On the final weekend of Santa Cruz County Open Studios I was heading to San Jose to see “Modified” at the Art Ark gallery but, overcome by a new cold I just couldn’t ignore, exited Highway 17 to return to Santa Cruz. I saw an Open Studios sign and, on an impulse, decided that if I were only going to see one more studio before I curl up under blankets, it would be one I’d never visited, in a direction I’d never been. I followed the fluorescent green signs on tight-curving roads through beautiful canyons, idyllic horse properties, redwood forests and seeping creeks feathered by horsetail meadows, up steep hills to follow a chaparral ridgeline with clusters of madrones tucked into each bend and dazzling views in all directions, and down again through gated land till sheer determination brought me to a cluster of tables amid a grove of towering redwoods. Here I met Paul Vernier in what turned out to be the most remote Open Studio. His distinctive pots appeared grown there from seed, visited by an atmospheric phenomenon and coated with gorgeous, unearthly glazes. My drive from the freeway had taken over 20 minutes, so I bet the artist and his wife that they weren’t commuters. But until recently they did commute to Silicon Valley. It made me think about how deliberate the choice has been for most of us who live here, and how it can be difficult—but with what rewards.
For aesthetes and athletes there is obvious bounty. More surprising in this small dimple in the coastline devoid of any major city or significant industry except farming is the rich brew that feeds the intellect. UCSC contributes much. The free Siddartha Maitra Memorial Lecture at UCSC introduced Gurcharan Das, author of India Unbound, many years’ worth of columns in The New York Times and the just-released The Difficulty of Being Good. He lectured to a packed Music Recital Hall on “The Dharma of Capitalism.” The endearing performance by a redoubtable storyteller doubled as humorous discourse on the new India, on governance in times of change, on the Mahabharata and on prescriptive morality versus a morality of figuring it out.
Throughout the week, the Pacific Rim Film Festival brought the world to our doorstep, as did musical performances ranging from New Music to ancient Ottoman. An exhibit at UCSC’s Sesnon Gallery provoked a fascinating panel discussion about collecting art. The Tannery Arts Lecture Series discussed “Artists in Time of War” (including artist/teacher Kathleen Crocetti, whose role as creator/director of the new mural on Soquel Avenue I inadvertently omitted in last week’s column). Such cultural intelligence should make us smart voters come Tuesday: so much to be careful of. Read more of The Exhibitionist at www.kusp.org.
