Dunn’s Nancy Yaki Featured in News Article
Yaki’s depiction of Lake Cachuma
Dunn’s Nancy Yaki, fine arts instructor and professional artist, was recently recognized in news reports for her contribution of an oil painting of Lake Cachuma supporting local vineyard and farm workers. The news article, as published in the Santa Ynez News follows:
People Helping People (PHP) and 12 local artists are partnering to help each other and local vineyard and farm workers at the second annual Vino de Suenos (Wine of Dreams) Release Celebration.
The event, which begins at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Santa Ynez Marriott, will feature original art adapted to wine labels for PHP’s Vino de Suenos brand. The originals will also be available for purchase in a silent auction.
The artists’ works adorn premium varietal wines from Santa Barbara County vintners including Alma Rosa, Au Bon Climat, Buttonwood, Cold Heaven, D’Alfonso-Curran, Fiddlehead, Foxen, Hitching Post, Kalyra, Longoria, Makor and Vogelzang Wineries.
Each of the wineries has donated 10 cases of wine for tasting and sale to raise funds to support the services PHP furnishes to vineyard and farm workers.
Dean Palius, executive director of PHP, said that this is a unique event that draws together two groups of artists — winemakers and painters/photographers — to help a group of workers that are the backbone of an industry critical to the local economy.
“This event has great energy and synergy,” Palius said. “We are able to promote local artists and the wine industry that are in turn able to donate their work to benefit PHP and the vineyard and farm workers we serve,” Palius said. “It’s clearly a win/win for the entire community."
Artists participating in the 2009 Vino de Suenos Release Celebration include Kari Crist, Darby Holden, Christianna Hunnicutt, Christina Locascio, Alissa Massey, Zoe Nathan, Karina Puente, Luis Ramirez, Joel Serrato, Suzi Trubitz, Jose Villa, Nancy Yaki, and Seyburn Zorthian.
According to Puente, one of the Vino de Suenos artists and the art coordinator for the event, an addition for this year’s fund raising is that each label artist will also be hand painting a bottle of the wine adorned with their label art. The one-of-a-kind “artist” bottles will also be available at the event auction.
One of the new local artists participating in this year’s event is Yaki, a recent transplant to the area from Alaska via Arizona. She is a fine arts instructor at Dunn School in Los Olivos.
“I wanted to be one of this year’s artists as soon as I heard about the event,”
Yaki said. “Helping vineyard and farm workers here local-ly is a great cause and while
I do not have a lot of money to donate, I do have my work.”
Yaki’s depiction of Lake Cachuma is memorialized on the wine of Bruno D’Alfonso and Kris Curran.
“Now a resident of the Santa Ynez Valley, I naturally felt an affinity with Lake Cachuma,” Yaki said. “This piece of work represents the synergy I feel when all the elements are present — the water, the land, the light and my perception all engaged in a lyrical dance."
