Galen Kusic, Editor

The Benicia art scene continues to grow with the opening of Arata Fine Art Gallery at 637 First St. which is owned and operated by Geraldine “Geri” Arata Pruett and John Pruett.

The gallery relocated from San Francisco and officially opened its doors on Nov. 24 of last year, but held its grand opening on Jan. 12. The gallery represents 25 selected artists from Benicia and the greater Bay Area to show their paintings, sculpture, photography and jewelry. These 25 artists will have featured solo shows over the next two years.

While the owners loved their gallery in San Francisco’s North Beach district, most people that visited the area were there to eat and drink, making it not conducive to retail sales.

“There was a real sense of community and rich history,” said Geri. “We were looking for an area that had the same sense of community and Benicia has not disappointed us.”

The owners goals are to showcase not only local, but nationally known artists. With experience from San Francisco, it provided an opportunity to make connections with artists from other regions of the country.

“We plan to be very active in the art community and we wish to promote Benicia as a whole as an ‘art destination,’” she said.

Arata Fine Art Gallery looks at artists who demonstrate a strong knowledge and command of their medium choice. Geri believes that an established gallery should exhibit a certain caliber art and genre, one that customers can come to expect.

“It’s all about having a good fit between the gallery, the artists and the patrons,” she said. “Not all galleries are alike, and patrons pick up on that.”

Geri is a fourth generation San Franciscan. She earned a bachelor’s degree in fine art from San Francisco State University and a master’s degree from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Along with her husband, they operated their gallery in S.F. from 2009 to 2012.

Geri was able to surround herself to learn and experience art from very gifted and talented artists. Some of these artists weren’t necessarily the instructor, but the artists standing next to her in a learning environment.

“A pursuit in the arts is a personal journey. Everyone must choose their own path,” she said. “A degree certainly is not a guarantee of success in the art world. For me, I wouldn’t trade anything…the great thing about being an artist is you never cease to learn and your best work is yet to come.”

The gallery is already getting rave reviews, and featured artists will rotate every six to eight weeks. Currently on display is Barbara Stanton’s “Smaller than Life”, with her renowned miniature oil paintings and figurative work. There is so much detail in each piece that a magnifying glass is on hand for patrons to view the intricacies of each painting. Stanton will be doing a live demonstration of her miniature paintings on Feb. 16.

Below is a list of Arata Fine Art Gallery’s 2019 featured show schedule:

Feb. 1 – March 17: Barbara Stanton

March 21 – April 28: Lisa & Richard Rico

May 2 – June 2: Thalia Stratton

June 6 – July 14: Judy Neal & Philip Venable

July 18 – Sep. 1: Jose Luis Varto

Sep. 5 – Oct. 13 Group Show: Bill Weber, Ron Norman, Karen Luke, Dennis Sheil, Arianna Seigel, Jim Leland, Jeffery Tover

Oct. 17 – Nov. 24: Barbara Fracchia

Nov. 29 – Jan. 12: Victoria Veedell & Manon Jodoin

To learn more, call (707) 297-6151, visit www.aratafineartgallery.com or head down to 637 First St. between 11–5 p.m. Thur-Sat. and 1-5 p.m. on Sunday.