Gold consists of the work of 12 artists who follow this theme with their work arranged to show its fluidity of all its elements. Exhibiting artists giving demonstrations or workshops are Kelly Dunagan, Lynne-Rachel Altman, Francesca Borgatta and Janet Brugos. Gallery 2727 is a cooperative gallery at 2727 California Street in Berkeley, CA. Our Opening Reception Friday, September 6 from 5:30pm to 8pm will be quite extraordinary with Ben Slater Jazz Trio performing with light jazz.
Kelly Dunagan
Highly energetic Kelly Dunagan invited me to her home and studio for an interview about her entry into the art world. She showed me her studio which has excellent lighting. She told me that she had wanted to get into photography originally and still has a very strong interest in it. I was amazed when she told me the story of her toy cameras. These are not what we think of as toys. They are manufactured outside the USA and use real film. She showed me a collection that she had. The name of the manufacturer of the cameras is Lomo, the website is lomography, although many of them were made by various Russian companies in the 1960s-80s, and lomo took over the processing when they went under. The camera Kelly used for the prints in this exhibition is a polaroid land camera automatic 100, which was made in the early 1960s.
Kelly seems to search out the ethereal and finds it big time.
Her interest in art began when she began taking art classes at age 5. She also had the same art teacher from 7th grade thru high school where she was given great introductions to gesture drawing, still life, working with charcoal and pastels. Learning to draw is like learning to see how things are put together and how one color can be hundreds of different shades—like dark green pine trees to pale green leaves. Art brings out a wild sense of color.
She attended Stanford and originally declared an art major just so she could get into photography classes. So Kelly rather came into art thru an alternative door. Stanford professor, Joel Leivick was her mentor and pushed her to become a serious photographer.
Kelly was originally from got a taste of living in different parts of the US. She spent a year in Los Angeles, a year and a half in New York, then on to Boston and San Francisco. International cities where Kelly has lived in (since college) include Dublin, Oxford 3 years, London 2 years, and time in the Seychelles—scuba diving the coral reefs.
She spent time in London (got a Master of Biology at Oxford.) Lived in Oxford for 3 years—where she joined a studio group called the Magdalen Road Studios. On to London for 2 years before moving back to San Francisco.
Kelly met her now husband, Marcus, in Capetown, South Africa. They spent time living in Ireland and also in England.
Kelly and her husband live in Berkeley with their two children. I
believe that their daughters have a keen interest in art. How could they not?
Kelly had some amazing years enjoying, living and learning in other areas of the world but would periodically come back to the United States. She grew up in St. Louis.
Saturday, September 7 at 2pm Kelly will be doing blind contour portraits at 2pm at Gallery 2727. This is your opportunity to get an unusual portrait done.
Sunday, September 8 at 2pm Kelly will give an artist’s talk.
Lynne-Rachel Altman
Lynne-Rachel is a spontaneously creative artist. She was introduced to creating art in high school but had not yet focused on how art was to play a central theme in her life. In a way, her friends were magnets that drew her into living a life filled with innovative artistic experience.
I met Lynne-Rachel in her studio in Berkeley where she has areas dedicated to her glass works (with several kilns) and another area dedicated to painting. The air hung happily in creative mode.
We jumped to many subjects as LR described a life that took many turns before bringing her back to Berkeley where she grew up.
An Art Residency at the Creative Glass Center of America , Millville, NJ was her first taste of what it was to live a life immersed in art and she never wanted to stop. Though she was already an accomplished hot glass artist experienced in working straight from a glass furnace, at the center she was exposed to the potential of kiln working when fellow resident David Leppla showed her how to make plaster and silica molds to shape glass in a kiln. Since then she has created and found opportunities to explore and push the boundaries of glass kiln casting.
She went on to be a resident artist at Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood WA; The Arad Art Project, Arad Israel; The Foundry, Berkeley California, and the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco where she was thrilled to be able to demonstrate figure sculpting surrounded by the work of Rodin. LR helped start up the kiln casting glass department at Public glass in San Francisco and she served as co-department head of glass kiln casting and glass cold working at the crucible.
LR joined Designer Kelsey Murphy and Bob Bobcamp at Pilgrim Glass in West Virginia where she designed one-of a-kind art glass as well as multiple layers of carved colored glass cameo ware, gift ware and table ware. She then went on to apprentice in Sweden with engraved and blown glass graal designer Eva Englund where she subsequently worked as a designer for Pukesberg Glass factory.
After Altman returned to her childhood home in Berkeley, she earned an MFA in Sculpture and Glass with Distinction from CCA and created her first public art piece for the city of Berkeley. Scott Donahue was the project’s manager and he continued to serve as her unofficial mentor as she took on more and more ambitious projects including steps for an amphitheater at the Santa Clara Public Library Children’s garden, and the creation of the popular Fairy Music Farm attraction at Children’s Fairyland by Lake Merritt in Oakland
A graphic artist in her early career, she has touched upon many types of art from glass blowing and kiln casting, to ceramics, public art, mosaics, and painting. Lynne-Rachel enjoys painting on canvas and paper as well as large mural projects. She is currently exploring traditional glass painting techniques and casting glass sculptures in her Berkeley Studio.
September 14, 2024 2pm Lynne-Rachel will give an artist’s talk
Saturday, September 21 at 2pm Lynne-Rachel will have a reverse painting on glass workshop
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Francesca Borgatta
Francesca Borgatta was born into a creative art family. Her father was a sculptor and her mother carved Stone. Her parents taught her art. She studied dance and theater from childhood. She was always interested in
art. Her mother’s heritage was Irish-English Midwestern farm folks.
