'Belonging' comes to downtown Sebastopol
A new public art exhibition on the site of the future Hotel Sebastopol
In January of this year, the Sebastopol Times reported that Piazza Hospitality, the owner of the empty lot downtown that may become Hotel Sebastopol someday, had asked Sebastopol Center for the Arts to mount an exhibition of public art in the space.
This week, the first art pieces for that exhibition, which is called “Belonging,” were moved onto the site.
“We thought about what we really wanted in our town, and that’s really to cultivate this sense of belonging,” said Serafina Palandech, the director of Sebastopol Center for the Arts. “And so we invited people to bring art about community involvement, being together—how do we talk, how do we share, how are we together, and how does art allow us to have those conversations?”
The most eye-catching piece thus far is Mark Rivera’s habitat, which is right across the street from Screamin’ Mimi’s.
“This piece is obviously very large, but it’s all made up of small houses that fit together. It also is motion activated, so it has lights, and it pulses like a heart,” Palandech said. The piece was originally made for Burning Man and was transported to Sebastopol from Reno by the artist.
The GoFundMe that helped fund the creation of “Hábitat” describes the artwork this way:
“Mark has observed the intricacies of human environments, from barrios to bustling city streets. These observations inspire “Hábitat,” a piece that reflects his vision of communal living and harmony. “Hábitat” is more than a sculpture; it is a call to action, encouraging people to engage with their communities and foster a spirit of peace and cooperation. In “Hábitat,” Mark Rivera hopes to demonstrate the vital role individuals play in their communities, urging us all to embrace love and unity over conflict.”
The art piece, “You Belong Here,” serves as a kind of title piece for the whole show. It will also have an interactive element, according to Palandech.
“Hunter Franks made the sign that says “You Belong Here,” and then he’s made these wood houses. There’ll be two stations, like those little mini-library things where people can open it up, take a little house out and there’s gonna be a prompt like ‘What advice would you give to a stranger?’—and then people can write an answer on it and tie it onto the fence.”
Artist Erica Dincalci, the artist behind “Through Lines,” was also on site on Thursday. She and Palandech were discussing having Dincalci use her fence-weaving technique to help unify and define the space of the exhibit.
Dincalci’s piece “Through Lines” is already installed on the site. It will also have an interactive element. “There will be these bands of fabric, and people can write on them,” in response to another prompt, “and then loop them onto the fence, and they'll fly in the wind,” Dincalci said.
There are currently eight pieces in the exhibition, seven of which are already installed or partially installed. One piece, which is yet to come, will be an earth mural by Kelsi Anderson of Wild Earth Art. (See our article on Anderson’s work here.)
Palandech said she expects all of the pieces to be installed by the beginning of June. She also encouraged other artists who are inspired by this exhibition to submit their own work to the project.
“We invite other artists who want to submit and bring their art here,” she said. “I’d love to have more submissions. Let’s keep it open. If artists see this and they get inspired and they want to bring theirs, we have a tremendous amount of space here.”
Beautiful and intriguing art!