ALAN BUTLER

SANTA ROSA --

Copperfield’s Books welcomes local artist and renowned architect Alan Butler to Santa Rosa in celebration of his stunning new book - The Petaluma River: A Sketch Journal and Brief Historical Overview

Join us for a warm discussion, audience QA and book signing. Registration recommended.

**Books will be available for purchase at the event.

Immerse yourself in the captivating history and scenic beauty of the Petaluma River with this hardbound book by Alan Butler and Katherine J. Rinehart.

Spanning 144 pages, The Petaluma River is a compilation of sketches, photographs, and watercolors by architect and artist Alan Butler, showing the Petaluma River as it reveals itself today. With his collaborator, historian Katherine J. Rinehart, the book intertwines artwork with historical photographs and research about the river from the early indigenous settlements up to present times. Explore the rich tapestry of this iconic waterway through the lens of an architect and artist, complemented by a historian's narrative.

A must-have for art enthusiasts, history buffs, and anyone enchanted by the region's allure!

Author:

Alan Butler is a longtime resident of Santa Rosa, California. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California Sant Cruz in 1971 focusing on sculpture and photography. He went on to earn a Master of Architecture degree at University of Oregon. Returning to Santa Rosa Alan joined the architectural firm Lawry Coker DeSilva in Santa Rosa, California in 1985 and became a firm principal of the successor firm TLCD Architecture in 1995. The focus of his work was architecture for colleges and other institutions of higher education with a strong emphasis on college library design. He is architect of record for the initial phase of the Santa Rosa Junior College Petaluma Campus and the Doyle Library on the main campus in Santa Rosa. Alan retired from TLCD Architecture in 2018 after a 33-year career.

Alan has continued with his photography and sketched architecture and urban environments during his travels. Just before retirement he discovered an archive of nearly 2,000 well preserved photographs of Northern Japan taken by his father in 1951. They have been exhibited in Japan and now are in the collection of the Peabody Museum at Harvard University. The photographs continue to be viewed by many in Japan and worldwide at the website www.miyagi1951.com.

For a dozen years, particularly during the pandemic lockdowns, Alan began to visit the Petaluma River. He found the Petaluma River to be rich sketching environment with feed mills, housing, commercial and industrial lining the river. In 2023 he compiled a book of sketches and historical information in a limited-edition book: Journey Down the River. His sketches and watercolors of Petaluma and Japan can be found at www.sonoma-sketcher.com.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Copperfield’s Books, 775 Village Court, Santa Rosa, United States