Artists face studio closure at Portola Valley Town Center Artists face studio closure at Portola Valley Town Center (May 26, 2004)

** Tradition of 22 years may fade away.

By David Boyce
Almanac Staff Writer

Weeks or months from now, the lights of artist studios at Portola Valley Town Center may go out for the last time as the building is demolished to make way for a new municipal complex.

Although the space has served a handful of local painters, sculptors and print-makers well for more than two decades, the return of artists to the town's public space once the new center is built is far from likely.

In an April 29 community survey listing 20 possible uses of space at a redesigned Town Center complex, artists' studios were not a popular choice, according to a summary of 142 returned survey forms tabulated and released May 18 by the town.

Artists' studios received only 31 votes. The top choice was a library, which got 128 votes. Coming in second and third were a children's park with 113 votes, and a grove of redwood trees with 110 votes.

Bringing up the rear were a natural history center at 15 votes and a historical center with 24. The artists' studios and a dog exercise area were tied with 31 votes each.

Final decisions on the uses of Town Center space rest with the five-member Town Council, but the community has been and will continue to be involved. At the May 26 Town Council meeting, the council plans to hear comments from members of the Town Center Citizens Advisory Committee on the uses of Town Center space. In three workshops in June, interested residents and members of the town staff will join a group of architectural and landscape professionals to come up with design proposals for a master plan.

Two decisions have already been made: the complex will have a new administration building and a new equipment maintenance yard.

Artists at work

The four existing 900-square-foot studios are former school classrooms. Kalani Engles, a sculptor and Portola Valley resident, said she came up with the idea of using them as studios some 22 years ago. Aware of the earthquake dangers, the artists signed waivers, got business licenses and bought insurance.

Today, seven artists are in residence there. Insurance costs are $500 per studio per year. The artists pay rent of about $1 per square foot, about $40,000 annually, said Ms. Engles.

"We appreciate the fact that we've been able to work in such lovely and tranquil and serene settings," artist Bonny Novesky told the Almanac. The surroundings add a sense of joy to her art work, she said.

Ms. Novesky has been making acrylic collages in her shared studio for about 15 years, she said. While her works are painted, they have texture, due in part to her technique of "distressing" the paper by stepping on it, scratching it and pouring paint on it.

She does much of her work on the floor of the studio. "All of my work is fairly large-scale," she said. It will be tough finding as nice a studio elsewhere, she said, adding that her art will likely be less joyous as a result.

Adele Seltzer is a painter, printmaker and sculptor in aluminum who said she's rented her Portola Valley studio for 11 years. "We feel very blessed to have had this, to be in a space that is a perfect space for artists," Ms. Seltzer said.

"The safety that we feel here, you can't get that elsewhere," Ms. Seltzer said, recalling a former studio in Belmont, where she said she regularly locked herself in in the mornings and endured poor light. "It was a little scary," she said.

Five of the artists at the center live in Portola Valley, including Ms. Novesky and Ms. Seltzer. Neither artist has comparable work space at home, they said. Ms. Novesky lives on Franciscan Ridge in Portola Valley Ranch; Ms. Seltzer lives, appropriately, on Degas Road in Westridge.

Facing change

Decisions are yet to be made as to whether there will be studios on the four-acre building site, but the artists will likely have an uphill fight.

"It's an important public policy question as to whether the town government should be dedicating space of that magnitude to this purpose," said Councilman Steve Toben in an interview. "My responsibility is to the community as a whole. ... I can't say whether, at the end of the day, studios would prevail over pre-school for 100 families.

"What's important is that the new Town Center continue to showcase the work of our local artists," Mr. Toben said, suggesting that the new complex might have a gallery in the library or a rotating exhibition in a large community gathering room.

A gallery or exhibition wall is not a studio, however. In a comment on that point, Mr. Toben acknowledged the loss and suggested that the artists "make a well-articulated case" for a part-time studio with a rotating artist-in-residence to demonstrate techniques to the public.

"I am a professional artist, not a hobbyist," responded Ms. Engles when asked to comment. "I really do need space Monday through Friday," she said, adding that she is long past the point at which she is willing to answer children's questions as she works.

But, she added, "I've been damned lucky to have been there for 22 years. I've been privileged."

The studios sit on an earthquake fault, are not particularly attractive, are of scant historic value and are in a prime location on the site. "We don't have much going for us, to be quite honest," said Ms. Novesky.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.