12th Anniversary Open House & Fundraiser

Thursday, JUNE 12, 5:30 - 7:30

Open Ground Studios (OGS) is thrilled to announce its twelfth anniversary event, to mark a dozen years of fostering artistic growth and creative community in Seaside, California. To commemorate this milestone, OGS will host a special pop-up exhibition and fundraiser entitled "Belonging & Threads Between” showcasing 12x12-inch artworks created by both the OGS artist collective and our students. Free and open to the public.

Welcome & Conversation: 6:15-6:45

"For twelve years, Open Ground Studios has been an evolving organization where creative practice flourishes and profound connections are forged," says founder Denese Sanders.  “We’ve witnessed firsthand - especially since 2020 - the transformative power of making art together, and our 12 x 12 project is a beautiful testament to the strong, inventive, and supportive community we've built."

The theme, "Belonging & Threads Between” was chosen to highlight the essential human need for connection, particularly in an era increasingly defined by a national epidemic of loneliness. Highlighted in the U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community (2023), loneliness poses significant public health risks. The advisory underscores that fostering social connection is crucial for individual well-being and community resilience, and aligns with Open Ground Studios' mission: “Our community art studios invite creative adults of all ages, backgrounds, and experience to explore and develop their art in a safe and collaborative community.” For over a decade, OGS has provided this space with the belief that “art plays a profound role in our human experience as a connective and healing force in society and facilitates creative growth that inspires transformation for individuals and the community we share.”

The “Belonging” project invites artists to express the theme through various media, unified by the 12 x 12 inch format, while considering the possible threads that weave together, separate, bind, or unravel our access to connection and community. "Artmaking itself provides a unique and powerful path to belonging to the self and beyond.” Sanders adds, “The act of creating, sharing, and interpreting each other's art fosters empathy, understanding, and an expanded sense of shared humanity.” 

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

Greg Ashton, Nina Ashton, Eva Boynton, Roberta Brunet, Sally Diggory, Hailey Fanger, Bonnie Rose Fernandez, Lee Garland, Terese Garcia, Emily Gottlieb, Beatriz Hussar   Micheen Levee, Yael Lifton, Rick Meech, Emily Peck, Jillian Pinney, Caitlin Reclusado   Helen Rudnick, Denese Sanders, Val Sansom, Lilly Scott, Carol Diggory Shields, Diane Danvers  Simmons, Alexander Zuniga

This pop-up fundraiser is made possible by the artists who generously donated their new work in support of our mission and vision