An Art Exhibit by the Book Club at Van Kleef's
About
The Piedmont Center for the Arts is proud to present “The Book Club at Van Kleef’s: For the Love of Art,” a dynamic group exhibition showcasing the work of nineteen artists. Running on select weekends from August 15 through September 20, 2026, the exhibition honors a multi-decade legacy of creative community. The roots of the exhibition date back to circa 2005 at Oakland’s landmark Café Van Kleef, where a loosely knit cadre of mid-career artists began a tradition of meeting to discuss art, life, and politics. Dubbed “The Book Club,” this group grew into a vital incubator for the regional creative scene. The exhibiting artists represent an extraordinary lineage of West Coast art. Many studied during the mid-sixties and early seventies under iconic American master educators and luminaries, including Peter Voulkos, Elmer Bischoff, Wayne Thiebaud, Harold Paris, Robert Bechtle, and Stephen Destabler. “For the Love of Art” serves as both a testament to those foundational influences and an exploration of how these nineteen individual voices have evolved over the last twenty years. Featured Artists: Michael Almaguer, Mark Ashworth, Robert Bagnasco Murray, Gary Burgess, Suzanne Anderson Carey, Keith Ferris, Jim Finnegan, Cameron Fletcher, David Gerard \(King Shrubb\), Joshua Greenberg, Robert Hernandez, Rose Kelly, Fred Kling, Bob Laney, Hillary Turner, Heike Schmid, Norton Wisdom, and Thomas Young.
