January 2025

Palette Newsletter

Sunrise,Yosemite Valley (1870)

President's Letter

2025 is here! As we enter a new year and a new quarter century, I find myself reflecting on the opportunities for new beginnings. Every day, every sunrise, is a chance to create what we choose. With every opportunity is a choice: to stay in bed, to explore, to be creative, to hammer out progress, to sink into each moment. Sometimes we make the wrong choice, but then there is the beauty of each new sunrise. Much like the students we teach, I’ve found myself exploring how I can visualize this newness in art.

Sometimes just looking at one of these images, like Albert Bierstadt’s Sunrise, Yosemite Valley (1870), is all I need to remind myself that today is mine and tomorrow is another chance to do it better or do it differently. Some days we just want to do the same. Some days are just right.

For many, January will be the sun rising on their first classroom solo presentation! To all docents, new and old, cheers to another year of making the decision to be part of this incredible community organization. I feel confident saying it is a good choice!

Michelle Kuntzmann

President

Welcome New Graduates

Please welcome our Graduates! We are so excited to have you!

Volunteer Highlight

As part of the Sunshine Committee’s Mission In 2024-25 we are going to show recognition for the contribution by one or more docents each month with a write-up in the Palette Newsletter. The purpose is to share achievements, challenges and any tips for future participation by docents. This month we would like to highlight Gale West and Gloria Acerboni.

The Art Docents would like to recognize Gale West as our fearless volunteer jumping in to teach lessons at a moments notice. Not only does Gale offer her rich teaching style to our well deserved students, Gale also leads our Continuing Education Committee. Tasked with member retention and recruitment, Gale steers our committee to engage our members to enjoy benefits like docent lead museum visits, wine tastings, morning beach yoga sessions, and art themed workshops. Members were lucky as Gale lead her art workshop at our last Yoga On The Beach Retreat in a fantastic soul-rich art lesson. If you are curious to learn more about Gale’s offerings and expertise, please visit her website at https://successwithsoul.com or come to our next Continuing Education Event! Congratulations Gale. Thank you for your expertise!

The Art Docents would also like to recognize Gloria Acerboni for the contagious enthusiasm she brings to her students in the classroom. Gloria is also on the Guest Artist Committee tasked to find Guest Artists for our students. When Gloria moved to Los Gatos she decided to become an Art Docent with a goal of getting to know her community of teachers. I spoke to Gloria and discovered the source of her positive energy. Gloria is curious and she loves to learn. Gloria will spend a week exploring the topic of each new lesson she plans to teach. She is curious and digs deeper. This helps to awaken her antenna which in turn awakens the students’ antenna to become more sensitive and aware of creative possibilities . Gloria has the knack of balancing the students interest with entertainment but recognizing that concepts of the lessons must be passed along. She delights in the fact that her students can recognize the elements and principles of art in the real world. Asked what is her favorite grade level? Gloria responds, "none. I enjoy approaching each grade level lesson differently, that’s the fun part." Congratulations Gloria! Thank you for your energy!

Upcoming Dates and Events

General Meeting Tuesday, Jan 14th 10am

January Continuing Education Event

"Mary Cassatt at Work" Exhibition at the

de Young/Legion of Honor January 23rd

More information on this event coming soon!

Visit our Website

Community

Mary Cassatt at Work

Oct 5th - Jan 26th, 2025

Too often dismissed as a sentimental painter of mothers and children, Mary Cassatt (1844–1926) was in fact a modernist pioneer. Her paintings, pastels, and prints are characterized by restless experimentation and change. Cassatt was the only American to join the French Impressionists, first exhibiting with the group at Degas’s invitation in 1879, and quickly emerged as a key member of the movement. Alongside scenes of women at the opera, visiting friends, and taking tea, Cassatt produced many images of “women’s work” — knitting and needlepoint, bathing children, and nursing infants. These images suggest parallels between the work of art making and the work of caregiving. The exhibition calls attention to the artist’s own processes of making — how she used her brush, etching needle, pastel stick, and even fingertips to create radical art under the cover of “feminine” subject matter.

For more information:

https://www.famsf.org/exhibitions/mary-cassatt

Amy Sherald: American Sublime

November 16, 2024–March 9, 2025

Amy Sherald: American Sublime invites you to breathe. Come and be taken in by the colors, shapes, and forms painted by one of America’s defining contemporary portraitists.

This exhibition presents nearly 50 of Amy Sherald’s luminous paintings, including her iconic portraits of Michelle Obama and Breonna Taylor, poetic early works, and new works on view for the first time.

Sherald’s artworks convey the quiet power in everyday people and invite viewers to participate in a more complex debate about accepted notions of American identity.

Learn More

Art Docents of Los Gatos 408-335-2366 | coordinator@artdocents.com | www.artdocents.com

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