DeLoach Vineyards and Academy of Art University in San Francisco Join Forces to Create New Art

Nov. 16, 2009 - PRLog -- Russian River Valley, CA-Boisset Family Estates is pleased to announce another unique collaboration with Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Art inspired by and created at DeLoach Vineyards' bucolic location in California's Russian River Valley by Academy of Art University students and professors is now on display at the winery and available for purchase. Proceeds from the sale of the DeLoach-inspired art are directed to the artist with a portion allocated to Academy of Art University's scholarship program.

"In the wine world, we talk about terroir - the land - as inspiration for great wine, which I believe is also great art. To share the same terroir that inspired me to want to make Pinot Noir wine in America with the talented artists from Academy of Art University has been a wonderful experience," shares Jean-Charles Boisset, President of Boisset Family Estates and Proprietor of DeLoach Vineyards. "We feel privileged to have the exceptional work of these local artists enriching the winery; we hope that by offering the winery as a gallery for their work, more people will be exposed to their art and the immense creativity and passion that emanates from the Academy of Art."

Over 80 pieces of art were created as part of this project. Mediums were diverse - from oil on canvas paintings to mixed media sculptures with steel and recycled wine bottles. To further encourage the artists' creativity, DeLoach offered items such as cow horns, an essential part of the vineyard's biodynamic preparation, and 10 Liter barrels from its new barrel-to-barrel program as materials for sculptures and canvases for painting. The painted barrels have generated so much excitement that discussions are currently underway to bring these into interested on-premise accounts.

DeLoach Vineyards and the Academy of Art University announced this program with a gallery opening and week-long exhibit at 79 Gallery in San Francisco's SoMa district in mid-September. Today, the art adorns the walls of the winery and will remain there indefinitely. An online gallery of all the artwork is also available online here.

"Our artists and designers are always sparked by the opportunity to connect with creative passion, which is so abundant at DeLoach Vineyards," says Dr. Elisa Stephens, President of Academy of Art University. "Artists challenge all of us to see the world a little differently, much as DeLoach Vineyard has encouraged us to rethink the making and packaging of wine."

DeLoach's history of partnering with Academy of Art University began in 2007 with a scholarship competition for students from all Academy disciplines that repurposed the eco-friendly packaging material from French rabbit, Boisset's 1 Liter vintage-dated, premium wine in Tetra Prisma containers. In 2008, an MFA class of the School of Design and Academy of Art University completed a semester-long project in which they created a multi-media presentation for DeLoach's proprietor, Jean-Charles Boisset, to present at CompostModern 2008 highlighting Boisset's commitment to sustainability that extends from its organic farming methods to pioneering efforts in wine packaging. Earlier this year, DeLoach Vineyards commissioned Peter Schifrin, Director of the School of Fine Art Sculpture at Academy of Art University, to create a sculpture for the winery's picnic area.

Schifrin's sculpture, Earth and Sky, is an eighteen-foot bronze monument celebrating the human spirit in its relationship to the earth and its celestial skies. Sculptor Schifrin describes, "DeLoach Vineyards is committed to biodynamic agriculture which embraces a spiritual, organic, and scientific relationship with farming. It nourishes and heals the earth. My sculpture is created as a symbol honoring that effort. I offer works as visual mnemonics affirming life -- reminders to seize the day." DeLoach Vineyards has been undergoing a conversion from conventional to biodynamic farming and will release its first biodynamic wine in 2010 from the property.

About DeLoach Vineyards
DeLoach Vineyards has been making terroir-driven wines in the Russian River Valley since 1975 and is a pioneer in Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Zinfandel. In late 2003, Boisset Family Estates, the U.S. importer for family-owned Boisset, La Famille des Grands Vins, purchased DeLoach Vineyards, citing the Russian River Valley as California's most expressive terroir for cultivating Burgundian varietals. Since joining the Boisset family of wineries, DeLoach has reduced production and improved quality, expanded its allocated single-vineyard program, and converted its estate vineyards to a rigorous organic and biodynamic farming regiment, receiving CCOF Organic Certification in 2008. DeLoach has adopted green practices throughout the winery, using an innovative membrane bio-reactor to purify water from wine-making to be re-used in the vineyards. Located at 1791 Olivet Road in Santa Rosa, the DeLoach Vineyards tasting room and organic garden are open to the public daily from 10:00 am to 5:00 p.m. For more information, visit www.deloachvineyards.com.

About Peter Schifrin
Peter Schifrin has created several large-scale public commissions including twelve-foot bronze, Play Sky in Sonoma County (2009), twenty-foot bronze Full Sky for award-winning Junto Farm in New York (2008), bronze Coyotes in downtown San Jose, bronze Firefighter in San Ramon, nine-foot bronze Wounded Man for the city of San Mateo's Performing Arts Center and two twenty-two foot bronze monuments Confluence and Skyward at 491 Post Street in San Francisco, commissioned by the Academy of Art University. Schifrin is represented by Sculptursite Gallery in San Francisco and New Leaf Gallery in Sonoma, and is also Director of the School of Fine Art Sculpture at the Academy of Art University. His work is highlighted in a hardcover monograph, Love and Fear: The Sculpture of Peter Schifrin with an accompanying film on DVD. Schifrin received his MFA in sculpture from Boston University and his BA from San Jose State University. Schifrin was a member of the 1984 U. S. Olympic Team in Fencing and was inducted into San Jose State University's Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.  Please view his work at www.peterschifrin.com and www.mudpoet.com.

About Academy of Art University  
With nearly 16,000 students, Academy of Art University is the nation's largest private art and design university.  Established in 1929, the school offers accredited AA, BA, BFA, MA, M.Arch and MFA programs in 15 different majors, as well as continuing art education, with classes in Advertising, Animation & Visual Effects, Architecture,  Fashion, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Illustration, Industrial Design, Interior Architecture & Design, Motion Pictures & Television, Multimedia Communications, Photography and Web Design & New Media. Game Design and Music for Visual Media are the school's newest majors, offering AA, BFA and MFA degrees. Students can also enroll in flexible online degree programs in most majors. Academy of Art University is an accredited member of WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges), NASAD, Council for Interior Design Accreditation (BFA-IAD) and NAAB (M-ARCH). For more information, visit www.academyart.edu or call 1-800-544-2787.

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