Fresno Regional Foundation is proud to display the work of local artists at our office. If you wish to learn more about these artists or how you can purchase their work, please follow the links to the artists' website.
Fresno Regional Foundation is proud to host our newest artist, Barbara Van Arnam. Barbara is an artist creating works in oil and acrylics, as well as mixed media. Painting alla prima, mixing colors directly on the canvas surface, her brush work and color resonate with the cycle of life.
As an award winning artist, she has exhibited extensively throughout California, as well as in New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Florida, Tennessee, Utah, Texas, and Louisiana, and on tour in Russia. Her work is included in private and public collections both in the United States and in Egypt, Italy, and Russia. Van Arnam is a member of Gallery 25, an artist's cooperative located in the arts district of Downtown Fresno at the corner of Mono and Van Ness.
Papier-Mache Press has used Van Arnam's work to illustrate two books, In the Garden of Our Own Making by Barbara Sperber, and Full Moon: Reflections on turning Fifty by Susan C. Hauser.
To learn more about Barbara Van Arnam's paintings please click here.
Fresno Regional Foundation is honored to announce our newest exhibit of landscape photography by Hanna Barsam. Barsam’s work was brought to us through Ed Darden of Darden Architects, where Barsam created photographs of Darden’s Architectural designs. Barsam was an inspiration to photographers everywhere and was sought after for his insight and creativity. He was a member of multiple photography clubs in the region and was a judge for many photography competitions all over the Valley. Barsam received many awards for his work in both landscape and architectural photography. His work is considered avant-garde and innovative for his time, always pushing for more and opening the eye of the observer to new possibilities.
Passionate about his work in architectural photography, Barsam often spent hours setting up the right lighting to get the desired effect. He had a keen eye for creating shots that captivated the viewer and inspired awe. Devoted to his client’s desires, he would wait months, and at times years, in order to achieve the perfect lighting and background. Barsam started his photography career by taking photos of landscape and scenes of everyday life. Every weekend, he travelled to Yosemite National Park spending hours taking in the majesty of the mountains and would often come home with only a single photo.
Mr. Darden created the Hanna S. Barsam Endowment Fund within the Fresno Regional Foundation to keep Barsam’s legacy in the photography world going. This endowment will provide support for the Arts through recognizing excellence in architectural design. It will also provide recognition of architectural photography as an important component of successful presentation and documentation of the exceptional architecture that enriches our society. Furthermore, it will provide lasting and recurring acknowledgement and remembrance for the legacy, the life, and the work of Hanna S. Barsam.
To view more of Hanna Barsam's Photographs click here.
Fresno Regional Foundation is re-discovering the vibrant era of a bygone time in Fresno with the photography of Carolyn DeAnda and metal artwork of Michael T. Murphy, a Fresno art power couple to be sure.
Throughout DeAnda’s collection, “Retro Fresno Series I - Remembering an Era,” she uses an alternate media photography process to incorporate digital compositions and fine art pigment transfers onto metals, fine art, non-traditional papers, and canvas. This documents and enhances the design of Neon markers from a bygone period throughout the Fresno area, where the public has been invited to dine, dance, sleep, or fuel up. DeAnda strives to put a smile on people’s faces by making her art work original and enticing.
For nearly 30 years, Murphy has cultivated his skills by using both old world and modern methods to create unique metal sculptures. He enjoys working with steel, as it is the most recycled element on earth. He strives to create pieces that bring forward softness and beauty by working with materials and methods that are considered hard and cold. Each piece in this collection was given careful consideration in design, structure, and assembly, which is why he titled his collection, “Precision as a Medium”.
The artwork featured above is the result of the collaborative effort between DeAnda and Murphy. After DeAnda completed a pigment transfer of her Sand’s Motel photograph onto copper, Murphy cut and welded the copper into eight pieces to give a unique look to the Sand’s motel.
To learn more about Caroyln DeAnda's photography please click here.
To view more of Michael Murphy's metal designs please click here.
Fresno Regional Foundation is proud to feature the Madera County Arts Council’s 19th Annual Celebrate Agriculture with the Arts 2012 Exhibition. More than 30 photography and non-photography images from this exhibition are on display in FRF’s office.
The purpose of the Celebrate Agriculture with the Arts Exhibition is to promote a broader interest in and understanding of agriculture as an industry while showcasing and promoting professional artists in a unique format of exemplary quality. The 2012 competition received approximately 150 entries, 111 of which were juried into the show across seven categories: Vines & Vegetables; Fruits & Nuts; Pomegranate Festival 2012; Dairy, Livestock & Poultry; Farm Machinery & Structures; Irrigation, Field & Row Crops; and Celebrate Agriculture…The Human Factor.
