The Celebration of Commonwheel Artists Co-op’s 40th Anniversary was a highly successful and Fun event!

The Gallery was filled with beautiful art and people.

Old spokes were there showing off their most current art endeavors and friends of old spokes all had a delightful time reconnecting and laughing about old times and delighting in friendships that are never ending.

Roger did a stellar job hanging the myriad of styles and shapes of art that showed up. He found themes of colors and shapes or concepts that worked well together to created areas of interest and drew one’s attention to those areas all throughout the gallery.

Jeff Shook’s Gong Show was a hit. Literally. One can actually strike the gong to hear it resonate. The video images playing inside the center had people fascinated with it all night long.

Some sales were made from the show, but the night was a really good night for sales of member’s art in the regular shop area. Win! And we do need good sales to stay afloat after the flooding and fires of the last two years that have made it difficult for the Commonwheel to stay in the black.

A bowl by Coreen Abbott who teaches at a University in the San Francisco area was one of the first art pieces to sell. I took this photo before it had it proper label, hence the price tag attached to the bowl.

She was the first part-time manager for Commonwheel Artists Co-op starting at the MayBe shop location, then when it moved to its new space at 102 Cañon Ave. Her work was always very intricate and has become even more detailed and precise as she has grown as an artist.

And then the next sale was of Sophie Cowman’s Quilt. She was the owner of the MayBe Shop that became the Commonwheel’s first gallery space. A true founding member and unique individual.

Her carving to the left of the quilt had the humorous and true label that often was related to Sophie’s work until sold, “Unfinished”.

The Quilt by Ginger Muñoz and the Glow Pot by Marc Jenesel were perfectly paired by Roger to create a very interesting focal point in this show.

During the pre-show set-up time when artists brought in food for the table and were admiring all the work in the gallery, I relaxed into having a good time and knowing that the show would be a huge success.

But an odd thing did happen. Someone I had had a big falling out with many years ago over politics had been sharing many of the FaceBook posts I had done for this show. She showed up with and envelop with a few articles of past Commonwheel information and a large rough cut ruby. When she presented all of this to me, I had about 3 other people talking to me about last minute details and asking if certain people were coming tonight. So I wasn’t totally focused on her gift. And it was a very lovely gesture to bring a ruby to Commonwheel’s Ruby Anniversary event. I will have have to think how to thank her and have a conversation at some time other than amidst such chaos. But at that moment in time, I am sure I didn’t give her quite the response she would have liked. I let go of the awkwardness of the situation as best I could to take a moment to thank her by telling her that it was a really lovely gift, but I had people all around me needing my attention to get the finishing touches for the food table and a few other last minute details that needed attending to by me.

All night long everywhere I looked there were people smiling and laughing and closely inspecting the art in the invited guest gallery area and in the members area. What a wonderful evening it turned into.

I did get some very good photos but quite a few of mine were a bit wobbly . . . and fuzzy, as I tried to take them holding onto my food plate. I would see a group of people and would hold the camera up and press the button, but those didn’t always come out quite as I hoped.

In the picture on the left above has two generations of Cupits and the one below has two generation of Ahlen’s. Watching kids grow up and have an interest in art is always a delight.

So I was very glad to see Barry Kaplan had his camera with him and was taking photos he promised to share.

One of my most favorite entries was Darlene Hardie’s “Ben and Jerry Shirt” with Jerry Garcia and Benjamin Franklin smiling out into the gallery. Having my “FlutterBy” framed mask paired with that piece really made me smile.

The night was a constantly changing scene of artists and friends that ended at 8pm. 

I then helped the members who were doing the clean up.

It was a beautiful night – no coat necessary. I walked over to the Keg where Arch Hooks was scheduled to play and members of the Cultural Singles group was meeting. I had some interesting conversation with a couple of wild ladies and connected with another wild woman friend and her husband that are fans of Arch’s. Was the perfect way to end the day, dancing to good old rock’n’roll!