Meet the Artists at Benicia Arsenal Artists’ Open Studios, May 6-7
Approximately 45 artists have extended an invitation to Benicia Arsenal Artists’ Open Studios, taking place on Saturday and Sunday, May 6 and 7, from 10am to 5pm. Participating artists’ working studio spaces in the historic Benicia Arsenal will be open to the public, providing the opportunity for visitors to meet and talk with artists about their work.
The event, coordinated by the artists whose studios are in the Arsenal area, is intended to enhance regional awareness of the strength and artistic diversity of the local artist community. Arts Benicia will host several local artists with weekend pop-up displays and live music in the galleries at the Commanding Officer’s Quarters as well as in its printmaking studio. Ironhorse Home is also hosting several artists. A list of participating artists with links to their websites, locations of each studio, and a map can be found at www.beniciaarsenalartists.com.
The Arsenal is a former US Army base dating from the Civil War.
After the Army vacated the base in the 1960s, various buildings were repurposed for artists and small businesses, and a creative community began to thrive and grow. While some artists have lived and worked in the Arsenal for more than 30 years, generational change is occurring, and new artists and types of art are emerging, making the experience new and refreshing each year.
Artists welcome the opportunity to explain their techniques as well as the personal motivations for their creativity.
Janis Anton, a member of the Printmakers Workshop, will be showing her Mokulito prints and watercolor paintings at the Arts Benicia gallery at 1 Commandant’s Lane. Mokulito is a lithographic process using wood plates instead of a traditional stone. The grain in the wood plates shows the history of drought and rain cycles, fires, the attacks of insects, and these effects are represented in the printed artwork. The process represents a spiritual connection between the life of a tree and Janis’ art practice. “My art examines and illuminates these interconnections on a personal scale. The fluidity of the connections and the flow of change drive my art practice.”
Artist studios are located along Tyler and Lincoln Streets, and on Grant Street inside Ironhorse Home.
Participating artists include abstract, figurative and landscape painters, printmakers, sculptors, photographers, glass, digital, jewelry, and mixed media artists. Arts Benicia Printmakers will display their mono-prints, etchings, woodblocks, lino-cuts, and fine art prints at 991 Tyler Street, Suite #116. Printing demonstrations will be given on both Saturday and Sunday. Parking is plentiful at all locations. For more information about artists and events, visit www.beniciaarsenalartists.com and artsbenicia.org
