MUSEUM'S HIGH JINX;EXPANSION PLANS, EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AND GENEROUS DONORS AT CENTER OF GALA

About 300 guests at a benefit and gala party for the Sonoma County Museum's

20th anniversary attended a classy downtown block party Saturday evening

expected to raise $40,000.

Some in attendance remembered the early tenuous days of trying to get the

museum going.

''I remember the hesitation of thinking 'what have we done? Is it going to

go?''' said Don Silverek, who was on the Bicentennial Commission that helped

foster the museum. ''Some thought if it lasts a couple years, it would be a

good run for the money. But here it is. It's exciting and fun. I'm happy.''

High Jinx, the gala and fine art auction with food, wine and music, took

over the block-long stretch in front of the museum Saturday with the street

closed to traffic.

Money raised by Saturday's event will go primarily toward operating the

museum's education program, which buses in 4,000 schoolchildren annually for

tours.

The program also provides traveling exhibits to classrooms and senior

residential facilities.

Saturday was also a time to honor the big donors behind the museum's

expansion plans and highlight the status of the fund-raising efforts.

The guests of honor were developers and arts patrons Hugh and Connie

Codding, whose gift of $500,000 five years ago remains a cornerstone of the

fund for a $30 million museum expansion. About $7 million has been raised or

pledged so far.

Fund-raising efforts lost momentum the past few years because of the

downturn in the economy. ''We hit quite a few bumps after the dot-com bust,''

said Executive Director Ariege Arseguel. ''Pledges were rescinded. But we have

regrouped and are coming back.''

Plans call for expanding the museum complex to a full block of Seventh

Street. Museum officials hope to start construction of the first phase, a $12

million to $15 million exhibition hall west of the museum, by 2007.

A storage warehouse and cafe is also in the works. The project calls for

expanding east of the museum into Conklin Brothers Floorcoverings, which has a

lease until 2012.

Marlene Ballaine, former acting executive director of the museum, said the

museum provides a place for the community to recognize its historical and

artistic importance.

''For a community to see itself in an institution is very important,'' she

said.

''The museum is critically important to the cultural health of downtown and

Sonoma County,'' said West County artist Bill Wheeler, who donated one of his

paintings for the benefit auction.

Santa Rosa attorney Steve Turer said the Sonoma County Museum has matured.

''They're making it into a first-class museum,'' he said.

The museum opened in January 1985 and is housed in Santa Rosa's 1910

downtown post office, which was relocated from Fifth and A streets to the site

on Seventh Street in 1979.

The museum is marking its 20th anniversary with ''Sonoma Confidential:

Stories from the Archives,'' running through July 10. It includes photographs

from the museum's permanent collection and video excerpts from Press Democrat

columnist and historian Gaye LeBaron's oral history archives. LeBaron and her

husband John, a photographer and retired junior college instructor, served as

co-curators.

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You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 521-5214 or

cmason@pressdemocrat.com.