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MAY 2017 • DANVILLE TODAY NEWS • PAGE 1
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PRIMAVERA: A FESTIVE CELEBRATION OF ART
By Jody Morgan
Alamo Danville Artists’ Society (ADAS) celebrates 40 years of bringing together local artists of all ages and their patrons with Primavera, one of the Bay Area’s oldest annual art festivals. On Saturday, May 6th and Sunday, May 7 th the show is open from 10 am- 5 pm at Danville’s Blackhawk Plaza. Sales from Primavera as well as the Blackhawk Gallery (open seven days a week all year) help provide the resources ADAS President Megan Parks-Haller, ADAS Founder Beth used by ADAS to fund Batchelor, Blackhawk Gallery Business Manager Tom Lemmer. Photo courtesy of ADAS. the Art in the Schools Program. This year ADAS is offering grants to high schools and middle schools within the San Ramon Valley Unified School District for participation in the Memory Project. The Memory Project connects students in the United States through their artwork with children living in poverty and despair throughout the world, sending the message that faraway friends value their existence. Primavera 2017 showcases the work of more than 70 artists in a wide range of two and three dimensional pieces. Visitors can watch Plein Air painters at work. Charles White and Paula Riley will be working in oils on Saturday from 2-4:30pm. Nancy Roberts will be painting in acrylic on Sunday from 12-4:30pm. Live music enhances the celebratory atmosphere. San Ramon Valley Jazz Combo will be playing on Saturday from 12-3:30pm. That Tasty Soul will perform on Sunday from 12-3:30pm. Concannon Winery offers free wine tasting both days while the music is playing. The public is invited to meet the artists Saturday at the Artists’ Reception in the Blackhawk Plaza Rotunda from 5-7pm. Chairing Primavera this year are ADAS President Megan Parks-Haller, ADAS Vice-President Radha Syed, and Blackhawk Gallery Business manager Tom Lemmer. The 2017 Primavera Judge is Carolyn Lord, a California native known nationally for her work in watercolor. How did ADAS begin? Turning a sprightly 100 this summer, ADAS founder Beth Batchelor credits her ready sense of humor as much as a healthy lifestyle for her longevity. She recalls with a chuckle, the remark made by the husband of one of her studio students that sparked her interest in starting the society. “What am I going to do with all these paintings?” he asked. The first ADAS show took place in a supermarket parking lot. The venue had the supreme advantage of being free. Beth was a successful commercial artist in New York City when a friend introduced her to a blind date one New Year’s Eve. The date she reluctantly accepted proved to be her future husband. He turned out to have family roots on the West Coast, which
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SAN RAMON CELEBRATES 150 YEARS AS A COMMUNITY
By Jody Morgan
In 1867, local ranchers completed the San Ramon Grammar School, thereby establishing their settlement as a community. Today the Museum of the San Ramon Valley proudly displays the original spire from the school in an exhibit celebrating the 150th anniversary of the founding of San Ramon. The exhibit runs through June 11th. While the sesquicentennial presentation continues, free Saturday talks from 10-11am highlight various aspects of the transformation of San Ramon from rural ranchland to a more diverse agricultural community and eventually a prosperous 21st century city. Exhibit Chairs Beverly Lane, Ginny Fereira, and Roxanne Lindsay have gathered items from local family collections to bring to life the individuals referenced in the carefully researched storyboards. Fereira explains that the San Ramon Grammar School served the community from 1867 until 1950, when the last class graduated. Ten years
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THE YOUTH CLOTH BAG PROJECT
If the world’s environmental future is dependent on the actions of today’s youth, Danville resident Praneeth Nagarjuna is ensuring that we are in good hands. A junior at College Preparatory School in Oakland, Praneeth is a dedicated environmental advocate who is working to facilitate change. He serves as the National Student Executive Director of One Earth One People (OEOP), www.oeop.org, a nationally recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that inculcates environmental education Praneeth Nagarjuna pictured with Ken Berlin, among K-12 students. He CEO of The Climate Reality Project is a recent participant of Al Gore’s internationally recognized The Climate Reality Leadership Corps. Cur- Volume VIII - Number 7 Danville Blvd. #117, rently he champions a community and 3000F Alamo, CA 94507 youth-led initiative to discourage the use (925) 405-6397 of plastic bags and to promote the use of Fax (925) 406-0547 cloth bags in the community and across Alisa Corstorphine ~ Publisher the country. editor@ The Youth Cloth Bag Project (YCBP), yourmonthlypaper.com one of OEOP’s signature initiatives, is opinions expressed herein belong an artwork competition that encourages The to the writers, and do not necessarily students from various schools to produce reflect that of Danville Today News. Danville Today News is not illustrations centered on a specific envi- responsible for the content of any of the advertising herein, nor does ronmental theme. This year’s theme is
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publication imply endorsement.