Current Exhibitions

Exhibition
Roger Shimomura: Minidoka on My Mind
April 6, 2013 – June 16, 2013

In a fascinating collection of paintings and lithographs that meld pop art with a derivation of ukiyo-e prints, Roger Shimomura depicts snatches of memories from the years he was incarcerated in a World War II concentration camp. Minidoka On My Mind sharply addresses sociopolitical issues of ethnicity and discrimination, taking visitors head-on into the racial conflicts of World War II and the unjust imprisonment of an estimated 120,000 Japanese Americans. With this exhibition, Shimomura is determined to never let us forget one of the ugliest events in American history.

This exhibition also provides the foundation for the Museum's Art Rewards The Student (A.R.T.S.) program. Since January, 4th- and 5th-grade Sonoma Valley students have been learning about this period in history, the work of Roger Shimomura and the arts and crafts created by those living in the Camps. An exhibition of the students' work will open to the public on May 17.

 

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Upcoming Exhibitions

Exhibition
Akin: The Art of Nicole and Marc Katano and Stand by Me: The Sprit of Mentoring in Sonoma
June 29 – August 25, 2013

Photographer Nicole Katano and painter Marc Katano share a creative life in the arts. Although their work at first glance is very different from each other’s, there is great synchronicity between them. Marc’s compositions are inspired by Japanese calligraphy and the simple act of mark-making. Nicole’s photography draws out the moods and textures of details she captures with the camera. Seen together, this exhibition will reveal the synchronicity between the two. Nicole Katano also works with the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance to photograph mentors with their mentees. Alongside the exhibition of the Katano’s artwork, will be an exhibition of these poignant photographs. 

Exhibition
Gadget Evolution: Kathleen Hill’s Culinary Collection
September 7 – December 1, 2013

“My goal in this exhibition is to entertain people into learning about our kitchen culture through utensils and implements. The art of their design along with their function throughout history is illuminating.” 

—Kathleen Hill

Looking at everyday utensils from the past, visitors will come to understand how society has changed utensils through time, and how these utensils have changed our lives. The display will range from 1890s editions of Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward catalogues, collections of restaurant menus and matchbooks, to Hill’s 1,000-piece collection of gadets and implements, food pamphlets, advertisements, cookbooks and even old radio commercials. You just might come away with a new appreciation for the ingenuity behind these everyday objects. A prolific writer about the culinary arts, this exhibition presents a fraction of Hill's collection.

Exhibition
Process: The Architecture of Aidlin Darling Design
December 14 – March 2, 2014

We spend most of our lives in and around architecture, yet often take for granted our relationships with it. As our daily lives are increasingly dominated by the visual and virtual, we can forget how intertwined we are with the environment surrounding us. Architecture can contribute to that forgetting—through placeless objects, ubiquitous spaces, mass-produced materials, and climate-controlled interiors. Or, architecture can intervene and engage our senses, connecting us to place, evoking memory and opening us to new possibilities. This exhibition explores that potential through the work of San Francisco-based firm, Aidlin Darling Design. Joshua Aidlin and David Darling have built an award-winning practice around a pursuit of architecture that emerges from our embodied human condition and its intimate bond with the world. Visitors to the exhibition will experience the process that guides their work, a process that is simultaneously rational and sensual. By looking, listening, touching, testing, and imagining, one can gain an enhanced understanding of how architecture is shaped by full sensorial experiences, and how these experiences can foster profound meaning.

Copyright ©2013 Sonoma Valley Museum of Art