Though she is officially retired, Monday afternoon found local artist Linda Levy hard at work. For the former research scientist, “work” now entails running the Santa Cruz Mountains Art Center, rather than a chemistry laboratory.
The self-described “Jill-of-all-trades” has created art in one medium or another for more than 50 years, following in the footsteps of her painter grandfather and great-grandfather before her.
Levy has made, among other things, traditional paintings, digital paintings, ceramics and jewelry.
Before she retired, she described her artwork as a counterbalance to her career.
“It’s in my blood,” Levy said. “If you don’t paint, you go crazy.”
Levy has been involved with the Santa Cruz Mountains Art Center for more than 15 years, well before it gained its dedicated headquarters in Ben Lomond.
The art center got its start in 1987, as a committee of the Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County with the stated goal to “support and encourage the arts through education, exhibition and cultural activities, reflecting the unique and diverse environment of the mountain communities.”
It was awarded nonprofit status in November 1997.
When Levy first became involved with the art center, she taught life-drawing classes at the Highlands Park Senior Center in Ben Lomond.
When the powers that be at the senior center expressed discomfort at the idea of nude models in the drawing classes, Levy said, she and her students were asked to move.
That’s when Jim and Barbara Thomas stepped in, allowing the arts group to rent space in their Ben Lomond coffeehouse, The Gathering Place, for what Levy described as a “dirt-cheap” price.
The former coffeehouse, at 9341 Mill St., quickly became a gathering place for the arts community, offering for the first time a centralized place for artists to display their work, teach classes and perform on the outdoor stage in the rear of the building.
Levy noted the difference the new building created, saying that when she first became involved, she would often see local artists struggling to display their work “wherever they could find the space.”
The art center rented the space until 2003, when the Thomas family decided to gift-deed the property to the group, making it its own landlord.
Now, Levy, long active on the Santa Cruz Mountains Art Center’s board of directors, serves as its unofficial director, overseeing projects, writing grants, arranging galleries and representing the center on the Cultural Council Associates.
The latest gallery Levy has worked on opened Wednesday, Jan. 12. Titled “In the Creative Spirit,” the gallery features the work of several local artists: jewelry, ceramics, paintings, basketry, glass, wood and textiles, some created by Levy herself.
The opening reception will run from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 14, free and open to the public.
“We’re community-based, and we serve the community,” Levy said.
For information: www.mountainartcenter.org.
