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Blue Gum Gallery

The historic Hay Barn is home to the Blue Gum Gallery, an ad-hoc alternative space for showcasing the art of Sonoma County artists. Paintings, pastels, mixed media, and sculpture have all been mounted and displayed in the gallery and around the gardens at Blue Gum Farm. When art is not only display, it's just an old barn full of old barn stuff. But when there's art, WOW, what a transformation!

Perhaps because of the down-home roots, there's no art snobbery here! Rather, the convivial relaxed atmosphere makes the art more approachable. Certainly, it's a unique and fun place to display and view art. Those who sign the Guest Book get notified of future events, and (like the resident barn swallows) many return every year!

Layout

The two story Hay Barn is divided into five main areas. There are two upper lofts that are reached by a wide central staircase. Both lofts have 30+ foot ceilings with massive cross support beams that can be used to hang large pieces of art. An in-place winch will help!

The upper lofts in the big Hay Barn provide views in three directions, North to the Geysers, West to the Coastal Mountains, and East to the Mayacamas Mountains. In particular, the view to the North allows you to see for many miles. While the windows bring it light, they can make viewing art difficult. To fix that, numerous clamp lights are hung from the massive cross beams that can be positioned to shine directly on the art. Despite the windows, the upper floor provides some 150 feet of linear wall space, the entire West side having no windows at all. The drywall, typically painted white, provides eight feet high hanging space. In the photo to the left, the artist has hung his work two (sometimes three) pieces deep and it does not feel or look crowded.

The ground floor is divided into three sections. The back (West) side is the lean-to portion of the barn and used for storage. There is also the original Milking Parlor on the North side which is separated from the main floor by sliding doors. Ideal for catering and food preparation, the Milking Parlor has a single deep sink with running cold water and a refrigerator. It also has a row of original windows that look out on a splendid hedge of 8 foot tall red and orange cannas in the summer.

The main area of the ground floor is the most popular area for art exhibitions. While the sliding Great Doors allow in light from the East and the South, there is very little cross lighting. The overhead clamp lights make spotlighting any picture simple and easy. There is some 100 linear feet of wall space, again utilizing eight feet of white drywall on the 10 foot walls. In this case, there are two 25 foot long walls and four 12 foot+ walls.

This is a lot of wall space! Usually only the ground floor is used for an event. Sharing the space provides not only artistic diversity, but also makes renting the gallery more cost effective.

Renting the Gallery

The gallery in the Hay Barn is for rent. While it has been used to up to this point only to host art exhibits, it can also accommodate any large meeting or event, although only in the summer months due to parking. The back two acres are mowed and are used for event parking, but the winter months turns that area to mud, and hence a rest for all.

Rental costs vary, depending on event.

If an art studio is empty at the time of the event, that studio's toilet can be used. However, if the studios are both rented, you will need to rent and provide toilets for your event

To discuss dates and venues, please send an email to Helen Gillespie.