These two trunks hold powerful stories of movement and trade. The red trunk journeyed through Russia and once served as a step at a Sitka outpost, part of the Russian expansion that led to Fort Ross on the Sonoma Coast in 1812 ⁠

Part 3. Though the formal school lasted only a few years, Wildenhain remained for decades, teaching pottery. ⁠ Pond Farm’s story is a testament to Sonoma County as a refuge for visionaries, a place where art, history, and resilience intertwine.⁠

Part 2. Their travels to Europe in 1939 brought them to potter Marguerite Wildenhain, a Bauhaus-trained artist fleeing Nazi Germany, along with metalworker Victor Ries and fiber artist Trude Guermonprez. Together, they helped shape Pond Farm’s short‑lived but influential school.⁠ ⁠

Part 1. Near Guerneville, Pond Farm was founded in 1949 by architect Gordon Herr and writer Jane Herr as a school and sanctuary for artists. Inspired by the “back‑to‑the‑land” movement, they envisioned a rural colony where artists of all disciplines could create and teach away from urban pressures.⁠

We’re proud to announce an important recent addition to the Museum’s permanent collection: “Collection" by Chester Arnold. ⁠ ⁠ Come experience this monumental canvas - more than 8 feet high! - in our Collections Gallery. ⁠

Join us on June 28 from 5–7PM for the opening of Bruce Johnson: Sculptor—a powerful tribute to one of Sonoma County’s most visionary artists.⁠

Jack Stuppin, Summer, Elephant Mountain, 2010, oil on canvas, Gift of Diane Stuppin in memory of Jack Stuppin.⁠ ⁠

How do you save a historic post office from demolition?⁠ ⁠ You move it, stone by stone, all 1,700 tons of it, two blocks out of harm’s way.⁠ ⁠

Part 2. Activists, artists, and environmentalists united to halt the project, employing satire, protest, and people power to amplify their voices.⁠ They turned Reddy into a symbol of resistance, flipping his grin into a symbol of protest. The plant was never built, and Bodega Head was saved.

Part 1. Meet Reddy Kilowatt, once the cheerful face of PG&E 🔌 But during the early 1960s, as PG&E pushed to build a nuclear power plant right on the edge of Bodega Head, a seismically active cliff above the Pacific — locals weren’t having it.

Join us tomorrow from 11:30 am-1:30 pm at the Museum to see some visiting feathered friends as part of our Second Saturday program. Free admission all day long!

Our newest interactive installation, The Tasting Table, invites you to explore the world of wine through touch, taste, and technology. Join us Fridays through Sundays until June 8. Don’t miss your chance to experience wine like never before!⁠ ⁠

This exhibition honors the legacy of the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), the oldest and most influential fine arts school on the West Coast, which shut its doors in 2022 after 150 years of dynamic art making. Stop by the Museum of Sonoma County to catch it before it’s gone on June 8th.

🍷 Introducing The Wine Experience at the Museum of Sonoma County!⁠ We’re excited to unveil our newest interactive installation: The Tasting Table. Join us Fridays through Sundays, May 17 – June 8, and discover wine like never before.⁠ ⁠ ⁠

📬 We’re turning into a Post Office for a day!⁠ ⁠This Saturday, 5/10, from 11 AM to 2:30 PM, you can send mail from the museum, participate in scavenger hunts, make paper airplanes, create art, and more!⁠ ⁠ 💌 Free admission all day! ⁠

Featuring a stunning ¾-scale model of the plane that made the world’s first airmail delivery—right here in Sonoma County—this exhibit celebrates 175+ years of local postal history.

Meet Jenny! She’s our Membership & Development Associate here at the Museum of Sonoma County — and she’s part of what makes this place so special.

Located in the heart of downtown Santa Rosa, the Museum of Sonoma County is housed in the historic 1910 post office—a building that has witnessed generations of change.

Explore Sonoma County as it was in 1867 ⏳⁠ ⁠ This beautifully detailed wall map by A.B. Bowers is the earliest standalone map of Sonoma County.

UNRULY: Come see it at the Museum of Sonoma County through June 8, 2025.⁠ ⁠ This bold new exhibit honors the legacy of SFAI—once the oldest and most influential fine arts school on the West Coast—through the work of 18 North Bay artists who studied or taught there.⁠

The Museum of Sonoma County is celebrating 40 years!⁠

✈️ What’s that airplane doing here?! It’s in the Mail! 📬⁠ ⁠ Opened April 12 at the Museum of Sonoma County, this new exhibit features a stunning ¾-scale model of the first-ever airmail plane—flown right here in 1911 from Petaluma to Santa Rosa.⁠