Donna Bero at The Art Bloc Sausalito
The Art Bloc Sausalito is honored to host the work of Donna Bero for Marin Open Studios 2026. Donna will be present at the gallery to meet visitors and share her work on Saturday and Sunday, May 2 and 3, and again Saturday and Sunday, May 9 and 10, from 11:00am to 4:00pm.
Donna Bero Short Bio
Donna Bero has been making art since she was eight years old. Growing up in California, with its vibrant light and varied landscapes, she wanted to find her own way of interpreting it. She studied under Wayne Thiebaud and other influential California artists at UC Davis and UC Berkeley, and carries their passion for color with her in her own work.
After college, while raising two children in San Francisco, she launched a window display business, Art in Space, before building a career guiding non-profit agencies in support of public parks, libraries, and education. Over that time she raised millions of dollars and led broad public advocacy campaigns for projects such as restoring the Conservatory of Flowers and windmills in Golden Gate Park, rebuilding 24 neighborhood public libraries, and a variety of environmentally based educational programs.
In 2017 she decided to reestablish her focus on art and enrolled in classes at College of Marin, where she learned from wonderful, dedicated instructors who became true mentors. She has shown her art locally at the Marin Art and Garden Center, the Marin County Fair, various galleries in San Francisco, and with Marin Open Studios.
Donna lives in Mill Valley with her husband, geologist David Bero. Together they find equal inspiration on Mount Tamalpais.
Artist Statement 2026
My work starts from reality: scenes around my home in Marin, and from travels, particularly the small French villages of Provence. These are places of great beauty and meaning to me, with their richness of color and distinct sense of place, and they are inspirational in a thousand ways. Mount Tamalpais with its pale hillsides bounded by deep green windbreaks, the ocean in the distance, an often fogbound sky. And ancient villages surrounded by vineyards, olive groves, and flowering cherry trees, all carrying such deep history.
I begin with an image rooted in this corporeal world, then work it into abstractions of light and color, shapes, and relationships within the composition. Working in pastels has opened up the potential of vibrant color and endless combinations, which can create unexpected drama, while living in Marin offers limitless inspiration for new exploration.