There's still time to catch Emeryville's annual art show before it closes its doors. The Emeryville Celebration of the Arts is marking its 40th Anniversary Exhibition with more than 100 artists and over 200 works on display at Public Market Emeryville through Sunday, free of charge.
The show, open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays at 5905 Shellmound Street, spans painting, sculpture, textiles, craft furniture and more, according to The East Bay Times. Among the pieces on view are “In the Tree, Before the Prismatic” by Arie Dallas and “Samaritan Case No. 7” by Robert Ortbal.
John Bauters, director of the Emeryville Celebration of the Arts and a former city mayor, described the show as accessible, inclusive, affordable and engaging. He said art provides a medium for ideas, perspectives, questions and emotions to take form, and that the exhibition gives the community a forum to gather, discuss and share those ideas, perspectives, questions and emotions, the East Bay Times reported.
A $15,000 Photograph Up for Raffle
Alongside the exhibition, organizers are running a raffle for a framed photograph donated by renowned photographer Richard Misrach, according to emeryarts.org. The piece, titled “5.15.00 7:32 am,” depicts a cloud formation over the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay captured on May 15, 2000, and is valued at $15,000.
Visitors can buy raffle tickets in person at the exhibition between October 2 and October 25, per the organization's site. All proceeds will go toward covering entry fees for artists invited to participate in next year's exhibition, and the winner will be drawn shortly after 4 p.m. at the conclusion of Sunday's Poetry Reading Event.
Four Decades of Local Creative Tradition
Emeryville has become a hub for artists who have studios or live in the city, the Mercury News reporting notes, and the Celebration of the Arts traces back to 1987, when it was launched by Sharon Wilchar and Robert Tomlinson, then a curator at the Richmond Art Center, based on an initiative conceived by the city's Redevelopment Director, Hunter Johnson, according to evilleeye.com. Under Wilchar's leadership, the show grew into an annual showcase for the creative talent of Emeryville residents and employees, typically featuring more than 100 artists, per the same account.
Wilchar went on to become the exhibition's longtime director and project coordinator, overseeing its logistics for decades, and she also helped establish the 45th Street Artist's Cooperative, creating dedicated live-work housing opportunities for artists within the city, according to emeryarts.org's program page. Today the event is described by the City of Emeryville as its largest mainstay event, with about 150 local artists annually submitting more than 500 pieces of art for consideration in a monthlong juried show that has no permanent venue, the city's arts organization notes.
Organizers say the goal is to keep community-based art affordable and accessible to the Emeryville community. With the 40th Anniversary Exhibition closing Sunday, this weekend offers the last chance to see the full collection, enter the Misrach raffle, and take part in the closing Poetry Reading Event before the doors close on another year.
