On Vallejo Ave. near the corner of Calle del Monte, in Boyes Hot Springs, there stood a prime example of the ongoing interaction between trees and the built environment: A garage was built next to an oak, the oak grew, humans adapted the structure to accommodate the native tree. This was a lovely thing to see.
Prior to 2009 when I first photographed it, the structure had been so dilapidated that I was sure they were going to tear it down. But they restored it and did a neat job of cutting the roof overhang around the mighty Quercus.
Flash forward to 2024. The tree is gone, its pleasant pool of shade just a memory. In the last two photos you can see that another tree, in the background, has also been removed (see the first photo), for fire safety, they say. Whether necessary or not, we always mourn the loss of a tree.
Below are photos of a mound of earth and wood chips next to the stump. It is absolutely covered in oak seedlings. Nature continues!
Public art grows in fits and starts hereabouts but we are starting to build up a nice stock of murals. Here we look at four of them.
The mural on the front of the Sonoma Valley Grange building, located at 18627 Sonoma Highway. The Grange has owned the building, which was probably originally a dance hall, since 1934. See (https://springsmuseum.org/2022/06/28/the-sonoma-valley-grange-traditionchange-and-renewal/) for more about the Grange. Through the Redevelopment Façade Improvement project, the Grange got funding for the mural in 2010. It was designed by Michael Acker and painted in collaboration with Randy Sue Collins. It depicts a bit of Boyes Hot Springs and Grange history. It being on the west facing wall, it takes a terrific beating from the sun, and has been restored twice.
The Republic of Thrift building at 17496 Sonoma Highway has two murals sponsored by the Monarch Project (https://www.socoimm.org/) along with others. On the west facing wall is the giant Monarch butterfly, completed in June 2020. According to the Index Tribune, “Artist Rima Makaryan, just 17 years old, painted a Monarch butterfly as part of “The Monarch Project,” a Sonoma County nonprofit organization working to tell the stories of immigrants and empower the community.” “We are working to have a conversation about immigration through art,” said Makaryan. “Oftentimes immigrants are labeled aliens or talked about negatively. The goal of the Monarch Project is to find beauty in the subject.” The mural, painted on the west-facing wall of the thrift store, features a Monarch butterfly filled with words describing the immigrant experience, such as resilience, hope, amor, sacrifice and fear. Makaryan noted, “The words are meant to embody the journey and diversity of all migrants. It’s all about the beauty of the topic, good and bad.”
On the east wall a fantastical spray-paint mural by the artist Chor Boogie (https://chorboogie.com/), along with a crew of high school students was painted in 2018. the Led by Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, community partners were Artescape and La luz Center. Co-sponsors were the California Arts Council, the NEA, and the Bank of Marin.
The building at 17400 Sonoma Highway displays yet another Monarch Project mural. Completed in June 2021, it features an image of Dmitra Smith, “…a powerful force fighting against racism in Sonoma County,” according to their website. “Ms. Smith is the former Chair of the Sonoma County Commission on Human Rights, and was the program manager for the Junior Commission, having mentored over 100 Sonoma County students between 2013- 2020. Smith is a co-founder of the essential workers’ mutual aid collective Food for All – Comida para Todos.”
At the time the mural was painted, the building was the home of Sonoma Originals skate shop. Sadly, it is now empty.
We actually have a lot of art in the Springs, some of it “official,” as the above are, some harder to find, personal expressions, often ephemeral, but worth noting, as we will do in future posts
Index Tribune courtesy of the Sonoma Valley Historical Society
Temporary, informal, unsanctioned, cryptic. Personal expression, job related. Faded, half-obscured.
Ephemeral and permanent.
Highway 12 through Boyes Hot Springs, Fetters Hot Springs, and Agua Caliente, California, though a heavily used commercial and residential street, had almost no sidewalks until 2009/2010. Dirt shoulders for walking was not a problem when traffic was light. Even at the height of the resort era (1950s), people would ride horses down the middle of the highway. That’s how quiet it could be.
