Beyond
the Ashes
By Judith M. Wilson
T
he art is still standing at
Paradise Ridge Winery,
which is something of a
miracle, considering the events
of October 9, 2017. Before
dawn that Monday, the Tubbs
fire tore through northeast
Santa Rosa, leaving the winery’s
hilltop tasting room and
winemaking facility in ruins,
and yet somehow, the sculpture
in Marijke’s Grove and the
meadow survived, along with
the vineyards.
Marijke’s Grove, a four-acre
outdoor sculpture garden with
paths meandering through the
oak trees, and the meadow,
which houses Laura Kimpton’s
Love and David Best’s Temple
of Remembrance, are closed
for the moment. “It’s hard to
open the gates when we can’t
be there,” says co-owner Sonia
Byck-Barwick, but work to clear
the debris and plans to rebuild
the lost structures are underway,
and the property will reopen,
allowing guests to admire some
stunning art pieces in a natural
setting and sip Paradise Ridge’s
award-winning wines once
again. “It’s the wine; it’s the art
for us,” says Byck-Barwick. “The
heart of the winery is still intact.
It gives us hope.”
Walter Byck and the late Marijke
Byck-Hoenselaars purchased the
155-acre Russian-River property
in 1978 and raised their family
there. The winery opened in
1994, and the sculpture garden
came a year later. “My mother
Big Joe by Peter Forakis.
was running the winery, and my
father was looking for something
to do,” says Byck-Barwick. She
explains that her parents were
engaged in a sculpture garden in
Europe, and art was meaningful
to them, and one day while on
a walk, her father realized the
space would be an ideal spot
for sculpture. The first exhibit
opened in 1995, and in 2012,
the Byck family invited the Voigt
Family Sculpture Foundation
to curate a show, and that was
the beginning of a continuing
partnership.
Cairenn Voigt recalls that her
father-in-law, Al Voigt, had
passed away shortly before, and
the family didn’t feel ready to
make a long-term commitment,
but they offered to do one show
to see how it went. That first
show, a tribute to Al Voigt, was
The Spirit of the Man, and it
contained 40-odd sculptures and
stayed up for two years. “It was
a big success,” says Voigt, and
the two families had a wonderful
time working together and
decided to continue. The current
exhibit, Geometric Reflections,
curated by Kate Eilertsen, is
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Marin Arts & Culture