Spheres of Influence
Saturday, March 11, 2017 at Arts Benicia Gallery, 991 Tyler St., #114 in Benicia. The symposium is co-hosted by the Benicia-Vallejo American Association of University Women (AAUW) and Art Benicia. The event will feature a pop-up art exhibit of visual, word and performing art sharing the expression across four generations of women. Panelists will discuss who and what influenced them as artists and will share who or what their art most influences. A viewing reception begins at 1 p.m. with music provided by Jazz Guerilla. The panel begins at 2 p.m. Please join us. For more information contact Arts Benicia info@artsbenicia.org 707-747-0131. View our event invitation on Facebook.
Artist panel
Sarah Barsness, Visual Artist and Educator
Genea Brice, Poet Laureate of Vallejo
Maria Stats, Performing Artist
Pearl Jones Tranter, Visual Artist
Moderator: Susan Street, Visual Artist
Sarah Barsness, born and raised in the American West, is a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute and the Photographic Center Northwest in Seattle. Her photographs, installations and mixed media pieces have been exhibited throughout the US, Greece, Mexico and Japan. Previously she taught in the School of Photography at the Academy of Art University; she currently heads the department of photography at Solano Community College.
Poet, author, public speaker, and teacher, Genea S. Brice was raised in Vallejo. She is a graduate of Patten University and the Sacramento Theological Seminary and Bible College. In addition to numerous literary publication credits, Genea has worked as a classroom teacher. Active in local poetry groups, in 2015, Genea was named the first Poet Laureate of the City of Vallejo.
Maria Stats, born and raised in Northern California, is a graduate of the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts and the California College of the Arts teaching institute. She is the founder and managing and artistic director of On The Fringe Visual and Performing Arts, and currently the lead teacher for the organization’s youth programs. Maria has taught art and drama in Solano County for the last 10 years.
Pearl Jones Tranter, of Vallejo, is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, San Francisco State University, and the San Francisco Art Institute. A lifelong learner, she currently studies multi-media at Berkeley City College. She worked as a photography facility manager for the SF Art Institute and academic administrator for the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley. Her numerous photographic exhibits, often focused on regional subjects and the West, have been displayed throughout the Bay Area and California.
Moderator Susan Street, of Benicia, is a graduate of Grinnell College. Painting since the 1960s, she has worked in real estate and interior design. She currently displays her oil paintings at Benicia Plein Air Gallery.