New exhibition christens ‘Ship of Dreams’

Opening at Sonoma Museum of Art with a April 28 reception are “Ship of Dreams: Artists, Poets, and Visionaries of the S.S. Vallejo” and “Her View: The Bay Area Figuration of Gail Chadell Nanao.”

The party, with live music and the first look at the shows, is from 6 to 8 p.m. The two gallery shows are up through June 10.

The exhibition “Ship of Dreams: Artists, Poets and Visionaries of the S.S. Vallejo” revisits the era when an old ferry boat was an important artistic and cultural hub.Moored on the north side of Sausalito, California in 1949, the ship became the dynamic home for artists, musicians and literary luminaries such as Gordon Onslow Ford, Alan Watts, Jean Varda, Allen Ginsberg, Wolfgang Paalen and many others.

Also showing is “Her View: The Bay Area Figuration of Gail Chadell Nanao,” the first solo retrospective of the Berkeley-based artist associated with the Bay Area Figurative movement of the 1950s. Nanao had important early exhibitions of her work in New York and Tokyo in the 1960s, but dropped from the public eye until the early 2000s when her work was rediscovered.

Regular museum hours are Wednesdays through Sundays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5 general, free for students. 551 Broadway. Svma.org.