Cultural & Fine Arts

Sonoma Valley's rich history, beautiful scenery, and small-town vibe have inspired a thriving arts community.  The volunteer members of the City's Cultural and Fine Arts Commission (CFAC) help to develop programs to promote, enrich, and advance the cultural and fine arts in Sonoma.

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The City's core service provider for arts and cultural programming is the Sonoma Community Center, which offers classes in ceramics, fiber arts, visual arts, culinary arts, and music, as well as programs and camps for youth. The City also provides financial support to the Sebastiani Theatre Foundation to support building renovation and programming, and partners with other local arts organizations on various initiatives.  Listings for these and other local arts and cultural organizations can be found in our community  Recreation & Parks Directory. We invite you to explore!

The most recent public art exhibition was "A Delicate Balance", presented as a partnership between the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art and the City of Sonoma. The installation on Sonoma Plaza included eight large-scale sculptures by four major artists from diverse backgrounds.

Previous public art installations have included the Heart of Sonoma artist series and The Love In the Air community gratitude project.

The Sonoma Valley Arts Task Force is an ad hoc organization formed in March 2020, shortly after the COVID-19 Shelter-In-Place order began. Since then, 25 local nonprofit organizations committed to building community through the power of creativity worked together to launch the Heart of Sonoma initiative and Summer Arts Stroll to keep the community inspired and connected through creating and sharing art during the pandemic. This unprecedented effort not only succeeded in bringing more art to our community, but has also allowed team members to share ideas and strategies on how organizations can continue to work together in the future.

Sonoma Art Walk is a monthly, community-wide celebration of Sonoma’s vibrant business community and outstanding local artists. The Art Walk is a partnership of the City of Sonoma with the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce, Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau, Sonoma Community Center, Arts Guild of Sonoma, and the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art. For details and a list of participating businesses and artists please visit the Sonoma Art Walk website. Note: this program is currently on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CFAC also selects one or more local students each year to receive the Student Creative Artist Award.

In honor of Earth Day, the City holds an annual Photo Contest encouraging shutterbugs to submit photos capturing  their favorite natural spot, plants or creatures in Sonoma.

View the past award winners and entries on our Photo Contest pages.