Art in transition at Napa’s di Rosa

What happened to the sheep? That's what drivers on the bucolic stretch of the Carneros Highway between Sonoma and Napa are asking, when they pass the site of the di Rosa art reserve. Those aren't the only changes afoot...|

di Rosa art preserve

Address: 5200 Sonoma (Carneros) Highway, Napa

Hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. (Closed Monday & Tuesday)

The Gatehouse Gallery can be toured without a docent, admission $5. Currently featured is “Based on a True Story: Highlights from the di Rosa Collection,” until Oct. 15, 2017.

Access beyond di Rosa's Gatehouse Gallery is by guided tour only, $12 per person, free for members and children under 12 (student and senior discounts available). Please call for tour schedule and reservations, (707) 226-5991 ext. 25.

The Main Gallery is closed through fall 2017 for renovations. Opening Nov. 2017: “Be Not Still: Living in Uncertain Times,” addressing concerns of the present social and political climate.

Dirosaart.org

What happened to the sheep?

That’s what drivers on the bucolic stretch of Highway 12/121 in the Carneros region have been wondering, ever since the iconic white metal ruminants marking the entrance to the di Rosa property disappeared a few months ago.

The sheep – 20 white sheep, and one black, made of metal and painted with automobile enamel – were the whimsical creations of Veronica di Rosa who, with her husband Rene di Rosa, in 1997 opened up 217 acres of private property in the Carneros region to create their “art preserve.”

It was incorporated as a public trust in 2000, and since then has served as a nonprofit contemporary art center with an emphasis on assemblage, conceptual, and what some call “funk art,” based on the private collection of the di Rosas.

But the disappearance of the sheep is only one sign, if the most visible by its absence, of changes coming to di Rosa – changes that have some old-timers grumbling, but which may be necessary in the highly competitive world of art exhibition.

“This is almost a textbook case study of what I might call completing the transition from a private entity to being in the public domain,” said Bob Sain, executive director of di Rosa. “What can, what should a contemporary art center be for the 21st century – and in this community?”

Sain was hired by the di Rosa board of directors in January of 2016 after what he termed “an extensive strategic planning process to try to figure out the future.”

The challenge was to develop a sustainable and viable arts organization, one with its roots in the idiosyncratic collection of the di Rosas but with perhaps more public engagement – “how to bring museums to life,” as Sain said.

For 20 years, the core of the collection had been based on the Northern California artworks that Rene di Rosa – a former San Francisco journalist who purchased more than 400 acres of Carneros land to develop into vineyards, later selling half of it to Seagram – had collected for over 40 years. Key artists included conceptual artists Paul Kos and Dennis Oppenheim, multiple media artist William T. Wiley, sculptor David Best and others, to say nothing of the whimsical herd of steel sheep among other works created by Veronica, who died in 1991.

But along the path of that mission to re-engage a new public, some changes have caused quite a stir among di Rosa’s friends and family, not least the disappearance of the sheep.

“There are actually a number of her works that are no longer part of the property – I’m not sure where they are,” said photographer Jock McDonald of Napa, one of two children that Veronica had from an earlier marriage. Though he keeps himself at arm’s length from di Rosa, he is clearly unhappy that the sheep are no longer part of the public appeal of the property – he called them “the flag of the preserve.”

The photographer has met with Sain to ask about the fate of his mother’s work, and remains skeptical about the response. “He also said they needed some conservancy done. I said well, I think you’ve taken down one of the greatest assets of the property. I asked point blank, Are they coming back? And he flatly stated, ‘No.’”

The reasons Sain gives are several, pointing out accurately that they were sheet metal works exposed to the elements for decades. He also cites the safety concerns, which rankled McDonald. “People run up there and do selfies – you know what? You want people to do that! They’re not attack sheep!”

There was also the suggestion that the installation on the flanks of the dam di Rosa built to create a small lake on the property might be in violation of a Napa County code regulation; but the assistant planning director, Christine Secheli, told the Index-Tribune that di Rosa “has a use permit for an art/bird preserve, and the art is allowed,” adding that there was no code violation action or direction from the county to remove them.

