Go fishin' at the Art Walk
A.S. Ashley, Correspondent


POMONA - August is the month many folks go on vacation and local shops hang their Gone Fishin' signs on doorknobs.

The dA Center for the Arts, 252-D S. Main St., thought it would be a good idea to do likewise this weekend during Second Saturday Art Walk by presenting a summertime show exclusively about fish.

"Gone Fishin"' is a group art exhibit featuring over 100 pieces of artwork depicting our fishy friends, many of which will never be seen in an aquarium, but in a gallery setting the range of strange underwater beasties is endless.

And if the peculiar renditions of fabulous fish fodder aren't enough, the dA will have a "Big Catch" photo area where patrons can get snapshots of themselves in waders and fishing cap, alongside a 600-pound grouper fish, for their trophy mantle.

Plus for the kiddies, there will be a ping-pong-ball fish arcade where little tykes of all ages can toss for live gold fish.

This month AMOCA (American Museum of Ceramic Art), 340 S. Garey Ave., is offering "Diversity in Clay," a semi-annual invitational and juried exhibition open to artists who have recognized memberships in a "clay group" in Southern California. As a fundraiser, all works of art are for sale and will benefit: AMOCA, the American Ceramic Society-Design Chapter of Southern California, and the artists.

Special guest artist Karen Koblitz will show her ceramic work. Ceramicist William Shinn will judge the awards for the categories: Best Sculptural, Best Whimsical, Best Utilitarian, Best Porcelain, Best Stoneware, Best Earthenware, Best Alternative Firing (raku, smoke, pit fire) and Honorable Mention.

Objct Gallery, 250 W. Second St., is presenting "Metropolitan Moderne," featuring the work of Michael James Armstrong.

Inspired by the utopian ideals of modernist design from the mid-1920s through the 1940s, Armstrong creates work that reflects the optimism of what design and architecture would be in the future, and that future is now.

Bunny Gunner Gallery, 266 W. Second St., is shifting gears with a solo show for Carlos Estrada-Vega entitled "Works on Paper."

Estrada-Vega, a former Pomona artist, is internationally known and living in New Mexico. His work is most recognized by grids of painted square blocks often assembled separately on panels.

In this exhibit, Estrada-Vega will display his grid work on paper: The squares are not individual blocks, as in his other works, but still each square is treated as a separate canvas, no matter how many or how small.

Main Street Gallery, 252-C S. Main St., is presenting a special silent auction of eight oil paintings and one pastel by artist Carolyn Prince Batchelor.

Dating from 1994 through 2002, including views from her studio windows and still lifes, these works were originally sold by the Cuttress Gallery to a private collector, who now wishes to liquidate this part of his collection.

The works are available now for viewing and bidding through Saturday; bidding will be closed at 9 p.m. sharp Saturday. This is a rare opportunity for those who have always wanted one of Batchelor's works.

For additional auction information, contact George Cuttress at (909) 868-2970 or by e-mail at cuttressfineart@aol.com.

Thomas Plaza (Thomas and Second streets) is the place during Second Saturday to find the Farmers Market, food vendors, live music, and this Saturday, a special treat from the Millard Sheets Center: three life-size Trojan horses.

The Trojan horse metal sculptures were part of last summer's art competition at the Millard Sheets Center during the L.A. County Fair, and will be on display at Thomas Plaza during Second Saturday Art Walk and "Last Saturday Metro Night Out" in August.

For more information and to download a map of all 36 art venues in Pomona's Arts Colony, go to www.pomonaartscolony.com.

A.S. Ashley is a Pomona Arts Colony artist and advocate.