The piece of art featured here received the first place award in the category Pomegranate Festival. Artist Mary Karlton, Santa Cruz, "How are You, Mi'Lord", Acrylic.
To learn more about the Madera County Arts Council and their Celebrate Agriculture with the Arts Exhibition, please click here.
Dixie Salazar works in various mediums including oils, watercolors, collage, assemblage and hand colored photography. Her work has been featured in numerous one-person shows and collections throughout the Valley and has also been shown in San Francisco, Merced, Sacramento, New York and Las Vegas. Salazar is also a poet and fiction writer with three books of published poetry, the latest titled Flamenco Hips and Red Mud Feet from University of Arizona Press. Altar for Escaped Voices will be published in 2012 from Tebot Bach and incorporates poems in the voices of the incarcerated and the homeless. Her novel Limbo was published in 1998 by White Pine Press. Salazar’s visual work has been described as poetic, atavistic and intuitive. Her subjects are dominated by figurative elements that blend religious, classical, and archetypal imagery with ordinary, everyday elements and popular culture icons. Some previous one-person shows have centered on the figure under water, issues of social concern to children, and issues related to her multicultural background. Her work is seen regularly at the Silva/Salazar Studio at 654 Van Ness in Fresno. For the studio, call 559-916-7760.
The work in this current exhibit is twofold. The photographs were taken in 2007 from the H Street homeless encampments; the collages have been produced in the last year and incorporate the homeless themed photography from Salazar as well as Mike Rhodes. The second part of this exhibit is from an ongoing series of work exploring Salazar’s dual heritage, Hispanic and Anglo. Her painting “Cactus and Magnolia by the Sea” is an example of a mixture of the cultural elements that reflect her dual heritage. She is also influenced by her travels: a trip to Spain in 2006 and Mexico in 2010. The cultural elements she encountered left vivid, colorful lasting impressions. Influences range from Bonnard, Matisse, Macintosh and Joseph Cornell to Frieda Kalo.
If you want to become involved in helping the homeless, contact Mike Rhodes at [email protected] for names of groups currently working on homeless issues.
Tracy Perkins is a photographer and Ph.D. student in Sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the Director of “25 Stories from the Central Valley,” which uses photography, theater, oral history, the news media and teaching tools to help educate the public about environmental justice advocacy in the San Joaquin Valley. Tracy holds a B.A. in Development Studies from UC Berkeley, a M.S. in Community Development from UC Davis, and a M.A. in Sociology from UC Santa Cruz. She has worked for International Accountability Project, the UC Berkeley Labor Center, International Rivers, Hesperian Health Guides and Amigos de las Américas. She is a member of the board of directors at Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice. You may view a slideshow of the exhibit here.
Bill Gillette
Las Manos de la Tierra
Land and Labor in the San Joaquin Valley A photo essay by Bill Gillette
This photo essay is part of a 1989 project by the California Institute for Rural Studies (CIRS) called “seeing the invisible: Mega-Farms and the Rural Communities of California.”
As part of larger program entitled Agriculture and the Common Good, this exhibition travelled throughout California, accompanied by poets and writers representing the ethnic and cultural diversity of rural California.
The goal of this project was to bring together a broad range of people to examine what we have in common. To explore crucial public policy issues in the Central Valley in non-threatening ways, CIRS organized a series of public forums examining Agriculture and the Common Good. The photos shown here were essential parts of that project.
The photo journalist, Bill Gillette, hoped to gain connections to farmworker communities so that he could document the hard work of agriculture -- the real lives of people in the fields and on the tractors in the San Joaquin Valley. He lived in the communities he photographed, gaining insight into the lives of the people he represents here. He took photographers throughout two full seasons.
"Faces of India" is a personal journey of human discovery brought to you through the lens of photographer, Tamela Ryatt.
When asked about her 2007 trip to India, Tamela said," The first time I went to India, I was amazed by the beauty, color and textures. I knew before I left that I would have to return."
Tamela Ryatt embarked upon her second journey to India in 2010. Her primary objective during that trip was to connect with individuals she encountered and capture the essence of their humanity through her lens. Enchanting, intense and uniquely personal, Tamela has brought this vision to life. This exhibition is a collection of works from her second trip and is a testament and celebration of her success. "I find the faces of India compelling. They embody so much emotion. Their facial expressions and the beauty within their eyes enchant me. Then, of course, there are the fabulous adornments.."
