By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

Artist and painting instructor Bill Parsons had a dream to open his own gallery. In 2010 his chance came with a vacancy in Benicia’s Tannery building.

The Bill Parsons Gallery and Art School became a reality that May. Then, adversity: The Tannery went into foreclosure.

Last year was a difficult one for Parsons. Now, with a new owner, the Tannery is seeing a resurgence in activity, and Parsons is part of it, planning his first art show and open house for Saturday from 1-8 p.m.

“This is our first show since we’ve opened the gallery. It’s amazing how much you have to prepare for a show,” he said, adding that he hopes to make it a monthly event.

When Parsons opened his studio two years ago, he said, it seemed as if the universe wanted him to do so.

The longtime Concord resident had always spent a lot of time in Benicia with his wife, Diane. “Diane and I used to visit Benicia at least one day every weekend” for 25 years, he said. “I know probably every little tiny beach in the area.”

Both realized they liked Benicia because of its “small town” atmosphere — both, he said, grew up in small towns. “It’s a small town that’s really kept itself beautiful, and active — vital,” Parsons said. “So Diane said, ‘Wouldn’t you like to open a gallery here?’”

Parsons was uncertain because of money. But the pieces fell into place.

First, the Tannery’s owner made him a tempting offer, which involved doing all of the remodeling before he could move in. That included having the floor leveled out and refinished.

“This was like a big prison cell,” Parsons said of the then-unfinished gallery. “The walls were all dented and beat up. The floor had a four-inch slope to it. I saw myself trying to paint in here, walking back and forth to my easel at an angle. I didn’t want to do that.”

But he had friends who were willing to help out. “My friends who did the remodel for me, they did this in exchange for art work,” he said. “Everything worked out for a poor man. It all worked out that I could afford it, from one stage to the next.

“There was always somebody that would step forward and help me out.”

Parsons had discovered how expensive it is to start a business, and to upgrade and remodel a space. He was about to get a lesson in the vagaries of the commercial world.

When the Tannery went into foreclosure last year, Parsons had a rough time. “Everybody thought the Tannery was closed, so no one was coming in here,” he said. He still taught a number of art students, and that helped to pay the bills; but what he really needed was to get people to come back into the gallery.

“I thought, ‘Why don’t we do this,’ and opened up the front doors. I did that, put down the door stops, put my sign right in the door, and people started coming in again!”

Once people started coming in the door again, commissions, sales and a few new students followed. “I got lucky,” Parsons said.

On Saturday, Parsons will display some of his newer work, featuring different scenes of Benicia.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to paint these sunny scenes of this town,” he said.

In addition, the gallery will host will display the work of Charles White, Gary Bergren and John Trtek during the open house, as well as art by his students. He also plans to feature an occasional guest artist; this month it will be a local photographer, Courtney McCutcheon.

“Courtney is going to have I think maybe 15 photographs,” Parsons said. “Some of them will be Benicia scenes, and some of them will be her fine art stuff. She’s a very good fine art photographer.”

Parsons’s own style is realism, which is “experiencing a huge resurrection right now, especially in Europe and parts of the United States,” he said.

“Realism is all about telling a story or conveying a message. Realism is for people who are in love with the thing itself that they’re painting.

“When your brush stroke is really, really broad, and your color gets too imaginative, then the scene is just an excuse to paint. Now your painting is about the brush work — which is beautiful! I love impressionist painting and painters. But your painting becomes about the brush work and the color, rather than the about the very thing itself that you’re painting.

“If I paint a scene of Benicia, I love that scene, I love what it is. I’m not going to embellish it with brush strokes that are so broad that you don’t really recognize the scene anymore.”

If You Go
Bill Parsons Gallery and Art School’s first monthly art show will be Saturday from 1-8 p.m. The gallery is located in the Tannery Building, 131 First St.

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