Starting in the 1980s, locals started to agitate for a safer road. They wanted sidewalks and streetlights. Along came Redevelopment to provide the funds. Part of the project was completed by 2010 (a good twenty five years after agitation began). Redevelopment was abolished by dear old Jerry Brown. Thanks Jerry! The project languished. Finally, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors came through with the money to finish. Thanks Susan Gorin!
The following is a collection of street markings from before during and after sidewalks were installed. Some are the ephemeral spray paint graphics of the contractors, which can be interesting. The more enduring marks are by the people who happened to walk by when the concrete was wet. These are also interesting, even poetic at times. One example is pure nature.
2008-Before demolition started a lot of marks went down. Why was it necessary to point out the rocks?
2009. Underground Service Alert (USA) finds all the pipes and wires and marks the surface. Not sure what “CCI” stands for.
2010 or “20010”. Our first folk marks! It’s an ornate tag that is hard to read.
Jack has helpfully given us the day, month and year. I hope he went on to a career as an archivist.
2016. Phase Two. The only actual footprint, gracefully holding leaves and water.
Year of mark unknown, but Phase Two. Someone is trying very hard with the use of a stencil. Is he offering free samples of tagging? Do people pay for tagging?
2019. Right after Phase Two was completed, some corrections that necessitated new concrete were needed. It looks like the left portion of this group of signifying friends was cut off.
In 2021 PGE had some business under the pavement. This tells you all about it, if you could only read it.
2021/ Nobody’s perfect!
2021. This one and the next two offer lush compositions of black and gray featuring inscribed and spray-painted lines and hard and soft textures.
2021. The lines, the colors, the textures, and, the shadows!
Photographed in 2023, actual date unknown, but Phase Two. “Love me.” “ILY Cazzy.” “Mateo.” “FB, LM”
2021. Dude! Where’s my valves!
A bit off the highway, but such a lovely composition!
Observed within a few blocks of each other, two volunteers and a planting. The first one is a small agave planted in a hole in the sidewalk. A valiant effort indeed. Given Caltrans and/or Sonoma County’s neglect of these areas, it may survive a while. The second one looks like volunteer tomatoes springing up at a storm drain. I hope that’s what they are! Third is a humble little California poppy growing in a crack between the curb and sidewalk. Symbolic of California today?
Bonus photo: Tiny calendula in the asphalt, Arroyo Rd., BHS
March 2019. Bonita Way comes into Central here, hence Street View’s address.November 2019
Sometime between March and November of 2019, Tony started constructing his installation of flowerpots, plants, garden ornaments, lumber, and concrete blocks on the side of the street in front of 67 Central Avenue in Boyes Hot Springs. I originally assumed his name was Richard because of the sign he posted in 2021. The sign, which is not up currently, is a bit puzzling, but I’m glad he gave himself credit, no matter what name he used.
November 2019
Tony was born in Nayarit state, Mexico and came to the U.S. 50 or 60 years ago (he’s a bit vague on this). He has worked as a landscaper his whole life. “I know how to take care of plants,” he told me.
Joanie Bourg via Facebook:
“He used to come into Sonoma Mission Gardens where I worked for many years.. order plants or buy soil. The thing that struck me about Tony was his super boisterous laugh and spirit, and he obviously worked hard as a gardener.. I would see his truck everywhere. He’s a larger than life dude. I’m also a gardener by profession, so I know just how hard the work is. I love his fighting spirit.”
He has worked at that trade until he got sick. “The doctors took my money, and I’m still sick,” he said. He will go back to Mexico when it’s “time for the ‘cementary’,” he joked. He usually walks with two canes, which he made himself, because he doesn’t like the store-bought ones.
November 2020November 2020. The object with the four “tines” is made from ceiling fan blades.
Tony has lived in the apartments next door to his garden for five or six years.
His garden evolves with the seasons. He grows geraniums and plants annual flowers in season. He also uses artificial flowers. Periodically he paints the pots a new color.
November 2021November 2021
Tony drives a Ford work truck. I find it charming that he has replaced the Ford logotype on the tailgate with stick-on lettering, which is slightly askew. It’s a very competent looking truck.