Traveling in a country whose language you do not know can be daunting for some world travelers but, for the most part, Tamela found it easy to connect through smiles, gestures and sharing views of her photography with her subjects. However, the language barrier and her goal of "two fabulous portraits per day" did eventually collide. " I was traveling with a driver who was supposed to speak English and the local languages. It was near sunset and the lighting was perfect. We came upon two women walking through a blooming mustard field. I asked our driver to stop and get permission to take their picture. He spoke to them then told me to go ahead. When I stepped out of the car and raised my camera, one of the women pulled a dagger from her hip and began to chase me while screaming maniacally. Naturally, I ran back to the car screaming 'Go!' while I jumped in. When I gave him an incredulous look, he merely shrugged his shoulders. To this day I am not sure if he even her language or if he was trying to get me killed!"
When Tamela is not traveling, she is keeping the tradition of black and white photography alive, teaching at Sunnyside High School. Tamela has also established herself as a portrait artist in the foothills north of Clovis. She utilizes the seasons on her property as an ever changing backdrop.
About Karen: “Sculpting with metal is violent and dangerous. Molten steel, flying metal particles and a torch flame test the flesh daily. My art requires all of my strength, patience, and surprising subtlety. I can’t imagine anything more rewarding.”
Steel dominates Karen Johnston’s thoughts, time and artistic expression. Since childhood Johnston has expressed her imagination with pencil, acrylic, oil and fused glass creations. In 1995 she discovered metal as an artistic medium and began a passionate and prolific body of work.
The natural world is the catalyst for Johnston’s material—from the spartan cacti of New Mexico to the lush botanicals of Hawaii and Florida, and most especially the diverse and whimsical creatures who inhabit her San Joaquin Valley hillside property. Johnston reciprocates for this inspiration by incorporating art into her daily life. In addition to her fine art pieces, she sculpts chairs, benches, tables and gates. For Johnston, any practical object is worthy of her creativity.
While much of her work is housed in private collections, Johnston’s public commissions include installations at The California Cancer Center and Sierra Endocrine & Associates Medical Group, in Fresno, California and Table Mountain Casino in Friant, California.
About Tamela:
"From sublime Peruvian faces, urban fashion environs to bold slashes of tropical color, Tamela Ryatt’s photography is a wild ride through varied styles and emotions. Exotic journeys to Mexico, Africa, India, Peru and others often serve as a background for Ryatt’s captivating, and strikingly beautiful photography. The simplicity of forms and vibrancy of color that dominate Buddhist art find their way into her visual vocabulary.”
Fresno Magazine
Tamela Ryatt began her pursuits of photography in the early 80’s as the yearbook photographer at her high school and then traveled to Europe the summer she graduated and return home with images that were instinctively artful. After a year of consideration and general studies, she declared Art as her major and focused on photography.
While working on her bachelor’s degree, Tamela took a job photographing for a couple of local newspapers and found that she was being asked by local merchants to make images for their advertisements and marketing. Work progressed and through the 90’s Ryatt found a niche that she excelled at and found her images published in magazines and winning prestigious awards with the submission of the photographs she would take for her interior design clients.
Ryatt also loves to share her passion for photography with others, which led her to a teaching career at Sunnyside High School where she has been bringing the traditional art and technique of black and white photography to more than 200 students every semester for the past 10 years.
Tom Greteman is a contemporary abstract artist who creates large-format pieces in various media. Some of his art is multi-dimensional and some is on canvas. Still, they are always thought-provoking and inspiring works. Tom has shown primarily in Southern California. However, since moving to Fresno from Los Angeles in 2005, his works have been on display at the Broadway Studios in Downtown Fresno. He has also collaborated with fellow abstract artist, Larry Hill, at the
K-Jewel Art Gallery. Between 2006 and 2008, he was represented at Urban Home Furnishings. And just last year, he was part of a collective of four artist at the Gallery at the Park Place in North Fresno.
The best description of Tom’s work is in his own words. “My art reflects the blending of line, form, and color. I am most comfortable producing art that does not state the obvious. The abstract nature of art is what appeals to me. While I am attracted to the mixed-media three dimensional format, some of my artistic expressions are better suited to oil on canvas.”
Stephanie Pearl
Modern, contemporary artist utilizing acrylic and mixed media on canvas and wood to express her view of the natural world.
Stephanie Pearl rose to prominence in California, where she has lived her entire life, through a work that embodies the natural world and captures it with a fresh post-modern eye. While eclectic and varied with media choice, Pearl has blossomed into a formidable talent utilizing canvas and wood.
