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<\/a>To be held March 1, \u201cArt in the Garden\u201d will consist solely of work found in the \u201cRay Street Artists\u201d book. Lisa Tear, one of the many artists profiled therein, is opening up the idyllic outdoor garden patio of her La Jolla home for the four-hour exhibition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe home has always been owned by an artist,\u201d said Ashton.<\/p>\n
Ashton, who assembled the group in 2008 after recognizing the talent had \u201cmoved well past being students,\u201d named them after the North Park art school\u2019s address.<\/p>\n As the educational arm of the non-profit San Diego Art Institute headquartered in Balboa Park, the SDAD currently hosts 19 different instructors and supports dozens of classes for all ages on various art subjects, from introductory classes on watercolor and drawing, to stained glass and basket weaving and everything else in between.<\/p>\n According to SDAD\u2019s website, their mission is \u201cto establish itself as a sacred place that encourages the creativity of artists of all ages and stimulates the ongoing flow of ideas and expression.\u201d<\/p>\n Ashton \u2014 who has taught at SDAD for the past six years \u2014 said she assists her students in first establishing themselves as artists and then taking their art beyond the studio, something she calls \u201cart to market.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI teach them to find their visual voice and develop a body of work that they can then sell,\u201d Ashton said.<\/p>\n She said her \u201cDeveloping the Artist\u201d is one of the only classes of its kind. as many often frown upon teaching the semantics of marketing an artist\u2019s work, but Ashton feels it is an important step in any artist\u2019s career.<\/p>\n \u201cSome disagree with me, but what\u2019s the point of making art if it never leaves the studio?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Patric Stillman, one of the artists profiled in the book, agrees.<\/p>\n \u201cSo many young artists are rooted in an esoteric mindset \u2014 a bohemian lifestyle creating art that is not meant for everyone,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cIn contrast, I find Ray Street Artists as a whole are more interested in connecting with and sharing their messages with the public. They are happy to have their works appear in ArtWalk, local galleries, salons, coffee houses and online.\u201d<\/p>\n The Ray Street Artists group is comprised of 25 members but only 18 were included in the book, a decision Ashton said was based on the quantity of work they have accomplished. Ashton and Lesley Anderson, the current education director at SDAD, reviewed dozens of pieces put forth for inclusion and chose the artwork that best represented each selected artist\u2019s work. The art that made the cut runs the gamut of mediums, and makes use of acrylics, oils, metal, wood, and mixed media. Along with the three pieces chosen, an extensive bio for each artist accompanies their work, and both Ashton and Anderson have work in the book as well.<\/p>\n Though members of the Ray Street Artists group often participate in Ray at Night, North Park\u2019s monthly art event, none of them own studios on the actual street and many even travel from as far away as Poway and Carlsbad to attend their weekly classes or meet ups at SDAD.<\/p>\n Through their artist community, group members often get exposure as guest artists at SDAD\u2019s own in-house exhibitions, Ray at Night, other solo shows, and are showcased together at the annual Mission Federal ArtWalk.<\/p>\n In addition, many works from the \u201cRay Street Artists\u201d book will be on display in the lobby of the Lyceum Theatre during \u201cDetroit,\u201d a play running Feb. 22 through March 16, and group member Nancy Plank currently has work on display at SDAD through March 8.<\/p>\n Aside from their recent shared interest in the book\u2019s publication, the Ray Street Artists have become a tight-knit group over the last five years. They meet weekly to paint, critique each other\u2019s work, discuss ways to further develop their portfolios, and to generally support one another\u2019s artistic endeavors.<\/p>\n \u201cIt gives me a creative community that encourages, pushes and helps me realize my personal artistic goals,\u201d Stillman said. \u201cI\u2019ve found an enclave of simpatico souls, which offers me an alternative to being alone with my work all the time.\u00a0It\u2019s very gratifying to have that interaction with others.<\/p>\n \u201cAs an artist, you never know where you\u2019ll find that spark of innovation, and for me and this crew, we often provide that to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n Others profiled in the \u201cRay Street Artists\u201d book and the March 1 exhibition include: Bronle Crosby, Sheila Daube, Ann Golumbuk, Pat Harris, Vanessa V. Hofmann, Lorraine \u2018Rain\u2019 Iverson, Lisa Kohl, Dawn Kureshy, Jan Lord, Shirin Nikoukari, Nancy Plank, Tricia Skoglund, Tammi Smith, Lynn Steffner, and Lisa Tear.<\/p>\n \u201cArt in the Garden\u201d will take place from 1 \u2013 5 p.m. at 6112 Waverly Ave. in La Jolla. Wine and appetizers will be served, the \u201cRay Street Artists\u201d book will be available for purchase for $27.95, and music by local musician Mike McGill will be provided. Admission is to the event is free.<\/p>\n For more information about the exhibition or the Ray Street Artists\u2019 group, visit raystreetartists.com<\/a> or find them on Facebook. You can also learn more about art classes and in house exhibits at sandiegoartdepartment.com<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" San Diego Art Department spawns art, community and more Morgan M. Hurley | SDUN Assistant Editor<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":246983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"The \u2018visual voices\u2019 of North Park","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a><\/a>