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Follow the art:
Sierra Art Trails
offers the work of 117 artists.
By Donald Munro / The Fresno Bee
(Updated Tuesday, October 10, 2006, 4:19 AM)
AHWAHNEE — The tang of evergreens fills the air. A brash, bright sun warms
but doesn't bake. It's a wonderful fall day with the kind of sky so crisp and
intense that you feel like you could cut the blue apart with scissors and fling
it like confetti.
Could there be any more glorious way to experience the artistic riches of
Madera and Mariposa counties?
A year ago, I stood in this very spot at Steven Houts' studio in Ahwahnee,
breathed in the fall air and thought: An afternoon of art doesn't get any better
than this.
That's the appeal of the fourth annual Sierra Art Trails, a juried event that
in a few short years has become one of the region's unqualified artistic
successes. Modeled after the Open Studio tour in Santa Cruz County, the tour —
which opens studios and galleries this year from Catheys Valley outside Mariposa
to Yosemite Lakes Park — gives you a chance not only to see some great art, but
enjoy the scenery as well. (Much of the art is for sale.) From rustic little
studios to sprawling mountainside retreats, the artists in these mountains know
how to create in style. With a roster of 117 artists this year, the event
Saturday and Sunday will be the biggest Art Trails to date.
"We're strongly considering expanding Art Trails to two weekends next year,"
organizer Jonathan Bock says.
Last year, I didn't have to look farther than Houts' studio, which sits right
off Highway 49 in Ahwahnee, to find the perfect combination of art and
atmosphere. It's a prominent stop on the Oakhurst/Ahwahnee/Mariposa leg of the
trail, one of three suggested routes for visitors. (Other routes send visitors
to Coarsegold and North Fork.) For $12, you can buy a catalog that serves as
admission for two to any of the studios or galleries on the itinerary. Most
locations feature the work of several artists, which makes the far-flung route a
little more doable.
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