Past Events

Please join us for a fascinating gallery conversation with Lloyd Kahn and Joseph Becker, Curator of Architecture and Design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, concurrent with the exhibition Lloyd Kahn: There Are Walls That Want To Prowl. There is a lot to consider in Kahn’s wide-ranging life as an innovator, author, editor, photographer, builder, activist, ... Learn More

Please join us as we celebrate the opening of our new exhibitions:
Lloyd Kahn: There Are Walls That Want To Prowl
Kathy Bustamante: Thinking With My Hands
Jenny Sampson: Skaters
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3 PM Artist Talks
4–5 PM Reception
Free and Open to All

Join us for an enriching experience as Bolinas artist Wayne Campbell leads us through the current exhibition of his metaphorical steel sculpture installations in the Main Gallery. Campbell is thoughtful, with broad interests and easy humor, and will share stories about his inspirations, methods, and his many collaborations with remarkable people. Much of his life’s work has been informed ... Learn More

Interdisciplinary artist Helina Metaferia will perform a new iteration of The Willing, a live performance that activates several of her sculptures in her solo exhibition at the museum, What We Carry To Set Ourselves Free. Metaferia will engage in song, movement, and text during the performance while leading a procession throughout the museum and nearby landmarks, including Yerba Buena Gardens and the ... Learn More

Kevin Opstedal, author of the new Dreaming as One: Poetry, Poets, and Community in Bolinas, CA, from 1967-1980 (fmsbw, June 2024), will be in conversation with editor, critic, and ethicist Steve Heilig. Bolinas has a long and vibrant history as a haven for poets and writers seeking an alternative lifestyle and creative environment away ... Learn More

Please join us as we celebrate the opening of our new exhibitions:
Wayne Campbell: Residuum
Harriet Kossman: Bead by Bead
Altered Earth: Rosie Clements, Terri Loewenthal, Damien Maloney, Gabriel Esteban Molina, Eric Ruby, and Aubrey Trinnaman
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3 PM Artist Talks
4–5 PM Reception
Free and Open ... Learn More

Please join us as we celebrate the opening of our new exhibitions:
Lloyd Kahn: There Are Walls That Want To Prowl
Kathy Bustamante: Thinking with My Hands
Jenny Sampson: Skaters
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3 PM Artist Talks
4–5 PM Reception
Free and Open to All

Buying a ticket registers you to bid online. Join us as we gather to celebrate the end of the 32nd Annual Benefit Art Auction at the Peace Barn in Bolinas. Enjoy wonderful wines, cocktails, delicious food, live music, and a live auction of surprise lots!

REGISTER TO BID

Live music by Mystic Guys will headline a lively evening to kick off online bidding in our 32nd Annual Benefit Art Auction! Enjoy refreshments, wine, and beer, browse through the galleries, pick your favorites, and place your bids. Mystic Guys is the Bay Area trio of Bruce Barth, Duane Van Dieman, ... Learn More

REGISTER TO BID

Please join the museum in welcoming and celebrating the artists contributing to our 32nd Annual Benefit Art Auction. The auction exhibition is a wonderful sampling of the creativity that flourishes in our community, highlighting the work of over 50 artists from the Bay Area and beyond. Also on view ... Learn More

Jeff Manson is a familiar face around West Marin. He is one of those guys who does a little bit of a lot of things around here. His decades-deep catalog of wry song poems has kept many a small room aglow with laughter and contemplation late into the night.

These songs aim to spin the cotidian ... Learn More

In conjunction with the photography exhibition Nuestra Identidad / Our Identity, this talk will share insights into The Latino Photography Project, established in 2003 by Gallery Route One in Point Reyes Station. The project has been a powerful tool for creativity, exploring identity, sharing experiences, and cross-cultural understanding. ... Learn More

Please join us as we celebrate the opening of our new exhibitions:
Arleene Correa Valencia Llévanos Contigo / Take Us With You
Kim Ford Kitz: Field of Vision
Gallery Route One – Latino Photography Project Nuestra Identidad / Our Identity
Getting Here from ... Learn More

Enjoy stunning coastal views, music, seasonal fare, lovely wine varietals, including a selection from Scribe, and specialty cocktails as we kick off summer during this festive gathering of friends, old and new!

WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE MANY GENEROUS VOLUNTEERS AND DONORS WHO MAKE THIS IMPORTANT FUNDRAISER POSSIBLE!

MAJOR SUPPORT
Katie Beacock
Learn More

Poets Hannah Yerington (Bolinas) and Tess Taylor (Berkeley) invite you to the Bolinas Museum Courtyard for an afternoon of poetry: a celebration of the natural world, motherhood, and multigenerational art. In words that honor local produce, the act of gardening, and pleasure in this land we call home, the poetry will be in gentle ... Learn More

Please join us for a stimulating talk by Bolinas artist and educator Janis Yerington, whose lush still life paintings are currently presented in the museum. She says her artwork dances between the sacred and the everyday. Yerington will talk about her techniques, inspirations, experiences, background, and belief in supporting the community and teaching art to young people.

Please join us as we celebrate the opening of our new exhibitions:
New Geographies curated by Ivan Iannoli
Janis Yerington: Even Still
Ken Botto: Barbies
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3 PM Artist/Cuartor Talks
4–5 PM Reception
Free and Open to All

In conjunction with his exhibition, geologist Rob Gailey will discuss how the visual characteristics of seemingly ordinary rocks can tell us stories about geological processes that occurred millions of years ago. Join us to expand your imagination and awareness of our remarkable local geology!

Please join us as we celebrate the opening of our new exhibitions:
Johanna Baruch: As Above, So Below
Rob Gailey: Photomicrographs Reveal Stories within Rocks
Insight/Incite 20/20 Portfolio curated by Linda Connor
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3 PM Artist Talks
4–5 PM Reception
Free and Open to All

Investigate how histories of protest inform our present-day moment and the powerful yet often overlooked role that BIPOC women (both cis and trans) play in this performance art workshop led by artist Helina Metaferia.

Designed for women-identifying BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) who live in the Bay Area, Metaferia’s project has been ongoing since 2018 and has had multiple ... Learn More

Join us for an afternoon of art and community holiday spirit as we celebrate the many local artists featured in the Hardly Strictly Mini Biennial Benefit Exhibition/Sale and two other exhibitions!

• Gordlandia: The Ceramics of Gordon Bryan
• Photographs from the Museum’s Permanent Collection

3 ... Learn More

Artist Inez Storer’s creativity is playful, thought-provoking, challenging, and wildly imaginative. Join us for this artist talk to hear stories of her art process and inspirations from her life as she turns a lively 90-years-old. Highly creative immigrant parents nurtured Storer, and as a child, she often accompanied her father to Hollywood studios, where he was the Art Director ... Learn More

Please join us as we celebrate the opening of our new exhibitions:
Inez Storer: Museum of Rare and Wonderful Things
Stuart Chapman: Freebox Neckties
Alice Shaw: Motherland
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3 PM Artist Talks
4–5 PM Reception
Free and Open to All

Join us as we gather to celebrate the end of the 31st Annual Benefit Art Auction at the Peace Barn in Bolinas. Enjoy wonderful wines, cocktails, delicious food, and live music with Kelly McFarling. Buying a ticket registers you to bid online.

REGISTER TO BID

Join us for a special summer courtyard party featuring DJ Connor Maguire, who will be spinning records from his expansive vintage vinyl collection, and Plunge Towels, who are popping up to show their latest artist-designed towels.

