa, Ca 95407
www.artstart.us
(707) 546-2345
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