A native of Madera, California, Pearl has had a bit of formal artistic training, but is primarily self-taught, not something one would surmise after viewing her work. Initially raised in Madera, California, a rural farming community—the heart of the central valley and home to several mammoth produce collectives—Pearl soon found herself restricted and claustrophobic. After graduating from high school in Madera, she moved to San Francisco in 1988. Like anyone with considerable ambition and a need to create, Pearl’s nomadic instincts allowed for an enlightening—an artistic and personal awakening of sorts.
Spending much of her time haunting museum floors and attending gallery openings, Stephanie Pearl focused on what she really felt a passion for—creation. This creative fervor allowed for a fresh commitment to art. Influenced by many, Pearl studied Picasso and Segal, Rauschenberg and Dali as one would a sports or movie star. Without any real formal education in art, Pearl willed herself to the throes of the artistic. In such an influential location and in such a significant time for art, Stephanie focused on her experiences and created bonds with like people. Not until her migration to Fresno in 1994 did she begin to take part in what was to be her future.
Initially, Pearl manipulated the three dimensional form, constructing collage and box assemblage. These story boxes, while helping to fuel Pearl’s focus, seemed restricted and unyielding. After about a year, she meandered toward other conventional mediums—wire sculpture and metals, but quickly gravitated toward canvas and wood surfaces; and has continued for over a decade.
In 2008, Pearl felt inspired to share her love of art with those who were less likely to have the opportunity to experience the life changing effects of creating. With two of her most trusted friends, Andrew Watrous and Aimee Brantly, Pearl founded Downtown Community Arts Collective (DCAC). As far back as she can remember, Pearl has had a passion for working with underserved populations from volunteering at the Blind Center in her youth, to working with Fresno’s first Food Not Bombs grass roots organization in her late teens. DCAC has afforded Pearl the opportunity to give back to her community in a way that is not only rewarding, but relevant considering recent arts program cuts within the educational system.
Pearl has gathered inspiration through many, both home and abroad, but is now playing a somewhat different role as inspiration to others. Her work transcends the boundaries of “formal” contemporary art, as does her spirit parallel to nature.
Donna Locati holds a BA in Art from California State University, Fresno. She attended Chouinard Art Institute studying costume design, though briefly at Fresno State in the Field. After more than ten solo watercolor shows at William Rogers/Cuvier Gallery, she studied printmaking with Leon Osborne at Fresno City College and Mary Maughelli at Fresno State.
Donna has had two residencies at the Fresno Art Museum and also two teaching residencies showing watercolors, three-dimensional paper with Acrylic angels and Intaglio Prints. Saint Paul Newman Center in Fresno regularly displays her paper sculptures, angels, and enlargements of the Intaglio Print in the proper seasons.
Donna has provided the artwork for five books, Abundant Harvest and four Sergio Negro Homily Books, Times and Seasons I-IV, all 5 Edited by Sharon Young. She is a founding member of the Fresno Printmakers Guild, which
regularly exhibits as a group.
PRICE LIST/INVENTORY FOR DONNA LOCATI
1
"Afternoon Tea #2"
Donna Locati
350.
2
"Bird Cage"
Donna Locati
250.
3
"Vineyard Market #1"
Donna Locati
800.
4
"Vineyard Market #2"
Donna Locati
800.
5
"Above Millerton"
Donna Locati
NFS.
6
"Nectarine & Memory"
Donna Locati
400.
7
"Amtrak South"
Donna Locati
300.
8
"Green Onions"
Donna Locati
500.
9
"Iris Farms"
Donna Locati
350.
10
"Bring A Light"
Donna Locati
450.
1 1
"Angel Parts"
Donna Locati
NFS.
Patti Calvert was introduced to Printmaking by way of Leon Osborne at Fresno City College in 1995 & has been a member of the Fresno Printmaker's Guild for 14 years. She approaches her art with spontaneity, a lack of inhibition & finds the Monotype process fascinating. Using an intaglio press she produces a single print by using pressure to transfer an image drawn, rolled or painted on one surface to another surface. The quality of color changes as it is transferred from one surface to another in the printing process. The luminosity and transparency of the printed color
are unlike any painted surface. The beauty of printmaking is that one never knows until the final stage of pulling the print what image you will get. Many of the images are like watching clouds - you think you are seeing the image and then suddenly another one forms. She also likes to incorporate Gold Leaf and other mixed media.
Previously pursued a fine art degree at CSUF which led to a career in Graphic Design.
Also designed and fabricated original Stained glass panels with businesses in California and Hawaii from 1974 to 1983 (Gallery 1, Calvert Glass & Sign)
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