Reader’s Choice: Art

Compiled by William Burg, Tim Foster, Becky Grunewald, Michele Hebert,
Niki Kangas, Anthony King, Liv Moe, Sarah Singleton and Melody Stone

Photos by Scott Duncan

What a clean sweep! Best Cheap Eats, Best Boutique, Best Place to Have a Beer, and yes, Best Art Gallery, too. Clearly, Bows and Arrows is a spot to watch!

Best Art Gallery: Bows Collective

Following up on the sensibility they started at their other location on 17^th and L, the new Bows Collective (part of the Bows and Arrows space) focuses on young and emerging artists, shining a light on a humming and vibrant local art scene. Come August, Bows will go one step further in supporting local art and artists by presenting The Prescription, a list of guidelines mapped out by Nelson Gallery director Renny Pritikin for what makes a healthy art scene tick. The Prescription details things like a need for social spaces where ideas can be generated for new work, adventurous gallerists willing to take chances on new and emerging artists, and alternative spaces that exhibit new art and ideas. Bows co-owner Trisha Rhomberg, seized on the ideas presented in Pritikin’s prescription and mobilized a group of local artists to produce a set of illustrations celebrating the 23 directives in the original document. Through the opening of the new Bows  owners Rhomberg and partner Olivia Coelho are clearly delivering just what the doctor ordered.

1815 19^th St.

Ask the Experts: Best Art Gallery

Elaine O’Brien is a professor of modern and contemporary art history and a fixture on the local art scene.  With her regal head of silver hair pulled back in a neat braid, she’s a familiar sight to anyone who attends gallery openings locally, and she’s a Midtown resident.  Who could be better qualified to give an expert opinion on the best Midtown gallery? Disclaimer: O’Brien serves on the CCAS (Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento) exhibition committee.

“Since I’m looking for art that makes me think or feel, strikes me as unconventional and honest, I go to Midtown’s non-commercial spaces, like CCAS, Axis, and La Raza Galería Posada.  That’s where I’m most likely to have a memorable art experience, and where the art talk is often intelligent and alive. Miráme: 21^st century portraits for Latino/a America at La Raza Galeria Posada last month, for example, had a really fresh premise and expanded my idea of portraiture.  The current show at Axis, Jiayi Young’s Experiments, is compelling because of the artist’s combination of new media with material like commodity packaging and her child’s art to say something that matters now. “