San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, October 5, 2001
Suzanne Pullen, Special to The Chronicle

"Calabash! A Celebration of Gourds, Art and the Garden," benefits Food For Thought, the Sonoma County AIDS food bank. This silent gourd-art auction also features music played on gourds, seasonal food and wine.

"I had no idea . . . there is a whole Sonoma County Gourd Society," said Stewart Scofield, Food For Thought's volunteer coordinator. "Some people do Jet Skiing, other people do gourds."

The idea for Calabash began as a suggestion from Doug Gosling, of Occidental Arts and Ecology, when he realized gourds flourished in the Forestville heat.

"Gourds are really beautiful when they hang from the vines," said Gosling. "We thought growing them would attract clients into the garden. Then I got this idea to get artists to work with the gourds we grew and then sell them for the food bank."

Scofield hopes that Calabash will raise enough money to cover the expenses of the garden.

"We'd love to raise $10,000," said Scofield. "But we also want to have fun. There is (a) whole element of silliness to this thing we're doing."

According to gourd artist John Rizzi, gourd art has changed in recent years.

"Gourds have been used as instruments, for food storage and as art for a long time," said Rizzi. "Years ago, they were used more as arts and crafts -- Santas and snowmen. But in the last 15 years, gourds have been moving up as a fine-art form, and gourd artists have been getting thousands of dollars for work."

While the idea of gourd art may cause some to giggle, Calabash is also a memorial tribute to local gourd artist Liz Cunningham, who died from complications of AIDS in 1995.

"Liz was an inspiration to artists in the gourd community and was an outspoken activist on behalf of women with AIDS," said Scofield. "She was an inspiration in the days when it was really dark and ugly in AIDS land."

Rizzi began working with gourds 10 years ago, in a class taught by Cunningham.

"Liz really loved working with the gourd," said Rizzi. "She was trying to expose more people to the gourd and really show it could be a medium for fine art."

Many of the 50 artists participating in Calabash have never worked with gourds before and are using gourds grown in the Food For Thought garden.

Rizzi has followed in Cunningham's footsteps by offering workshops for the nongourd artists, teaching them how to grow, clean, cure and cut the gourds and how to use different tools to craft them into art.

"These artists have totally blown me away," said Rizzi. "They have brought a part of the artwork they usually do into it (working with gourds) and expanded even what I thought of as gourd art."

Khysie Horn, owner of the Quicksilver Mining Company Art Gallery in Guerneville agreed.

"People have done some wonderful things with the gourds," Horn said. "Ellen Cheek is normally a fine-art jeweler. She took these 2-inch gourds, embellished them with silver and stood them on little bases. Then she polished gourd seeds, wrapped them with sterling wire and put them on chains so you can wear them as necklaces. And then she put the necklaces inside the gourds."

Rizzi said that many of the artists have been won over by the gourd and plan to continue incorporating them into their artwork.

"I think gourds are beautiful, organic," said Rizzi. "There are so many shapes and sizes that they lend themselves to artistic expression nicely."

For Gosling, the gourds are a means to an end.

"It's all about attracting people to Food For Thought so they can find out what it's all about," said Gosling.

Food For Thought was established in 1988 to provide nutritional support for people with AIDS. More than 450 clients are served each year; the youngest is 8 months old, the oldest over 65.

Two years ago, its garden in Forestville began as a collaboration with Occidental Arts and Ecology Center's Horticultural Therapy program. Volunteers plant and harvest produce from its organic garden to supplement groceries made available and often delivered to Food For Thought's homebound clients.

Scofield became HIV-positive before 1983 and believes that good nutrition is a key to maintaining health in the face of AIDS. While the garden may help keep his body in a state of healthiness, he says working at the food bank feeds his soul.

"You can't give away groceries without there being a spiritual and emotional component to that act, to food," said Scofield. "It helps fellow HIV- positive people make their lives better. There is a lifting of my spirit in doing that."

Scofield also sees Calabash as a way of extending the appreciation for the gourd beyond the garden.

"We're bringing together parts of the community that don't normally get together," said Scofield, "and celebrating the underdog of the vegetable world. "

On display Calabash, a celebration of gourds, art and the garden, includes a silent auction, garden tours, music, food and wine. 1-5 p.m. Sunday. $20 advance, $25 at the door. 6550 Railroad Ave. in Forestville. (707) 887-1647 or www.oaec.org/OAEC_Services.shtml.
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