Sebastopol show gives peek at rarely seen works by greats including Willem de Kooning, Wayne Thiebaud

During our long and mostly hot summer, the Sebastopol Center for the Arts has been generating some heat of its own, with its current exhibit, “Reverberations,” which opened June 21 and runs through Aug. 10.

A curated display of 58 rarely seen works of art from the homes of private collectors and Bay Area institutions, “Reverberations 3: A Visual Conversation,” matches most of the pieces of art with a response by one of 56 poets.

The show features work by an impressive roster of artists from the 20th century, including realist painter Edward Hopper, and abstract expressionists Richard Diebenkorn and Willem de Kooning, and pop art pioneers Wayne Thiebaud (who actually predated the movement) and Ed Ruscha.

There are also contemporary works, including pieces by Saif Azzuz, Alicia McCarthy and muralist and painter Maria de los Angeles, who grew up in Santa Rosa.

The exhibit, just halfway through its run, has drawn interest throughout the Bay Area, and scored record attendance.

“We have had slightly over 1,300 visitors come to ‘Reverberations’ to date, one month in. An average exhibition has about 500 visitors total,” said exhibition coordinator Alan Porter.

This is no prepackaged traveling exhibit. The Sebastopol Center for the Arts staff had to assemble it a piece at a time.

“Alan met with collectors and museums,” said Serafina Palandech, who joined the center as executive director in June 2023.

The response from collectors, most of them local or regional, was enthusiastic and immediate.

“I had allowed myself five months to collect all the artwork,” Porter said. “We filled up in five weeks.”

The exhibition also asked the owners of the loaned art works to contribute their thoughts, to be posted with the exhibit.

“We asked the owners for statements about what it’s like to live with the art,” Porter said. “Those turned out to be the most incredible part of the show.”

The center used the format of matching art with poetry for a previous “Reverberations” show in 2021.

“This is the third iteration of ‘Reverberations,’” said artist and retired art teacher Sally Baker, president of the eight-member Sebastopol Center for the Arts board of directors. The first show was in 2018.

“I would say this is the most significant art show that the center has ever done,” Palandech said. “This show is an example of the rebirth of the Sebastopol Center for the Arts.”

That rebirth began last year, when funds and staff were needed and public awareness had to be raised.

“There was an assumption that the center would always be here,” Porter said.

Steps have been taken to make that dream come true.

In 2023, struggling with the loss of revenue during the coronavirus pandemic shutdown and a severe staff shortage, the center launched a major "Save the Center" fundraising drive that brought in $250,000 for hiring and reorganization,

A new fundraising drive this past spring brought in another $85,000, Palandech said.

Founded in 1988, the Sebastopol Center for the Arts has built a lengthy resume, with years of arts classes, exhibits, film festivals and music and dance performances.

Its most popular annual events are the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival -- which was put on hold this year and is set to return next year-- and two annual artists' open studio tours: Sonoma County Art Trails and Art at the Source.

The center also created and runs the Sonoma County Poet Laureate program. There will be a public reception reception honoring outgoing poet laureate Elizabeth Herron and new poet laureate Dave Seter from 2 to 5 p.m. Aug. 18 at the center. Suggested donation: $10-$20.

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5243. On X @danarts.