Pacific Art League of Palo Alto: A safe haven for the arts

Jan. 14, 2015, 8:32 p.m.
Inside the Pacific Art League in Palo Alto. Photo by Eric Huang.
Inside the Pacific Art League in Palo Alto. Photo by Eric Huang.

Nestled comfortably just off University Avenue, the Pacific Art League of Palo Alto (PAL) is an institution that seeks to showcase the work of Bay Area artists and to facilitate the growth of the local arts scene through a range of educational programs. This month the PAL Members’ Exhibition is showcasing work by local artists associated with PAL, featuring a collection of paintings, drawings, photographs, prints and sculptures.

The ambiance of the main gallery is wonderful — quaint, calm and laid-back, detached from the bustle of downtown Palo Alto.  Silence blankets the room, bar the rhythmic scratch of paintbrush against canvas, as student artists determinedly hone their skills. The walls of the gallery are crammed full with canvases and framed drawings from a selection of different artists. Showcasing the pieces in this manner highlights the nuances of each artist’s style. PAL instructor Janet Bartlett Goodman’s hard-edged, technical drawings are juxtaposed with various brightly colored, abstract landscape paintings, and freeform watercolor compositions. Visitors are free to browse the assortment of works on display at their leisure as well as observe classes that are taking place.

The corridor gallery of the facility houses a collaborative exhibition of drawings and paintings by Jon Haag and Brian Sal Corral, a pair of Palo Alto-based artists. Haag’s stylized, deliberately composed portraits are a bold complement to Corral’s works, which combine a colorful palette with flowing paint strokes to explore human movement and gesture. In particular, Corral’s Olympic series explores the human figure through gesture and color in order to represent the human endeavor “to lift more and higher.”

PAL is a manifestation of the Bay Area’s thriving arts scene. Spaces like this help cultivate creative minds and allow them to contribute to the distinct local flavor of Palo Alto.

The PAL Member’s Exhibition is on view until Jan. 29, 2015, at 668 Ramona Street, downtown Palo Alto.

Contact Eric Huang at eyhuang ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Eric Huang is a junior at Stanford University hailing from Irvine, California. An aspiring computer science major and art practice minor, Eric's passion for visual arts manifests itself not only in his practice, but also in his writing. To contact Eric, shoot him an email: [email protected].

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