RAA PROGRAM with Jonathon Corbridge - Everything you wanted to know about GOURDS.

Everything you wanted to know about gourds by Jonathon Corbridge. Redlands Art Association puts on a Program on the 4th Tuesday of the month, September through May. We bring you educational lectures, fun artsy topics, and instructional demonstrations. Jonathon Corbridge will talk to us about GOURDS on Tuesday, March 25, 2025 from 7 to 9pm at the RAA Art Gallery & Educational Center, downtown, Redlands. The gourd is one of humanity’s earliest domesticated plants. As useful, hardy plants, gourds piggybacked on humanity, out of Africa spreading across Asia, the Middle East, across Polynesia, the Hawaiian Islands, and even the Americans, gourds traveled with humans as they spread across the globe, making it to the Americas thousands of years before Europeans first set foot here. Gourds come in edible varieties called squash (such as zucchini, butternut, and pumpkin) and other hard, noneditable varieties. The hard varieties have waterproof shells and natural shapes that make for great, natural containers and even musical instruments. Over 1000s of years, people started to decorate gourds the way they decorated other personal items. Like pottery and clothing, decorated gourds took on personal and ritual meaning. Today, gourds have become their own unique art medium. The outside of gourds are similar to wood, and can take paints, stains, and inks. The hard exteriors allow for fine detail carving, the insides are soft and take well to sculpting and sanding. Corbridge will show you the specialty tools for carving, and the paints, stains, and inks. He’ll also explore examples of gourd-based art from a variety of artists, in a variety of styles.

Join us at the RAA Gallery, 215 E. State St, downtown Redlands, Tuesday, March 25, from 7 - 9 pm. No charge – Public welcome.