“Pride & Community” Queer Artists of Sonoma County
Join us to celebrate our local queer artists in the Causeway Gallery of Sonoma Community Center.
Curated by Sonoma Community Center & Sonoma Valley Pride
Hosted in the Causeway Gallery at Sonoma Community Center, this exhibition brings together a vibrant range of work, from 2D and 3D pieces to ceramics, mixed media, textiles, illustration, and augmented reality. Each artist offers a unique perspective on queer experience, community, creativity, and pride in Sonoma County.
Exhibit open to the public, June 4-30
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Artwork displayed above is by Arist Kathy Allbright
Artwork displayed below is Daniel Clauson
Katherine Allbright blends traditional artistry with advanced technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI), creating immersive experiences. By harnessing this synergy, she explores new ways to tell compelling stories, continually pushing the boundaries of how we interact with art.
Dylan Smith weaves his artistic narrative through illustration, painting, mixed-media, and performance art. His creations — alive with color and texture — echo the untamed imagination of childhood.
Dylan draws his muse from the powerful matriarchs of his life and the shimmering allure of pop culture, threading personal mythology through every brushstroke and gesture.
Daniel is a Queer and Trans Artist focusing mostly in ceramics. Through ceramics they create bodily forms that resist the limitations of biological and systematic structure, and reach towards an empathetic, critical, and political Figurative form.
From the University of Washington, Daniel received a Bachelors in Art with Honors in Sculpture, as well as a minor in Art History. Daniel has attended both the University of Colorado (Boulder) and the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) as a Post Baccalaureate in ceramics. They have been an artist in Residence at Anderson Ranch Arts Center (Fall 2022), Rockland in the Woods (Fall 2023), Sonoma Ceramics (2023), and was the recipient of the Emily Mason – Wolf Kahn Fellowship for residency at Vermont Studio Center (2024). They have had multiple solo exhibitions throughout the United states, and have been selected for many group juried shows for their work in ceramics, drawing, and writing.
They currently live and work among the oak trees of the Miwok, Pomo, and Wappo lands (Sonoma County California).
Jules Pierce is an observer, sculptor, and record keeper. Working with shapes found in nature, they make coil-built clay drawings as an act of documentation and fascination. These soft forms, shaped by hand, explore the extension of the self and what constitutes an alternative body. Through the direct translation of touch, Jules uses clay to create a personal archive and understand how a sculpture can be a tangible reflection of the self. By mirroring natural formations such as trees, rocks, and shells, Jules gives reverence to the slowly evolving history of these environments and places the queer body into a landscape of permanence.
Originally from North County San Diego, Jules now resides on Pomo & Miwok land in the Valley of the Moon. They received their BA in Studio Art from the University of California, Davis in 2020 and spent three years as a Studio Technician at The Potters’ Studio in Berkeley, CA. Jules has participated in residencies at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Cider Creek Collective, the Mendocino Art Center, and Ceramics School.
Jules is also a gardener, designer, and co-facilitates queer wood-firings with their partner.
Details coming soon
They are pioneering a creative, new artistic medium… wine. Inspired by the wide range of red wines made in Sonoma and Napa Valley, Spencer is an illustrator who specializes in fashion illustration.
I am an artist and educator living and working in Sonoma County, California. As a multidisciplinary artist, I primarily work in printmaking, textiles, and soft sculpture. I am also the founder of Sonoma County Sketchbook Club, a local artist social club dedicated to bringing anyone who wants to draw together in familiar and unique spaces.
Community in art making is what draws me to both printmaking and the Sketchbook Club. Being amongst other artists in the creative realm is fascinating, inspiring, and comforting to me. My work explores ephemeral feelings of magic, ancestors, and the disconnect and discovery of piloting a body. I often ask the question, “How does the experience in my body reflect that of the collective body?”
I grew up in the San Fernando Valley and moved to Sonoma County to attend Sonoma State University, where I received my BFA in printmaking. I was also a recipient of the 2019 Creative Sonoma Discovered Award grant. Currently, I serve as the Printshop Lab Technician at the Santa Rosa Junior College Printshop, and it is through this position that I have begun to nurture my love for teaching—printmaking specifically.
The act of making and sharing art has always been a fundamental way for us to connect, to learn from one another, and to leave traces of our experiences. I am grateful to be part of this ancient bond, continuing the tradition of creative expression and communal artmaking.
I started painting with my mother at around 5 years-of-age as a creative mom-son pastime after school and before dad got home from work… then it was cocktail time! While my parents sipped away on Rob-Roys and caught up on their active day, I threw down my moc-Manhattan, smoked a breadstick, and continued to paint and never stopped, until university, where I was encouraged to get a both a business & art degree and, ultimately, pursue a career in retail, like my Swedish paternal grandfather before me. I spent the next 30+ years leading retail organizations, including, Esprit de Corp, NIKE and Williams-Sonoma finding time on many weekends to pursue my first love…painting.
Today, on my small hillside acreage in Sonoma, I’ve finally transitioned an old barn to my official art studio. In this happy chapter of my life, I now find myself, on most days, painting with the passion and curiosity that started so many years ago inspired by my mom. I encourage you to explore jonleafstedt.com where you can purchase my original works of art as well as coordinate a consultation for a commissioned piece created exclusively for you.
Follow my in Instagram and discover my creative techniques, latest work and fun reveals…
Join Sonoma Valley Pride and Sonoma Community Center for the opening reception of Pride & Community Hosted in the Causeway Gallery at Sonoma Community Center
The opening reception takes place during Sonoma Art Walk on Thursday, June 4, from 5–7:30 PM, with wines from Pangloss Cellars and bites from Aunt Momo’s. Guests can enjoy an evening of art, connection, and celebration, with featured performances by Danny Wallace, Randi Kaye, Alissa Pearce, Jenni Purcell, Samuell MacLaughlin, Diana Dreams, Tanya Knippelmeir, Vasthy Mompoint, and Barret Wilbur.
Curated by Sonoma Community Center and Sonoma Valley Pride, the exhibit will remain open to the public from June 4–30.
Come celebrate queer artists, local creativity, and the power of community during Pride Month in Sonoma Valley.
