Marysville art gallery hosts wine event

Wine makes it even better.

That's the concept Gallery34 artists hope will catch on among area residents and visitors to Marysville.

The new cooperative art gallery and studio on D Street is hosting its first wine-tasting event on Friday evening with hopes of making it a regular monthly feature.

Hosting a social event "lets people have more than just a drive-by experience with some original art," said Lily Noonan of the Yuba-Sutter Regional Arts Council, administrator of the downtown gallery. "It gives people a reason to visit, to socialize and maybe to begin thinking about what they see."

Mike "The Wine Guy" Wreyford from Grocery Outlet in Yuba City is slated to be a regular part of what is set to be held the second Friday of each month.

The artists who showcase their work in the new venue now number 36 — two more than the original charter members for whom the gallery is named.

Each month, all the featured artwork in the gallery is taken down and replaced by other pieces.

"That pushes the artists to continue producing new work," said Noonan of the co-op policy.

It also gives art lovers a new reason to enter the building each month and look around, she said.

Attracting local artists from a wide variety of mediums turned out to be a breeze for organizers who opened the facility within weeks of signing a rent-free lease agreement.

The owner of the building at 419 D St. — formerly D Street Mercantile — presented his idea for an arts cooperative to the Arts Council in mid-October. A month later, the offer was proffered in writing, and in early December the gallery opened for business.

But getting the public comfortable with the idea of purchasing original art has been a different kind of challenge, Noonan said.

"When you're purchasing something at the store to hang on your wall, and it's mass produced, it's just not the same," Noonan said. "When you know who touched that work, and you have a piece of that artist with you, it's a rare and wonderful thing."

Trusting one's own instincts about art requires a certain level of confidence.

Ultimately, "people buy art because they're emotionally moved in some way by it. The piece triggers a memory or evokes a feeling," she said. "People just haven't had a lot of opportunity in this area to be exposed to a lot of styles of art. But give it time."

CONTACT Nancy Pasternack at npasternack@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4781. Find her on Facebook at /ADnpasternack or on Twitter at @ADnpasternack.