Free and Open to All

Please join the museum in welcoming and celebrating the artists contributing to our 31st Annual Benefit Art Auction. The auction exhibition is a wonderful sampling of the creativity that flourishes in our community, highlighting the work of over 50 artists from the Bay Area and beyond. Also on view will be works available for purchase by local craftspeople and makers, ... Learn More

Please join us in the museum’s courtyard outside Hansen’s Wildlife Gallery to celebrate his brand-new book, Birds of Point Reyes (Heyday, 2023). Here at the edge of land and sea, on the Point Reyes Peninsula, we witness the great bird migration of the Pacific Flyway. In this book, focused on 27 iconic species ranging from the fearsome Peregrine Falcons to ... Learn More

Join us to view the array of microscopic life found in a drop of water collected directly from Bolinas Lagoon. Jenny Jacox, PhD in Ocean Sciences, and artist/naturalist/educator Janai Southworth share their passion and deep knowledge as they provide a window into a surprisingly magnificent world with microscopes and monitor screens. Plant-like phytoplankton are the base of the oceanic food ... Learn More

Austrian artist, writer, and translator Herbert Pföstl will discuss his art practice and working with words. The conversation will reveal Pföstl’s influences and inspirations, including the explorations and testimonies of early, often anonymous, masters; the hallucinatory hieroglyphic drawings of Antonin Artaud; Pföstl’s obsession with farewells in American “revenant sounds” from the 1920s and 1930s; Melville’s Pierre and Albert Pinkham Ryder’s ... Learn More

Please join us as we celebrate the opening of our new exhibitions:
40th Anniversary Exhibition: Celebrating 40 Years of Collecting
Herbert Pföstl: Between Field and Firmament
Laura Plageman: Response
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3 PM Artist Talks
4–5 PM Reception
Free and Open to All

Enjoy stunning coastal views, live music, seasonal fare, lovely wine varietals, and specialty cocktails as we kick off summer during this festive gathering of friends, old and new!

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We are grateful for the many generous volunteers and donors who make this important fundraiser possible!

MAJOR SUPPORT PROVIDED BY:
... Learn More

Celebrate With Us!
Free and Open to All

Please join us for this happy event celebrating the 40-year evolution of Bolinas Museum, from its inception in 1983 as a history museum to the addition of fine art and the vibrant exhibitions and events of today. Enjoy birthday cupcakes, delicious Straus ice cream, memories, and plans, and revel in the ... Learn More

Please join us as we celebrate the opening of our new exhibitions:
Jenny Sharaf: It’s All Flowers
Harriet Heyman: The Quickening
Ginny Felch: Silver Linings
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3 PM Artist Talks
4–5 PM Reception
Free and Open to ... Learn More

Concurrent with his exhibition in the photography gallery, Lewis Watts, an internationally exhibited documentary photographer, Professor Emeritus at UC Santa Cruz and UC Berkeley, and former Bolinas resident, will share stories of inspiration and experiences related to his focus on the cultural landscape of the African Diaspora of the Bay Area and beyond.

3 PM Artist Talks
4 – 5 PM Reception
Free and Open to All

Join us as we celebrate the opening of our new exhibitions:

MAIN GALLERY
Miya Ando: Waiting for the Moon

COASTAL MARIN ARTISTS GALLERY
Oona Ratcliffe: Life Lines

PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERY
Lewis Watts: Comfortable in Their Own ... Learn More

Join us for a reception for this beloved annual exhibition.
Hooray for Habits!
Free and Open to All

Please join us and enjoy a private tour of the current exhibitions with Bolinas Museum Curator of Coastal Marin Art and History, Elia Haworth!

Current Exhibitions:
Pacific Rise: Ocean Health
Laurie Mahan Sawyer: Seeing the Unseen
Maps: At the Edge of Land and Sea

Need a ride? Free shuttle service is available from Point Reyes ... Learn More

Duxbury Reef, edging the Bolinas headland, is the largest intertidal shale reef in North America and home to an extraordinary diversity and density of marine life. Reef inhabitants have evolved ingenious adaptations to live in an environment that alternates between pounding waves and drying at low tide, yet they are vulnerable to damage by human visitors. Attorney and ... Learn More

Concurrent with the Pacific Rise: Ocean Health exhibition, please join us for a fascinating conversation with experts who bring insights into both local and global issues as we consider climate change and the health of the ocean waters that cover 71% of our planet. Dr. Peter Gleckler, a Bolinas resident, works internationally contributing to ... Learn More

