Exhibition Celebrating Surf Craft Design and Culture Opens July 2

SURF CRAFT - Design and the Culture of Board Riding will open at Sonoma Valley Museum of Art on July 2, 2016. This new exhi­bition, curated by surf historian Richard Kenvin, will occupy the Museum’s entire gallery, presenting 60-80 surfboards built from the late 1940s to the present day in their historical context of craft and design.

Standing alone, surfboards are often striking examples of functional design. To­gether, over time, they tell a compelling story about the evolution of an important art form in America and around the world. SURF CRAFT is a unique surfboard design exhibition, capturing the influences behind design in board riding, from the alaia boards of ancient Hawaii, to obscure surf bathing boards of England, Japan and Africa, to post-war hydrodynamic planing hulls pioneered by Bob Simmons.

Historically a wood, handcrafted object, the surfboard, ultimately gave rise to foam and fiberglass construction, often produced on a mass scale. However, many contemporary shapers are now recognizing and tapping into the design principles found in the traditional boards. Hand crafstmanship and cutting-edge engineering harmoniously converge in this exhibition.

Surf Craft originated at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego, CA in 2014, where it was curated by San Diego local, Richard Kenvin. In 2015 the exhibition traveled to the LongHouse Reserve, in East Hampton, NY. The exhibition will be on view at Sonoma Valley Museum of Art until September 25, 2016. This exhibition has broken attendance records at its previous venues and SVMA expects a huge turnout in Sonoma. With this exciting subject, SVMA is bringing world-class surf legends and shapers to Sonoma! These boards/shapers include Bob Simmons, Carl Ekstrom, Steve Lis, Terry Hendricks, George Greenough, Stanley Pleskunas, Skip Frye, Danny Hess and Jon Wegener.

SVMA Members enjoy an exclusive preview of SURF CRAFT on Friday night, July 1, along with discounts on all the related events. If you are not yet a member and want to attend, there’s still time to join.

EXHIBITION PROGRAMING

Special event: Surf Film Saturday, July 2

“Chasing Mavericks,” (2012) with special guests Frosty Hesson and Bob Pearson at the Sebastiani Theatre. Further details to come.

Young Artists & Writers Workshop: Wabi Sabi Surf Craft

An interdisciplinary visual art and creative writing summer camp for students ages 11-15, themed to SVMA’s summer exhibition, Surf Craft and the Culture of Board Riding, organized by the Mengei International Museum in San Diego. Camp participants gain full access to the museum’s exhibition galleries, studio spaces, and library, immersing themselves in the history and techniques of Surf Craft. "Wabi Sabi" refers to the Japanese aesthetic of humble, rustic and nature-inspired art and craft. Informed by the ancients, we'll design and learn to build our own "sidewalk surf decks" by hand under the guidance of local surfboard shapers, and assist in building a full-size board. In the writing studio, we will explore selected literature by authors who have found inspiration in surfing and surf culture, including Mark Twain, Jack London, Susan Orlean, Tom Wolfe, and acclaimed surf historian Matt Warshaw, and in turn, create our own endless summer poems, essays and stories.

Session 1: July 11–15, 10am–3pm

Session 2: July 18-22, 10am-3pm

Instructors: Kate and Walter Williams with shaper John Schantz

SHAPE HEROES, July 16, 3pm

Shapers Forum featuring Carl Ekstrom (San Diego), Jon Wegener (Hermosa Beach), William “Stretch” Reidel (Santa Cruz), Danny Hess (SF).

Moderator: Christian Beamish

MAKE YOUR OWN PAIPO WITH JON WEGENER, July 16-17

Two-day class with Hermosa Beach-based shaper/surfer Jon Wegener, known around the world for his exquisite paulownia wood alaias, paipos, and hand planes.

SURF CRAFT AND MINGEI MIND, July 30, 3pm

Curator Richard Kenvin will discuss how this exhibition came to be, its connection to Mingei arts and crafts, and his Hydrodynamica Project, which traces a history of modern board shapes that began with with Bob Simmons’ planing hull designs.

SURF CRAFT ART NIGHT, August 12, 6-9pm

A social art-making evening with live music and light food. Shaping demonstrations, board "art" projects, and more. Further details to come.

FRIDAY NIGHT FLICKS: SURF FILMS screening at SVMA

Aug 5: Boardroom: Legends of Surfboard Shaping (Rob Jax)

Aug 19: Idiosyncracies (Patrick Trefz)

September 9: Fish (Joseph Ryan)

September 23:Taking Shape (Mike Guest) + ApeShapes (Kristen Dunn)

SURF WRITING

Christian Beamish—The Voyage of the Cormorant, September 17, 3pm

Beamish will read from his sea faring/surfing adventure book, The Voyage of the Cormorant (2012, Patagonia Books). Beamish will sail the 18’ Cormorant, which he built in his garage, from Santa Barbara to San Pablo Bay and trailer it the rest of the way to 551 Broadway in Sonoma for his reading.

SURF CRAFT FAMILY MAKE-IN, SEPTEMBER 3, 11AM-4PM

A day of surf-inspired art and craft for the whole family.

Special Features in the Exhibition:

Shape Shed in the exhibition—A shaping bay “set” in the exhibition shows the shaping process and tools of the trade. The installation will focus on wood boards and the alaia shape.

Art installation by Santa Cruz surfer/mat surfer Jonathan “Steiny” Steinberg. Dozens of collected Churchill swim fins, slung from the rafters inside the Museum. The installation also serves as a donation site for a “FIN DRIVE” where the public can donate fins at SVMA to help supply Mexican Salvavidas (Lifeguards) with much-needed equipment.

Ambient Audio Soundtrack in the exhibition provided by the Los Angeles-based Band The Allah-Las. http://allahlas.com/

Visit www.SVMA.org for a full list of programs and events

About The Curator

Richard Kenvin grew up in Southern California in the 1960s. He learned to ride a skateboard in 1967 and learned to surf in 1970. In 1979 he won the Stubbies Pro, a professional surfing competition held at Blacks Beach in San Diego. By the age of 19 he had been to Hawaii several times and traveled extensively in Australia. He worked for various independent apparel designers in California in the eighties and nineties. He was curator of the 838 and Cassius King art galleries in San Diego from 2000-2005. Since 2002 he has worked with surfing historian John Elwell and de- signer Carl Ekstrom on the Hydrodynamica Project. In 2011 he participated in the Getty Research Institute’s Pacific Standard Time initiative as curator of Remember the Future, an exhibition of Bob Simmons’s surfboards shown in the context of mid-century California modern design. His writing has been published in The Surfers Journal and Surfer Magazine. Mr. Kenvin surfs every chance he gets on a variety of craft. He lives in downtown San Diego.

About the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art

Established in 1998, the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art is a membership supported 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization that provides seasonal exhibitions of contemporary and modern art and educational and public programming for children, youth and adults. Its mission is to be, “a magnet of creative energy and cultural inspiration with exhibitions and educational programs that engage the community in the art and ideas of our time, encouraging curiosity and innovation.”