Two Exhibits at Petaluma Arts Center Ponder Life and Death

Petaluma Arts Center in Sonoma County boasts a gorgeous 4,500 square foot arts facility located in Petaluma, California’s historic Railroad Depot Freight Building. The Center, opened by the Petaluma Arts Council in 2008, exists to celebrate local artists and to involve the community in the appreciation and recognition of the enriching possibilities of the arts. This year, visitors to the center have a chance to witness, among many others, these two exhibits that draw attention to the relationship between life and death, the living and the dead.

Current

Fire/Ice

June 17-July 24

This multimedia exhibit invited artists to meditate on any number of subjects dealing with the opposites of life. To coincide with the exhibit, on July 2, the center hosted a lecture by cultural historian Kayleen Asbo entitled Alchemy and the Arts. In the spirit of the exhibit, the lecture proposed to address the question How can holding the tension of opposites lead to a life of abundance, healing, creativity and wholeness?

FUNERIA, an international arts agency that enlists top artists to create unique, hand-crafted memorials and cremation vessels, was invited to display selections from their Ashes to Art ® exhibit in the lobby of the Petaluma Arts Center, as part of the exhibit. “It’s a welcome opportunity to introduce the unique and superbly-crafted work that artists worldwide are creating in the contemporary funerary arts genre to a larger audience of art-conscious visitors and North Bay residents,” FUNERIA says of the invitation.

Including the artisan cremation vessels crafted by FUNERIA artists in this event offers visitors a chance, before entering the exhibit, to consider one of the most stark contrasts we face throughout life—death. It is important to understand death as a part of every life, as an event that creates a balance within our lives, rather than simply an end to lives we’ve loved.

Upcoming

El Dia de Los Muertos

September 30-November 6

In association with their 11th anniversary celebration, spanning October 1st to November 6th, Petaluma Arts Center will be continuing their annual celebration of Dia de los Muertos. “The Day of the Dead”, traditionally observed in Mexico on November 1st, is a holiday to celebrate and honor the deceased.

Petaluma’s event is a community-wide celebration that includes theater, parades, and visual art to represent and honor the Latino community and this holiday.