Her heritage on her father’s side is both Mexican and Italian.
Her father took her to see many churches where the child Francesca was awed by the architecture and the artwork. She admired the architecture but questioned why the children painted on the ceilings were naked and flying, but more importantly, why was there a heaven and a hell.
Both her parents were committed to following their own artistic pathways. Her parent’s cultural differences were too intense to continue together. They divorced when Francesca was sixteen. So Francesca is committed to understanding these differences which is a recurrent theme in her art.- How to cross these boundaries and bring people together.
Francesca was always interested in combining art forms. She wanted to make masks and use them. As a teacher of art and drama for over thirty year she followed a career of activism, first in New York and then in the Bay Area, particularly the East Bay within her community Over the years she gained a secure sense of how art developed. She wanted to be a part of bringing art to everyone- To be reintroduced to art at any age is often a very healing experience . That is why Francesca is teacher of art
She feels that everyone has the ability to create art, she wants them to experience their own creative impulse, and give them the tools and encouragement to try. She feels that art helps to create community. Doing it together is a new kind of bonding for families and community members. Intergenerational art is a very important experience missing in our culture.
Francesca like working in video, because it uses a combination of art forms, she can take her puppets and use them to tell stories.
September 6, Friday 5:30 -8pm at the opening of Gold, Francesca will offer an opportunity for each participant to leave a golden message or a golden image.
September 14, Saturday at 2pm Francesca will be one of several artists to give an artist talk.
September 28, Saturday at 2pm will offer the opportunity to make a golden crown.
I did not have the opportunity to interview Francesca in her studio so we met at my studio on the second floor of Gallery 2727. She promises to have me visit her studio one of these days. I would really like that. Francesca is one of our treasures in the collective of Gallery 2727. She joined in 2023. Francesca has a deep sense of community and has often led community events . I like that so much about her that she sees the best in those around her. Francesca also an active film maker using both human and puppets as cast. Francesca Borgatta is one of the most community minded people I have ever met. Her sense of caring is sincere and deep.
Janet Brugos
I had not originally thought of including myself in this article of the artists doing workshops or demonstrations for our Gold Show. However, Lynne-Rachel offered to do one of me. So these are her thoughts.
Janet Brugos was one of the first residents in the repurposed historic Altenheim in Oakland. She was proud to show me around the housing community pointing out where, over nearly eighteen years, she taught art classes, created mosaic stepping stones, showcased her work, by holding Open Studios in one of the large public rooms. Having traveled and lived in many spots in the world she explained that she had resided in her current home longer than any other single place. Once we were settled in her apartment, which was currently doubling as her kitsugi fabric dyeing studio as she was creating some fabric art for our Gold Show. I was curious to know how her travels and experiences helped shape the artist she is today.
I loved hearing how committed and determined Janet has always been to her art and the ways her career and personal relationships were shaped by her creative goals. Encouraged by her father to pursue her dreams, she studied art in college. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, with a degree in Sociology and minor in Art, she found a job where she could travel at will with United Airlines. As for the social work, she decided that she would be available to help people but not pursue psychiatric social work. She married and had two daughters. Later she chose to be a single mother rather than stay with a partner who did not believe in her art. She took a job working with a travel agency. She took advantage of many trips to see the art in Europe, South America and of course in major cites in the USA. Later she took a job as a Field Interviewer, interviewing people where she lived in Colorado but on to Houston, Chicago and other major cities. She always took advantage of the gallery and museum scenes in those cities. Often taking “out of town memberships” to Art Museums. She ended up working in New York for weeks at a time both before and after 9/11.
Her interest in collage started when she was living in France. At the time tearing paper into shreds and reconstructing them into Parisian scenes gave her much needed relief from a frustrating relationship. She was encouraged by a local artist to show her work at the Salon des Independants. Her work was well received and she was approached by a number of interested galleries. She showed her work in two of these galleries before returning to the USA.
Janet has since continued to develop and exhibit a number of series of mixed media works focused on international city scenes, women of the world, climate awareness. When I asked Janet why it was important for her to make art she did not hesitate to answer that she wants to share her vision. Through her art you can see her vision of a vivid, beautiful, diverse, multi-faceted, inclusive and caring world.
Sunday, September 8 at 2pm Janet Brugos artist talk along with Kelly Dunagan and Mary Coffield.
Sunday, September 15 at 2pm.Janet Brugos will be doing a demonstration of Suminagashi, the Japanese Art of Marbling
by Lynne-Rachel Altman
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Note from Janet: I had not thought of doing an interview myself as I wanted to find out more about the other artists. Lynne-Rachel Altman volunteered to do one for me for which I am most grateful.. I had her come to my apartment as that was where I was working on my Suminagashi pieces which I am displaying in the Gold Show. I do have a delightful studio on the second floor of Gallery 2727 where I normally work on my mixed media pieces.
A couple of notes to add there will be another workshop on Textile Upcycling on Friday, September 20 from 4 to 8pm with Linden Julien-Lehr. I was not able to interview her as she was out of town. Also On Friday September 13 and 27, from 5:45PM we will have Golden Hour Music with Groupmuse. Also another informative event will be on the last day of the show at 2pm on September 29 Kelly Dunagan and Maria Tuttle will lead a curators’ tour at 2pm
We will enjoy welcoming you to our cooperative gallery on all the dates we are open. We are located in a Berkeley residential neighborhood so parking is usually easily available. See you soon.
Janet Brugos Member of Gallery 2727
Link below to check on details of the Gold Show
https://www.2727.today/calendar/gold-art-exhibition