Once again this year, from October 15 to November 3, Petaluma will be alive with the spirit of El Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. This cultural arts celebration from Latin America offers the opportunity to learn about and celebrate the diversity of our community and the healing power of the arts. Often whimsical and sometimes macabre, the traditional art of El Dia de los Muertos allows us, in community, to honor dead loved ones and acknowledge death as a part of life.

This year's festive Opening event will be Sunday, October 15 from 1-4 pm at the Petaluma Historic Museum, 20 4th Street. Featured will be a focus on Oaxaca with the joyous music and wonderful food from this area. Tamales and other traditional Oaxacan treats will be available for purchase.

The Petaluma Historical Museum will be a focal point for traditional altars created by community members to honor dead loved ones. Altars will be created by Oaxacan altar builders as well as young people from the community and the Mujeres Unidas of Sonoma County. A special altar honoring children who have died will also be built at the Historical Museum.

A Community Altar will be created at the Museum by the Petaluma Arts Council. The public is invited to bring pictures or remembrances of loved ones who have died to place on the altar.

In its sixth year, the observance is sponsored by a cross-cultural committee including the Petaluma Arts Council, St. Vincent de Paul Church Hispanic Outreach Ministry, the Petaluma Library, the Petaluma Historical Museum Foundation, Hospice of Petalum, HC2: Healthy Community Consortium, Mujeres Unidas of Sonoma County, the Latino Peace officers Association and other community groups and businesses.

This year's events also include a traditional procession, poetry readings, storytelling, workshops on the folk art of El Dia de los Muertos, film, performances of traditional music and dance, as well as exhibits of fine art, folk art and altars throughout Petaluma. An Art and Altar Walk Map will be available during that time.

All events are free of charge. For more information visit www.PetalumaArtCouncil.org .
Generous underwriting provided by: Community Foundation Sonoma County, the Petaluma Health Care District, the Friends of the Library, the Petaluma Arts Council, Wells Fargo Bank, Sonoma National Bank, First Community Bank, Exchange Bank, Dauphine Press, Bank of Petaluma and Robert and Elaine Ramirez.

Contact: Abraham Solar 769-4195Margie Helm 778-9922

ART + ARCHITECTURE
Join us for the Inaugural Fundraising Event for the Petaluma Art Center

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2006 5PM-8PM
Keller Estate Winery 5875 Lakeville Highway, Petaluma, CA
$125 per person

Experience a unique show by NINE NORTHBAY ARTISTS.
Visit the exclusive Legorreta-designed Keller Winery.

and ENJOY
Gourmet food and wine pairings by KELLER ESTATE WINERY.
Stroll through winery caves.
Bid on rare opportunities in the Silent Auction (see partial list below).
Live Entertainment

THE ARTISTS
Chester Arnold
Todd Barricklow
Michael Cooper
Gilham Erickson
Edwin Hamilton
Gordon Huether
Bruce Johnson
Ned Kahn
Bryan Tedrick

THE ARCHITECT
Legorreta+ Legorreta

For reservations, call (707) 766-5200 or Make a reservation online.

SILENT AUCTION ITEMS include:

MCEVOY RANCH private orchard tour and lunch for ten. After the tour, head Chef Gerald Gass will prepare a gourmet lunch in the ranch country kitchen "featuring fresh produce from the organic garden.

OLIVER RANCH SCULPTURE GARDEN tour for ten people led by Steve Oliver. SFMOMA chair Steve Oliver, known as one of the country's most adventurous art patrons, will personally lead this walking tour of his Geyserville ranch, which is renowned for its collection of site-specific works of art.

POETRY HOUSE tour and winetasting with Paradise Ridge Winery Founder
Walter Byck and artist Bruce Johnson

KELLER WINETASTING AND CLASSIC CAR COLLECTION tour

and many more very special offerings
See a complete list online.
This event is the inaugural fundraising event of a capital campaign to create an Art Center in Petaluma. The Petaluma Art Center will be located in the historic Railroad Depot Freight building on Lakeville Street.

A pdf flyer is attached to forward to your friends and associates.

The Petaluma Arts Council is committed to making the arts accessible to all of our residents and helping Petaluma serve as an example of a community that values its artists and the role they play in the quality of life.

www.petalumaartscouncil.org

D.A. Bishop was born in rural Virginia and has lived in many places along the Eastern Seaboard before settling in Sonoma County, California. Primarily self-taught he discovered, after a brief period at the Atlanta School of Art, that life experience was more enticing than a structured art education. Thus began various careers as a billboard painter, a graphic artist for a theatre company, and an itinerant limner. Bishop has traveled extensively, visiting museums worldwide and has always worked from the live model. He says of his work, "I like simple, strong, shapes whether rendering architecture, landscape or the human form." Bishop shows nationally and is represented regionally in the following galleries: John Natsoulas Gallery Davis, CA, Casa Design Calistoga, A St. Gallery, Santa Rosa, Quercia Gallery, Duncans Mills.
Sponsored by The Friends of the Petaluma Campus

Karen Petersen
Herold Mahoney Library
SRJC, Petaluma Campus
680 Sonoma Mountain Parkway
707-778-3972