Look through a microscope into a drop of water drawn from the edge of Bolinas Lagoon, and a profusion of jewel-like life forms is revealed. Plankton drifts through the ocean; the plant-like phytoplankton create some 50% of the world’s oxygen, and zooplankton, microscopic animals, include the larvae form of crabs, barnacles, jellyfish, mussels, and more. By setting up ... Learn More

Join us for this free, family-friendly talk, revealing the astonishingly rich acoustical ocean environment. Sound and vibration are essential for marine life communication, from whales to tiny barnacles. Besides the wonder of discovery, marine bio-acousticians are urgently calling public attention to increasingly devastating noise pollution from military, industrial, and recreational human intrusion. Michael Stocker, founding director of Ocean Conservation Research, ... Learn More

Join us as we celebrate the opening of our new exhibitions:
“Pacific Rise: Ocean Health”
“Laurie Mahan Sawyer: Seeing the Unseen”

2 PM Artist Talks with Laurie Mahan Sawyer & Keith Hansen
3 – 5 PM Reception
Free and Open to All

SOLD OUT!

Join us as we gather to celebrate the end of the 30th Annual Benefit Art Auction at the Peace Barn in Bolinas. Enjoy wonderful wines, cocktails, delicious food, and live music.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
Sharon Beals, Ken Botto, Pegan Brooke, Charlie Callahan, Tripp Carpenter, Peter de Swart, Jon Francis, Alyce Gottesman, July Guzman, Elia Haworth, Ivan Iannoli, Josie ... Learn More

Our recent online art auctions were so successful that we’re doing it again! Artwork will be on view at the museum, and all bidding will take place online. Featuring a range of artwork by over 35 Marin and greater Bay Area artists and exciting offers and experiences, there is something for everyone, all supporting art, history, culture, and community. Everyone ... Learn More

An international filmmaker and farmer, Ole Schell has established a monarch butterfly sanctuary on his family land in Bolinas. Coinciding with the museum’s exhibition, Ole Schell: The Magic of Creating a Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary, Schell and collaborators Mia Monroe, a national ... Learn More

Join founder and owner of Praise Shadows Art Gallery, Yng-Ru Chen, as she leads an exhibition tour of Helina Metaferia: All Put Together. Chen will share her insights into Metaferia’s process of creating the headdress collages, tapestry, and more, that celebrate the work of BIPOC activists using archival ... Learn More

Join us as we celebrate the opening of four new exhibitions:
Helina Metaferia: All Put Together
Ole Schell: Ole Schell: The Magic of Creating a Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary
Elizabeth Weber: An Homage to Western Monarch Butterflies
The History of The Bolinas Community Mural Project

Enjoy breathtaking coastal views, live music, sumptuous seasonal fare by Kate Sylvan, wine from Scribe Winery, and specialty cocktails as we kick off summer during this festive gathering of friends, old and new!

EARLY BIRD TICKETS, THROUGH SUNDAY MAY 15: $100 Members / $125 General Admission*
AFTER MAY 15: ... Learn More

Led By Fariba Bogzaran, Ph.D., with Jennifer Braman, and Peter de Swart

Join us for a fascinating conversation with outstanding artists and educators who will discuss creativity and explore the nature of consciousness. Panelists include artist, scientist, and educator Fariba Bogzaran; Williams College alumna (Art History and Women’s Studies) Jennifer Braman, who currently teaches Studio Art and Art History at ... Learn More

Join us on Mother’s Day weekend for a mesmerizing afternoon of music with Mia Pixley, cellist, singer, songwriter, Ph.D., practicing clinical psychologist, artist, and mother. Pixley blends roots, experimental, and impressionist baroque pop music, using her cello, voice, and performance to explore the interconnectivity of ourselves, our community, and the natural world. Everyone who has ever had a ... Learn More

Hypnagogia is a state between waking and dreaming. As we fall asleep, this creative yet fleeting experience has inspired many human innovations, creative problem solving, and musical compositions. Hardly remembered, Hypnagogia is an aperture to the inner world of the psyche. In this gallery talk, Fariba Bogzaran, artist and renowned expert on lucid dreaming, explores the mystery of ... Learn More

2 PM Talks / 3 – 5 PM Reception
Visit upcoming exhibitions for details.

Free and Open to the Public

Please join us and enjoy a private tour of the current exhibitions with Bolinas Museum Curator of Coastal Marin Art and History, Elia Haworth!

