DI ROSA ART & NATURE PRESERVE

Dear Friends,

As you know, it has been about 6 weeks since we left Ecuador. The ensuing weeks have been spent with normal everyday stuff - work, laundry, cooking, etc. We did have one exciting event at the end of February - our annual Cabaret Night celebration with about 25 friends. We convert our studio into a cafe and everyone has to perform.


This weekend we had an event of a different sort. Our friend, Noreen, pictured above at Cabaret Night several years ago, celebrated her 50th birthday with a series of events. We were able to join Noreen and 16 other friends in touring the Di Rosa Art and Nature Preserve in nearby Napa County. On the way there, we passed through the lovely mustard blooming throughout Sonoma County in pastures and vineyards.
The Di Rosa Preserve is located on the Carneros Highway in Napa County, not far from the town of Sonoma. Of the 460 acres of land Rene Di Rosa purchased in 1960, 217 acres remain, forever preserved in trust for the public. The art collection of over 2,000 pieces is located in three main galleries. We were only allowed to take photos outside so I will mostly be sharing photos of sculptures with you.

We took a jitney from the gatehouse gallery to the large gallery located around the lake that Rene Di Rosa made from a pond. Here are some of our gang - Derrick, Noreen, Noreen's brother (who flew in as a surprise from New Jersey!) and Eddie, who made the whole Noreen Event happen!

And a few more of our party, Richard, Teresa, Mark and Katie.

Rene's pond is now a 35 acre lake, home to Great Blue Herons, Snowey Egrets and Canada Geese, among others. He wanted his own tropical island, so he built one.

Rene's wife, Veronica, was an artist herself. She created these steel cows which float on the lake and turn gracefully in the breeze.
Rene Di Rosa got introduced to young artists when he was learning vinticulture at UC Davis in the 1960s. It was then that he started his collection which features over 900 contemporary Northern California artists. One of these, William T Wiley, made this sculpture, which graces the doorway of the original Di Rosa stone house.

William T Wiley was unknown to me until we visited Di Rosa. He and two of his colleagues, William Allan and Robert Hudson, got their start in high school art class in Richland, Washington, coincidentally the same town Chuck and Nancy lived in for years before relocating to Ecuador. I wish I could show you some of their paintings as they were quite breathtaking and interesting.

When Mr. Di Rosa bought his acreage, he brought in 2 peacocks. There are now more than 50 of them on the property and they kept us entertained when we were outside. This one is posing with the hanging car sculpture.
And this one posed beautifully on this bench.

I got up close and personal with this bad boy. Everyone was worried that I was going to be attacked because he was rattling his feathers in a very aggressive manner. What the others didn't know (couldn't see) is that there was a hen right in front of me. That's who he was interested in, not me.

The stone house was on the property when Di Rosa bought it. It had been built by a Frenchman who had a vineyard here in the 1800s. Di Rosa tore down the house and re-built, adding bathrooms, electricity and this working bell tower, reusing all the original stones.

Inside, the house is pretty much as it was when the Di Rosa's lived here...FILLED WITH ART. There was art in the shower, on the toilet and even on the ceilings. It was nearly overwhelming.

Here is just one of the many sculptures outside the stone house.

This one is a large metal harp. Teresa has just played it using a mallet to hit the "strings." The sound was like that of a piano harp, only much deeper.

We did have time to briefly tour the sculpture meadow. The sculptures were varied and mostly quite large. The obelisk below is made of stacked filing cabinets!

The artist ground up an MG car into milligram pieces. The car pieces are in the file drawers! Here's another view of the filing cabinets with other sculptures.
The gryphyn, made of steel implements, is kinetic. It rests on one point only, so sways in the wind.
I particulary liked this "brillo pad" sculpture.

Leaving the sculpture meadow, our tour heads back toward the suspended car.

At the end of our tour our group chose to walk back to the gatehouse instead of ride the jitney. This allowed us to see much more than we could have riding.

Another kinetic piece beside the 35 acre lake. The whole property, including the 150 year old olive trees, is protected by the Napa County Land Trust.

Another view of the kinetic cow.

And, across from the gatehouse, I spotted this metal dragon on the other shore.

If you ever come to visit us and want to go to Di Rosa, we'll take you for sure! We were so impressed that we became members so that we can visit again and again. With so much to look at, it will take many visits to see everything, and many more visits after that to absorb everything.

Here's hoping you are all well and happy.

Audrey