Cultural Planning

Strategy Team

 

Nancy Garden, St. Helena, Owner, The White Barn

Steven Gordon, Yountville, Artist, Owner, The Gordon Gallery

Light is the qunitessential component in Steven Gordon's powerfully luminous landscapes of California Wine Country. "My paintings are translations of the dynamic, lyrical, real and abstract qualities which I observe in the unending variety of shapes, colors and textures found in the landscape. They are recreations of a specific moment in time in which light, atmosphere, earth and sky come together in celebration of the simple and profound beauty in nature." Gordon came west from Illinois to settle in the Napa Valley in 1977 where the unique character of California's landscape helped him find his own imagery. Steven Gordon's works have been shown in galleries from the Napa Valley and San Francisco to New York and Los Angeles. Gordon currently lives in Napa Valley where he exhibits his work at his own Gordon Gallery at the Piazza Quercia complex at 6484 Washington Street in Yountville. The Gordon Gallery is open Thursday through Sunday from 10:30 AM to 5:30 PM.

Kathryn Reasoner, Napa, Executive Director, the di Rosa Preserve

Kathryn Reasoner has been active as an arts advocate, administrator, educator and consultant for over twenty years, receiving wide recognition for her work in cultural policy, and organizational development. Before assuming the post of as Executive Director for the di Rosa Preserve in September 2005, she served for a decade as Executive Director of Headlands Center for the Arts, an international artists residency program in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area north of San Francisco. Her prior experience includes: executive positions with the San Francisco Art Institute and the Richmond Art Center, and coordinating the first cultural planning process for the City and County of San Francisco. Kathryn Reasoner has taught arts administration at universities in California and Japan, and has served on several non-profit boards, including the American Alliance of Artists Communities, and the international network Res Artis. She received her Master's Degree with in Arts Administration from Golden Gate University and undergraduate degree in Art from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Peter Sykes, American Canyon, Owner, the American Canyon School of Music

Peter and Victoria Sykes opened the Napa School of Music on January 3rd, 2005 at 1957 Sierra Avenue in Napa at the old Napa Gun Club building. Peter is an experienced guitar instructor, writer and performer with over 30 years experience as a professional musician. Mr. Sykes began teaching music full-time in 1979 in Melbourne, Australia and is a veteran of the Australian and Los Angeles music scenes. He has written music for TV including the theme and incidental music for a Fox drama, Tribes, appearing in 2 episodes and more recently for the reality TV show, The Simple Life. He recently calculated that he has taught over 28,000 music lessons during the last 26 years. Peter Sykes moved to Napa in 1994 and began teaching in Napa in 1995. By 2000, Peter had a full schedule with 60 private students. Within 3 months of opening, the student numbers at the Napa School of Music were over 200 and by the end of 2005 over 300. The school enrollment reached a high of 330 by May of 2006. Peter and Victoria saw the same kind of need in the nearby community of American Canyon and opened their newest school there on November 27th, 2006. The American Canyon School of Music is located in the "Cabernet Village" building at 4381 Broadway (Hwy 29), Suite 105 in American Canyon.

Ira Wolk, St Helena, ACNV Board Member, Owner, I. Wolk Gallery

Ira Wolk is the Owner / Director of the I. Wolk Gallery located in St. Helena, in Rutherford at Auberge du Soleil and in Sonoma at MacArthur Place. Born in Chicago, he holds a Bachelor's Degree in Art History from Indiana University and a Master's Degree in Fine Art Photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. After teaching fine art photography, he moved to San Francisco where he has been in the art gallery business since 1975. He opened the I. Wolk Gallery in St. Helena in 1991. The I. Wolk Gallery features paintings, works on paper, photography and sculpture by contemporary American artists. Featured are works by emerging, mid-career and established artists who have distinguished themselves by a sense of authenticity, craftsmanship, innovation, integrity and beauty. The galleries are committed to helping new and experienced collectors and art lovers affirm their connection to the beauty and wonder experienced in art.

Richard Aldag, Napa, Executive Director, Napa Valley Symphony

Richard Aldag was engaged as the Executive Director of the Napa Valley Symphony in November 2006. Prior to coming to the Symphony, Richard had served as Executive Director of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and as a Development Manager at Quinn Associates, a San Francisco based arts management and fundraising company serving non-profit arts organizations. Other administrative positions he has held include Executive Director of Los Lupeños de Sa José and Founder/Director of the Silicon Valley Youth Conservatory at San Jose State University. As an educator, he has served on the faculties of San Jose State University, Fordham University, the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, and the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. Richard is an active composer whose works have been commissioned and performed by the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Earplay, the Shanghai Symphony, the Queens Symphony Orchestra, and others.

Placido Garcia, Calistoga, Calistoga City Councilmember, Musician