Need a ride? Free shuttle service is available from Point Reyes.
Reservations Required. Space Is Limited.

RSVP By December 6 to annabelle@bolinasmuseum.org or call 415-868-0330.

Free shuttle supported by a generous West Marin Fund grant.

Join us for an afternoon of art and community holiday spirit as we celebrate the many local artists featured in the Hardly Strictly Mini biennial benefit exhibition and two other exhibitions! See exhibition listings for details. 

2 PM Gallery Talks
3 – 5 PM Artists Reception with Live Music by Charlie Docherty and Friends

ARTISTS
... Learn More

Please join us and enjoy a private tour of the current exhibitions with museum curators!
Learn more about the exhibitions here.

Need a ride?
Free shuttle service is available from Point Reyes.
Reservations Required // Space Is Limited.
RSVP By October 21 to annabelle@bolinasmuseum.org or call 415-868-0330.

A generous West Marin Fund grant supports ... Learn More

Alfred Harrison is co-curator of Jack Wisby: Historical Landscape Paintings of Marin County and author of the new and definitive book about the artist. He will share insights about Jack Wisby’s history, artistic style and inspirations, and the era of regional art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A ... Learn More

Join gallery owner and photo historian Scott Nichols to learn about the vintage photographs by Johan Hagemeyer and his friends Imogen Cunningham, Ansel Adams, Anne Brigman, and Edward Weston featured in the current exhibition. He will discuss the photographers’ lives and practices while sharing his extensive knowledge of classic California photography circa the 1930s and 1940s. Nichols has ... Learn More

2 PM Gallery Talks
3 – 5 PM Reception
Join us for an afternoon of art and community as we celebrate the opening of four new exhibitions. Enjoy gallery talks at 2 PM before the reception. See Upcoming Exhibitions for descriptions.

All events are subject to cancellation due to environmental and health concerns.

Wine courtesy of Idell Family Vineyards
Vintage Vinyl by Connor Maguire
Early Bird tickets through August 29: $75 Members / $100 General
August 30 – September 10: $100 Members / $125 General
Day of the party: $150 for all

The pre-auction cocktail party was always a highlight, and we’re bringing it back!

Learn More

News flash! This Saturday, one of West Marin’s finest acts, El Radio Fantastique, plays at Smiley’s outdoor stage across the street! So, we’re throwing open our doors to their great sounds as we celebrate this year’s auction artists at the after-hours reception 5 – 7 PM at the museum! Everyone is welcome! Cruise the auction artwork, offers, and ... Learn More

EXPERIENCE THE AUCTION IN THE GALLERIES & ONLINE. REGISTRATION IS FREE!

ENTER AUCTION WEBSITE, REGISTER, BUY PARTY TICKETS, SHOP, AND DONATE HERE

Join us in collecting the art of coastal Marin and more. Your generosity supports both the Bolinas Museum and local artists!

Learn More

Join us for an afternoon of art and community as we celebrate the final weekends of the summer exhibitions. Enjoy artists talks at 2 PM with glass artist Sally K. Fairfax, and Bolinas watercolor artist Sally Robertson who will be joined by curator ... Learn More

In collaboration with Smiley’s Schooner Saloon

Please join us 5 – 7 PM for a special after-hours for a free community Open House to celebrate the Pandemic Porch & Gate portrait project and being together again and then head over to Smiley’s from 7 – 9 for more live music!

View the slide show of the more than ... Learn More

Join us in the courtyard for a day of flowers and fun for the whole family! Led by beloved local artist and art educator Janis Yerington, enjoy making flower crowns and flower art projects inspired by Sally Robertson’s floral watercolors on view in the Main Gallery.