But it wasn’t the removal of the sheep that caused the latest uproar at di Rosa. On June 22, with very little notice, Miki Hsu Leavey was terminated, after 10 years at the reserve and five as Education and Volunteer manager.

Her dismissal sparked an almost immediate exodus of up to 15 docents who had trained under and served with her at di Rosa. (Leavey did not make herself available for comment.)

“Unceremoniously forcing one of the key members of the di Rosa administration out to pasture is beyond the pale,” wrote Sonoma’s Veronica Napoles, one of those docents, in her resignation letter. “I cannot effectively continue to volunteer (or support) an organization that behaves in this fashion.”

“It is as if they want to erase the di Rosa legacy,” said another docent, who asked not to be identified by name as she is considering resignation. “A great deal of the charm to the guest is who was this man behind this unique collection – and who was his wife.”

Though Sain is sanguine about the exodus – “Well, anytime any organization goes through change… there’s going to be some kind of impact from transition” – the dismissal of Leavey apparently did have unexpected repercussions. The new Director of Education and Civic Engagement (a title that clearly conflicts with Leavey’s), Andrea Saenz Williams, informed the docent and host staff of Leavey’s “departure” that it was “a difficult organizational decision.”

But at least six docents resigned in the days immediately following Leavey’s departure, and the total is now thought to be 15. “This percentage is not ‘attrition’ – each and every one of them resigned in protest of his (Sain’s) actions against Miki,” said still another docent.

In the two weeks following the personnel change, Williams and Sain met four times with the remaining docents to try to explain their decision – there were some 65 docents, unpaid volunteers who lived as far afield as Sacramento and San Francisco, so getting them all together was a challenge.

As the dialog between the new directors and the docents continues, it seems ultimately beside the point. Sain has the support of the board of directors – a 13-member body of supporters and donors, chaired by Brenda Mixson of Calistoga.

“The board went through a strategic planning process starting several years ago,” said Mixson. “As part of that plan, we embarked on a search for a new executive director. We looked at a number of candidates and felt that Bob was the right person to take on the strategy that the board had developed, and add his vision, and help complete the transition of the organization from a private collection to a world-class art collection.

– and he is moving forward with plans to increase “engagement” with the reserve, and its art. He’s announced plans to upgrade the main gallery – which is currently closed, and its art in “professional storage” – and commissioning new artists who may be able to “mine the collection” and incorporate parts of it in their own installation to amplify a particular theme.

But for some docents, the changes may be necessary, if not overdue. “I absolutely understand the concerns, but I really feel that with museums, it’s a tough call,” said Cathy Gellepsis of Sonoma. She started as a docent in 2010 and appreciates the emotional ties to “the iconic di Rosa.”

“But I feel in order for the museum to survive, because it was becoming stagnant, there has to be changes within the structure of what the museum is,” said Gellepsis. “Really what it comes down to with museums is, how do you keep people coming to museums once they’ve been there, and how do you get new people to come.”

The results of that challenge, and how di Rosa is responding to it, should become more clear when the Main Gallery reopens in November, with the first new full-scale exhibition in a year, “Be Not Still: Living in Uncertain Times.”

It’s a theme that should speak directly to the present situation at di Rosa.

Contact Christian at christian.kallen@sonomanews.com.

di Rosa art preserve

Address: 5200 Sonoma (Carneros) Highway, Napa

Hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. (Closed Monday & Tuesday)

The Gatehouse Gallery can be toured without a docent, admission $5. Currently featured is “Based on a True Story: Highlights from the di Rosa Collection,” until Oct. 15, 2017.

Access beyond di Rosa's Gatehouse Gallery is by guided tour only, $12 per person, free for members and children under 12 (student and senior discounts available). Please call for tour schedule and reservations, (707) 226-5991 ext. 25.

The Main Gallery is closed through fall 2017 for renovations. Opening Nov. 2017: “Be Not Still: Living in Uncertain Times,” addressing concerns of the present social and political climate.

Dirosaart.org

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.