The Healdsburg Plaza will once again be transformed into an expansive open-air gallery of sculpture, metalwork, glass art and painting—not just oils, but watercolor, acrylic, chalk and anything else that can make a two-dimensional space come alive. There will be fabric arts, woodworkers, ceramics and a hatmaker, some new to Healdsburg but many return participants, in the Healdsburg Arts Festival, 2025.
All of the 40-plus participants are described on the festival’s website at healdsburgcenterforthearts.org, with images of their work—alphabetically, from glassblower Samuel Aldridge to multi-media artist Lynn Wood, with many local talents familiar to Healdsburg shoppers.
The 40-plus participants in this year’s Arts Festival have each paid an exhibitor’s fee of $180 (single spot) and been “juried in” by the Healdsburg Center for the Arts (HCA), long a “cultural anchor in Healdsburg and for the surrounding communities and of the local artist community,” according to its website. Participants will set up their 10-foot-by-10-foot canopies on the Plaza’s footpath-and-grass acre on Saturday morning, Sept. 27, and be ready to greet foot traffic by the 10am opening.
They will all be selling their goods, though three nonprofits will be exhibiting this weekend too: the Raven Theater’s Healdsburg International Short Film Festival; Heartizens; and the Your River, Downtown project from Linus Lancaster and Hugh Livingston.
The presence of Heartizens, a school-age community of classes on a range of art and social skills, inevitably brings to mind its founder Jen Utsch, “Jendala,” who was a driving force in local art and education. She died on Feb. 19, 2025, in Arizona, so this will be the first Healdsburg Arts Festival without her in some time.
“She brought so much energy, creativity and joy to the arts scene here in Healdsburg, and Heartizens exists because of her vision and spirit,” said Tess Aston, Heartizens’ current executive director.
“We really, of course, miss Jen, personally as well as the presence of her art,” said Kathy Bridsong, herself an artist and once again director of the Arts Festival. “She has a lot of friends that are in this business.”
Several newer participants came to the Healdsburg Arts Festival last year, following the final year of the Bodega Arts & Seafood Festival in 2023. Janel Ciel, who ran that festival in addition to her management of the Healdsburg Certified Farmers’ Market, is now event manager of the Many Moons Festival on Oct. 4 in Sebastopol, celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander cultures.
Visitors to previous festivals may remember there was an emphasis on live music performance, but that’s been toned down. “It was hard on the art vendors because they couldn’t hear their customers,” said Birdsong. “So we’ve reduced the sound level so they can have better business.”
Only three musical groups will be scheduled, and all on the more acoustic side. One is the Healdsburg Ukulele Band, another is Dave Stare’s Trad Jammers and the third is solo guitarist Andrew Gator.
“It’s fine and good to have entertainment, but you know, ‘the arts’ is supposed to be what it’s about,” Birdsong said. And “the arts” is what will be on full display Saturday in the Healdsburg Plaza, from 10am to 6pm.
There will be a day-long HCA raffle with prizes of 20 pieces of artwork (paintings, photos, jewelry, ceramics). Tickets are on sale now at the gallery and during the festival for 1 for $5, 5 for $20. More information at healdsburgcenterforthearts.org.
