NEWS FROM THE TRAIL

April 2006 - Closing the Gaps

Over the last four years Sierra Art Trails has become the largest and most expansive art event in the Yosemite foothills.  This year the show stretches from Catheys Valley to North Fork, and involves more than 15 communities in Madera and Mariposa counties. One of the challenges of such a large show is the distances between sites, which can sometimes discourage visitors from traveling on.  To combat this problem, the planning committee encourages artists who live and work in these areas to join in, helping to “close the gap” between communities.  

One of these stretches is road 426 / 221 between Oakhurst and North Fork.  Starting out along this route from Oakhurst, many visitors stop off at the home of Ellen Hurst on Washburn lane, where a number of artists show each year, including Fresno’s Man of Steel Chris Sorensen.  Further on there is a lonely stretch of 8 miles until the Stately home of photographer Keith Sauer in Sierra Highlands.

Working to fill in this gap artist Jonathan Bock and ceramic artists AJ Castelo, Tiwi Wood, and Amy Morgan are planning to show at his home at 50503 Rd 426, about half way between the Hurst home and the Bass lake turnoff.  A few miles further along, mosaic artist Colleen Lopez plans to show at her home studio on Finegold Creek Drive.

These sites along the route between Oakhurst and North Fork should help to encourage visitors to travel this route and then on into North Fork.  The Sierra Art Trails planning committee hopes to encourage more North Fork artists to enter the show, making the trip into North Fork a “must see” along the Art Trail.