"Pagoda"

“Pagoda” 12” x 12” oil on canvas by Karina Nishi Marcus

This is the piece that I am showing this evening at Sonoma State University Art Gallery for their fundraiser, silent-auction “Art from the Heart.”

Donations to these sorts of fundraisers can be contentious among artists, as they are requested to donate to many events, and yet the official government stance is the art work is only worth the raw materials: canvas and pigment. It does not recognize that the contribution is the artist’s vision, time, effort and experience that transforms those base matters into a luminous object – a work of art.

But I love to contribute to the venture, as I am passionately in favor of education in all its myriad forms. The gallery at the state university hosts several engaging exhibits each year, plus they sponsor a wide range of artist’s talks that are open to all. With the state of funds for education in California this year – venues such as this are a worthy recipient of artists’ donations.

And the event itself it quite a festive event!