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Contact: Alana Coons

Education & Communications Director
Save Our Heritage Organisation
(619) 297-9327 � sohosandiego@aol.com

Marston House Welcomes Spring with Garden Art Shows in

Balboa Park & Art of the Park Opening Lecture

SAN DIEGO, April 16, 2015 - Save Our Heritage Organisation welcomes spring with an opening lecture by an expert on art collecting on Saturday, April 18, and a series of plein air art shows outdoors beginning Sunday, April 19 at the Marston House Museum & Gardens.

Art of the Park Opening Lecture

Christian Chaffee, a lively and knowledgeable San Diego art dealer and collector, will discuss California Impressionist and plein air painting along with collecting pointers in, "So You Want to Be an Art Collector," on Saturday, April 18 at 2pm. Chaffee, who has examined literally thousands of paintings and art objects since he began selling art and antiques with his father at age 11 in Santa Barbara, is especially familiar with vintage San Diego paintings. He served on the committee that organized the Art of the Park exhibitions. Read more HERE.

Garden Art Show

SOHO's version of what you might call "the fair side of spring" centers on its exhibitions and programs celebrating the 1915 exposition. On April 19, the group launches the first of six monthly outdoor plein air painting shows on the Marston House's sweeping, shaded grounds. These free Art of the Park shows feature Balboa Park as their sole subject and include paintings for sale by different monthly groups of award-winning artists. Live classical music and light refreshments are part of the festivities.

Showing, painting, and selling their work, will be five to seven accomplished painters, such as Joan Boyer, Armando Elizarraras, Will Gullette, Rita Pacheco, Dot Renshaw, Marjorie Taylor, Elizabeth Weems, and Toni Williams. Several of them have expressed a deep affinity for painting Balboa Park and its historic buildings and gardens, including Williams.

"The thrill of being a small part of this Centennial exhibition... has repeatedly drawn me back to Balboa Park for new views and repeat visits to classic views, with fresh palette choices and times of day," she said. Like the other artists named above, Williams' work is also on view in the indoor exhibition at the Marston House.

These Art of the Park garden shows will be held from 10am to 4pm on the third Sunday over six months, including: April 19, May 17, June 21, July 19, August 16 and September 20. Live music by different performers and light refreshments are part of the festivities. Proceeds from art sales benefit the Marston House Museum.

The exhibition is alive with the enduring allure of Balboa Park for artists of any era, and "pays homage to the early painters, and illustrate how the tradition lives on," Christopher Pro, a SOHO member and art collector who helped organize the Art of the Park exhibitions, said.

SOHO is presenting these vibrant art exhibitions and related events at the 1905 Arts & Crafts-style home of George Marston as a fitting tribute to the visionary leader, exposition supporter and art collector, who is also considered San Diego's first historic preservationist. Balboa Park as we know it today is a thriving urban centerpiece not only because of the international expositions in 1915 and 1935, but largely thanks to generations of committed historic preservationists.

These exhibitions and Chaffee's talk are part of SOHO's year-long celebration of the Centennial of the1915 Panama-California Exposition. For more information and a complete calendar of events, visit www.SOHOsandiego.org. SOHO is the region's largest and most active historic preservation group and steward of the Marston House Museum & Gardens.