Tony’s Ford, 2021
Tony’s garden is getting noticed on social media, probably because it’s close to a popular restaurant, and it’s so great!
From the Instagram of Charles DesMarais, former art critic for the S.F. ChronicleMarch 2022. Building back up (“better?”) Tony had winterized for 2021-2022.March 2022Tony with his custom-made cane.
Thank you Tony Perez for your gift to our neighborhood!
This post will be updated as Tony’s Garden evolves.
June, July, and August 2022. Tony is bringing a lot of tools and material out of storage to sell.
Fences and trees: they have conversations, disputes, collaborations. Time is involved.
Around and through.20212007A gentle push.Stately interruption.Direct confrontation.This one deserves special mention. Actually it deserves an award for adaptive reuse. During the house addition build, the old garage was torn down, but the back wall was retained and incorporated into the new fence.
This year there have been a lot of volunteer sunflowers all over the neighborhood. Why this year? Whatever the reason, they are a welcome sight, even amongst the weeds and bromes.
“Hokusai created the Thirty-Six Views both as a response to a domestic travel boom and as part of a personal obsession with Mount Fuji.[5] ” Wikipedia
Artists, aging, and obsession:
“I have drawn things since I was 6. All that I made before the age of 65 is not worth counting. At 73 I began to understand the true construction of animals, plants, trees, birds, fishes, and insects. At 90 I will enter into the secret of things. At 110, everything – every dot, every dash – will live. To all of you who are going to live as long as I do, I promise to keep my word. I am writing this in my old age, I used to call myself Hokusai, but today I sign myself ‘The Old Man Mad About Drawing.'” ~ Hokusai
“Mount Fuji is a popular subject for Japanese art due to its cultural and religious significance. This belief can be traced to The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, where a goddess deposits the elixir of life on the peak. As the historian Henry Smith[3] explains, “Thus from an early time, Mt. Fuji was seen as the source of the secret of immortality, a tradition that was at the heart of Hokusai’s own obsession with the mountain.”[4]” Wikipedia
Here in Boyes Hot Springs, we have a similarly visible, tall monument, and while the Spa does not claim to bestow eternal life, it definitely makes life more enjoyable, and is a worthy subject of an artist’s obsession.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
“It all adds up to a reminder that, even as the art historians have been slowly trying to squeeze the history our their discipline, artists have been assiduously turning them selves in to historians, archivists even collectors of a sort.” Barry Schwabsky, The Nation Magazine, April 2014
“Historically revered by Native Americans for its healing power, the elegant Spanish mission–style Inn boasts an enviable location atop an ancient thermal mineral spring, flowing from 1,100 feet below the surface. The tranquility and beauty of this environment is echoed throughout the 40,000-square-foot spa, which offers endless opportunities to find your energy.” From the SMI website
Photographs courtesy of the Sonoma Valley Historical Society and the author.
In 2008 final construction drawings for “Phase 2 Stage 1” of the Highway 12 sidewalk project were issued. The drawings are detailed and very specific, as they would be. Everything is spelled out, down to the design of the hardware used to hold up mail boxes, sign details, and the depth of fence posts.
One thing that was not thought about is the space created, or delineated between the edge of the sidewalk and buildings, fences and walls along the highway. Formerly just part of the shoulder of the road, these unpaved spaces became the chaotic province of weeds and trash, unclaimed and untended by anybody.
Layout of the Hawthorne-Thomson stretch
This 300’ strip on the east side of the highway between Hawthorne and Thomson is a good example.
October 2009, soon after construction was finished. Broadcast wildflower seeds are just sprouting.
November 2016. Weeds and exotic grasses grow mixed with a few California poppies surviving from 2009.
2019. Property owners have planted palm trees.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Other examples of wasted space.
The new sidewalks, streetlights, and other amenities provided by the project are much appreciated in the community. It’s a shame that the interstices of the design were not dealt with originally, but they now represent an opportunity for creativity and community engagement. Let a hundred fledgling landscape architects bloom!
springs museum 