Enjoy an orchid-themed cocktail and private tour of California Orchids with Mary Nisbet, founder and one of the most highly regarded orchid growers in the Bay Area, and Bolinas watercolor artist, Sally Robertson. This Bolinas greenhouse hosts rare varieties from around the world, many of which inspired Sally Robertson’s watercolors on view through August 15 in the current exhibition, ... Learn More

Please visit the Bolinas Museum courtyard, outside Keith Hansen’s Wildlife Gallery, for the first book signing of Hansen’s recently published “Hansen’s Field Guide to the Birds of the Sierra Nevada.” 23 years in the making, this well-designed book couples Hansen’s beautifully rendered illustrations with his distinctly witty and insightful writing. It presents 320 species, 90 percent of which have been ... Learn More

Moderated by Elia Haworth, Curator of Coastal Marin Art and History, June 3, 2020

Enjoy a fascinating virtual conversation with Sally K. Fairfax—Inverness glass artist and Henry J. Vaux Distinguished Professor Emerita in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at the University of California, Berkeley. The exhibition in ... Learn More

A virtual talk co-presented by The New School at Commonweal and Bolinas Museum

Today, we take wireless communication for granted, but in 1914 Bolinas played a pivotal role in the technological revolution that first brought wireless service worldwide. On Friday, March 19, from 10 to 11:30 a.m., ... Learn More

Please Join San Francisco Center for the Book and the Bolinas Museum for a delightful virtual event illuminating Marie Dern’s role in the world of San Francisco Bay Area book arts community! Watch as Studio Director Chad Johnson prints a letterpress postcard keepsake inspired by Marie Dern’s artist book “William Caslon’s Typographic ABC (1991)” at SFCB’s print studio.

Registered ... Learn More

John DeMerritt owns and operates John DeMerritt Bookbinding, in Emeryville, CA where his studio produces books and portfolios for artists, galleries, fine press publishers, and institutions. He worked closely with Marie Dern on many projects. From 2000 to 2013, John taught Book Structure at the San Francisco Art Institute. He ... Learn More

As a way to say thank you to our loyal annual museum members, we are dedicating Thursdays during the week to members when there are fewer people and parking is easier! Currently, visiting the museum is by appointment. If you are a current member, an email was sent on October 15 with a link to schedule your Thursday appointment. If ... Learn More

Join us online!
VIRTUAL LIVE AUCTION
6:30 PM, Saturday, September 12
Hosted by Janis Yerington & Syd Mintz

View Live YouTube Stream Here

View auction items, Registration, and Donate Here

Johanna Baruch | Rufus Blunk | Ken Botto | Christopher Brown | Charlie Callahan | Tripp Carpenter | Russell Chatham | ... Learn More

We’re collaborating with Larkspur Library to present a free talk with longtime San Francisco Art Institute librarian and resident historian, Jeff Gunderson, who presented this talk to a packed house at Bolinas Museum earlier this year in conjunction with the ... Learn More

Despite our separation, our community remains robust, Together Alone. To document this strange and complex moment in history as we shelter-in-place, Bolinas Museum is partnering with local professional photographers to take black & white portraits of the Bolinas community. Everyone sheltering-in-place in Bolinas is invited to participate.

Many households have welcomed home their college-age children ... Learn More

Celebrating a sense of place and togetherness, despite the distance!

As we practice safe distancing and sheltering at home, the popular Annual Benefit Lawn Party over Memorial Day Weekend was cancelled. Rather than gathering on a ... Learn More

Does Earth have a memory? (… and if it does, what does it remember?) How do we make sense of a story extending 4.5 billion years into the past? And what events in that long history have left their marks ... Learn More

We all know that singing is good for the soul. Join us from home this Mother’s Day weekend as we go live for the first time on YouTube with Molly Maguire for the annual kick off to the museum’s summer concert series! ... Learn More

Pour yourself a glass of wine, make a cup of tea, and come discuss art and life. What is your favorite artwork? Was there a piece that just moved you to tears, inspired something new, or encouraged you unexpectedly? Interested in hearing what inspires others? Join friends old and new that love art and be part of the discussion.

All ... Learn More