Benicia Offers Inside View of Artists' Community

Benicia Artists Open Studios 2004: Saturday and Sunday May 1 and 2.

The Annual Benicia Artists Open Studios event takes place the first weekend in May each year at various locations throughout Benicia. The studios, all within a few minutes of each other, are open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Benicia Artists Open Studios provides a once-a-year opportunity to explore the private workspaces of more than seventy artists, and meet the people behind the objects. From the traditional fine arts of drawing, painting, and sculpture to printmaking, photography, collage, jewelry, glass works, digital art and video, Benicia artists offer an array of gems to discover.

Benicia is a small, compact community located on the Carquinez Straight, a beautiful waterway that connects the Sacramento River to the San Francisco Bay. Founded in 1847, Benicia was destined to become an artist community. Stephen Vincent Benet, who grew up in the Commandants Residence, was a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Author Jack London wrote of Benicia during his several stays. The late great artist Robert Arneson was born and raised in Benicia, and the internationally acclaimed sculptor Manual Neri has made Benicia his home for many years. Benicia is also home to three of the nation’s preeminent glass studios: Zellique, Smyers, Nourot, Lindsay Glass and Opal Art Glass.

The Benicia Artists Open Studios event is free and open to the public. Maps are available at the Arts Benicia Gallery, 991 Tyler Street, #114 and the Benicia Chamber of Commerce, 601 First Street.

For more information contact:
Arts Benicia
991 Tyler Street, #114 Benicia, CA 94510
(707) 747-0131
E-mail info@artsbenicia.org
Web www.artsbenicia.org