Galleries lend an artsy vibe to downtown Calistoga

By Julie Mitchell

For mud City times

Calistoga is famous for its mineral springs, wineries, shops, and restaurants, but the town is also home to a coterie of artists and art galleries. Oil and watercolor paintings, ceramics, and sculptures crafted primarily by Napa Valley artists are on display in Calistoga’s downtown galleries.

Calistoga’s newest gallery, Collings & Légère Art Gallery, is tucked around the corner off the town’s main street, Lincoln Avenue, on Washington Street. This intimate, bright space is a collaboration between two local impressionist artists: Marta Collings and Thérèse Légère.

The women met in 2022 and appreciated one another’s art.

“I live in Napa, and Therese had just moved to Calistoga,” said Collings. “She asked me if I would like to open a gallery together. But retail space in the valley is expensive. So, she said, ‘I’ll keep my eyes open.’ And she found this space just by talking with people in town.”

The gallery walls are flush with the artists’ brilliant, rich oil paintings and fabric art, almost all creations from Collings and Légère.

“We both love color,” Collings explained. “I work entirely with a palette knife, and Thérèse uses a brush; her work is almost mosaic-like.”

Both artists paint vineyards and other landscapes of Northern California. You might find the perfect painting of the wine country to take home. It’s worth a peek inside.

Collings & Légère Art Gallery, 1217 Washington St. https://artinnapa.com/

One of the most renowned galleries in Calistoga is the Yäger Galerie. Its founder Ira Yäger died in 2022, but his legacy lives on with his exquisite abstract and expressionist art collection. Yäger studied art in California before traveling to the Mediterranean, where the scenery in Greece sparked his passion for landscape painting.

Yäger Galerie, 1312 Lincoln Avenue https://irayeager.com/ Italian artist Carlo Marchiori

See GALLERIES page 12

CANARD Continued from page 9 sion of each varietal. Canard is dedicated to creating wines of distinction with an emphasis on quality over quantity.

Dry farming

Historically, most of the vineyards in the Napa Valley were dry farmed.

Canard’s old Zinfandel vines have always been dry farmed and it was about 18 years ago that Mother Nature had a lesson to teach. “We had really hot days and the vines were saggy and droopy,” Rich said, then he walked out to the Zinfandel vines, which were hydrated and “pumping away. I called our vineyard manager and said ‘Mother Nature is talking to us here.’ We weaned everything off water over a three-year period.” Today, he estimates the roots go down 30 to 40 feet. “If you use water, those roots will stay up here near the surface; if not, the vines are like a weed, they’ll find the water. We don’t water the vines on the property at all,” he added. It’s all dry farmed.

The challenges with farming the old Zinfandel vines are that they require a lot of hand labor, Rich said, “It’s mostly just a lot of work. We are constantly replanting; the vines are so old, you could knock them over with your hand. But they make a really good wine. Our feeling is you take care of the vineyard, 90 percent of the winemaking is done.”

Canard doesn’t buy any grapes, nor do they sell any, instead they use the grapes to make nine wines – all reds, because that’s what Rich likes. “We are organic, we’re not watering anything, we don’t put any chemicals on the vines, except sulphur, but it is organic. Your best environmentalists are small farmers, because they have to make a living off the land, they want to take care of it. Most of the valley is that way,” Rich said, although he adds he’s just talking about small farmers like himself.

As a gentleman farmer, Rich claims that the Napa Valley is the premiere wine growing region in the world. “I used to say we’re as good as the French, but now I say, we’re better. Year in and year out. When the French have really good weather, they make some really great wines, the Grand Crus, but we don’t have a weather problem here. From April until November, we don’t have rain. We don’t have to worry about it. Year in and year out, I think we have better wines.”

David Stoneberg is a freelance writer and former editor of the St. Helena Star

Garden Tour and Wine Tasting at Canard Vineyard

Saturday, May 13 | 1 to 4 p.m. 1016 Dunaweal Lane, Calistoga Garden tour & Canard wine tasting* = $75 Garden tour ONLY = $40

All ticket sale proceeds benefit the Sharpsteen Museum

For tickets: phone Pat Larsen at 707-341-3313 or at Canard Vineyard on May 13 *must be over 21 years old for wine tasting