Driving down Highway 20, a wall of pine trees towering over each side of the road, feels different. I can’t predict the next turn in the road or when the view stretches out. Highway 20 is not a road I drive everyday and it’s nice to change it up.
I’m on my way to Nevada City for a similar reason. I want to find myself on unfamiliar sidewalks and stop for lunch in a new coffee shop. I’m going to the foothills to explore a new place and visit a few art galleries. I’ve left the Basin for a few hours and it’s refreshing.
Located in the heart of the Sierra Nevada foothills, Nevada City and Grass Valley are old mining towns known for their eclectic cafes, boutique shops, and a pronounced art scene.
‘[Nevada City] is a community that actually looks to the arts as part of their day-to-day activity,’ said John Mowen, owner of the Mowen Solinksy Gallery in Nevada City, my first stop of the day.
Set in an historic building on the main drag of downtown Nevada City, the Mowen Solinksy Gallery displays a rich variety of art mediums in a clean, bright space. The gallery maintains a pro-artist mentality, meaning that it pays its artists first and the rent second. Consequently, more than 170 artists, 30 percent of whom are local, support the gallery. ‘This was really about supporting the arts, supporting the community, and just holding the arts in high regard,’ said Mowen, who opened the gallery in 2004 with photographer Steve Solinsky. There’s a lot of great art to take in here, but Mowen’s own work, smooth and circular sculptures of bronze and stone, stand out. Mowen says his work is an exploration of pure form and embodies simplicity and a calming nature.
I hopped across the street to my next stop, the Lilly Vigil Gallery. A sacred space devoted to Native American art, the first thing I noticed inside were huge oil paintings of warriors and Southwest landscapes by Peterson Yazzie and Raymond Nordwall. Blues, oranges, reds, and greens — the colors this particular artist used were especially vivid.
My third stop, ASiF Artists’ Studios, was a contrast from the previous two galleries. This little gallery in Grass Valley is more of a hub for the local arts community.
‘It was obvious to me very early on how much the artists in this community need a center,’ said Amanda Paoletti, director of ASiF studios.
Paoletti, who moved to Grass Valley in 2002 from San Francisco, says the local art scene was not obvious at first. It was only after she opened the studio several years ago that she realized how significant the art community actually is, and how much artists needed a place to show their work. ‘I just got this huge influx of really talented, high-caliber artists looking for a venue,’ she said.
The Art Works Gallery, a co-op of 35 artists in downtown Grass Valley, was my final stop of the day. Opening May 2010, this cooperative gallery allows its members to show their work consistently, rather than hop from art show to art show. ‘It was one of those magical things,’ said Rene Sprattling, a potter and gallery board member. ‘What everyone created was so much bigger than the one artist.’
I walked out of the Art Works Gallery satisfied with my day’s adventure. I stood before beautiful pieces of art and discovered a few new places. ‘It would be shocking to people how high the caliber of art is’ in the foothills, said Shawn Baldwin, manager of the Arts Building Gallery in Auburn.
Mowen’s explanation as to why artists are so attracted to the area — beauty. ‘Where beauty is recognized, community will form,’ he said.
An hour or so later I pulled off Highway 89 into Squaw Valley. The sun was setting behind the mountains and a pink glow hit the sky. It was a sunset to inspire an artist. It’s pretty beautiful here, too.
~ Comment on this story below.
