Collage 12A Revision 2. Inkjet on watercolor and mulberry papers, watercolor, acrylic. 46″x16″. 2020. In the center is the fire station, built in 1933, much changed since. To its right, the empty lots where the Lanning buildings were until July, 2020 ( with lingering Melody Club signs.) El Molino Central, at center left, shows the effects of Covid 19: the awing reads “Carhop service.” This is the third version of this collage. The first one was made in 2009.

The body of work concerning place, an overview

What it looks like in 2024

Since about 2008 I have:

Photographed Highway 12 from Verano Ave. to Agua Caliente blvd.

                  Compiled and printed two sets of 477 photographs.

                  And donated them to the Sonoma County Library and

                  The Sonoma Historical Society

Amassed a collection of over 350 pieces of paper ephemera, mostly post cards

Which is cataloged in a Filemaker database and donated the actual objects to the Sonoma Historical Society

Created the Main Stem Project and produced over 80 collages, most of which are cataloged here: https://www.valleyofthemoonmainstemproject.org/all-the-collages.html

Many of these have been exhibited numerous times, in Sonoma.

Created many ancillary collages. See www.mca-studios.com. Other, unrelated bodies of work are seen here also.

Published “The Springs. Resort Towns of Sonoma Valley,” Arcadia Publishing, 2017

Created a database of all the street corners in my immediate neighborhood, containing photographs and information. This is to be expanded outward until all of the Springs is included.

Published the Springs Museum website which includes an introduction that explains my ideas about observation, collecting, and art. www.springsmuseum.org

Created the project “The Path,” concerning walking and art. Walking in the neighborhood is the way I gather material for my art.


Interview, September 2021, by Starr Sutherland: https://vimeo.com/596295997

Resume

v. 2024

RESUME

Michael Acker

ackermichael6@gmail.com

www.mca-studios.com

www.springsmuseum.org

P.O. Box 1959, Boyes Hot Springs, CA 95416

541 357 2532

Biography                                           

Born in New York City, raised in California and Oregon. Resides Sonoma County California.

Interview: https://vimeo.com/596295997 password: panoramic

Grants/Awards:

2022 Sheridan Prize, Honorable Mention, juror Edi Hsu

2022 Marin Society of Artists, Fresh Art 2022, Honorable Mention, Jen Tough juror

2021 Working Artist Purchase Award

2019 Bay Area Masters, Peninsula Museum of Art, Third Place 2d

2019 Gallery Route One Annual Juried Show, M. Louise Stanley juror

Award of Merit

2014 Palo Alto Art Center Residency, finalist

2013 Creative Capital-On Our Radar

2012 Left Coast Annual Juror’s Exhibition Award, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA.

Michael Schwager, Juror

2011 Creative Capital, advanced to second round

2010 Pollok-Krasner Foundation grant

1992 California Works, Award of Merit

1994 SECA award semifinalist

1990 Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant

Commissions/Competitions:.

2013 Aptos Blue public art, finalist, Watsonville, CA.

2010 “Water(ing) Logic(ally), Site-specific Garden Installation, Sonoma Community Center, Sonoma, CA.

2001 Fountain, Creekside Court, Berkeley, CA.

2000 Fountain, Bayer Corp, Berkeley, CA.

Solo Shows:

2023 Sonoma Community Center

 2020 Sonoma Library

2019 FOG Gallery, San Francisco

2018 Resident Artist Show, Sonoma Community Center

2016Alley Gallery, Sonoma, CA.

2013 Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA.

2012 Sonoma community Center offices

Group Shows (selected)

2024 Sacrament fine Arts Center, California Landscapes, Award of Excellence

2024 Triton Museum Salon

2024 Botanical Art, Laguna Art Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA

2024“Souvenirs,” Petaluma Arts Center, curated by Llisa Demetrious

2024 Sonoma Arts Guild juried. AWARD

2024 Gallery Route One, Juried Show

2023 Ice House Gallery, Petaluma, group show

2023A New Perspective, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, Orin Carpenter juror

2022 Two Sonomas, Petaluma Arts Center, with Lance Kuehne-Carin Jacobs curator

2022 Gallery Route One Juried –Jack Fischer juror

2022 Marin Society of Artists, Artists Visions 2022 Jen Tough, juror

2021-Three Artist Show, FOG Gallery, San Francisco

2021 Slice, Pence Gallery, Davis CA.  Faith J. McKinnie juror.

2021 Gallery Route One Annual Juried Show, curated by Donna Seager

2020 Fragments, Arch Gallery, San Francisco, curated by Jen Tough

2020 Rough Around the Edges, online, curated by Jen Tough

2019 Bay Area Masters, Peninsula Museum of Art, Award

2019 Gallery Route One Annual Juried Show, M. Louise Stanley juror

Award of Merit

2018 Ingenuity, sculpture/craft Marin Society of Artists

2017 Celebrate, Sonoma Arts Guild

2016 Left Coast Annual, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA.

2015 Left Coast Annual, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA.

2013IMBY Sonoma County Museum, Santa Rosa

2012 Petaluma Arts Center, Digital Mixed Media

Joe Doyle, curator

2012 Left Coast Annual, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA. Michael Shwager juror. Juror’s Award

2012 Made In California, Brea Gallery, Brea, CA.

Rebecca Morse, juror

2011 Arts On Fire XV, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA.

2011 Works on/of Paper, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto

2011 Gallery Route One Juried Show

2010 Mapworks, Sebastopol  Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA.

2009 Sonoma Valley Museum of Art Biennale

Frances McCormack, Juror

Publications

Sonoma’s Fading Images of Highway 12, Boom- A Journal of California. August, 2017

https://boomcalifornia.com/2017/08/16/sonomas-fading-images-of-hwy-12/

By: Marion Greene, Boyes Springs Businesswoman. Journal of the Sonoma County Historical Society. 2021 Number 2

By: The Springs, Resort Towns of Sonoma Valley. Arcadia books, 2017.

Collections:

King County Washington Portable Collection 2018

Simon Blattner 2016, 2022    

Kaiser Permanente 2009        

Special Projects:

2021-Sonoma Plaza History Project, 9 panel commission

2019 Juror, Sonoma Valley Museum of Art “Re-photography”

2018 Artist in Residence, Sonoma Community Center Fiber Arts Program

2017 Publication of Photo History of the Resorts of Sonoma Valley. Arcadia Publishing

2015 The Springs Museum of History, Art and Community-in progress

2010 Mural for the Sonoma Valley Grange

Education:

MFA, Sculpture, San Francisco State University

Online:

@michaelacker6

www.mca-studios.com

www.springsmuseum.org

www.valleyofthemoonmainstemproject.org/

v. 2024