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
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 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.valleyofthemoonmainstemproject.org/
v. 2024