Fresno Famous

Fall is in full swing, a blur of holidays from now until 2006. November's Art Hop offers a moment to reflect before plunging full bore into the Christmas season.

Start your night off in the Cultural Arts District, the neighborhood formerly known as Uptown.

Brand new to Art Hop is Scarab Glassworks. The artisan shop has been on the corner of Divisadero and Broadway for 27 years, offering classes for hobbyists and professionals alike. Take the opportunity to explore the workshop, with its handmade Tiffany lamps, large stained glass pieces, and intricate beadwork. Scarab specializes in restoration and architectural glass. Owner Susanne Clarke has arranged for a torchwork bead demonstration, which produces dazzling glass beads. A visit while the sun is still out creates dazzling indoor sparkles.

If you weren't one of the thousands to pay your respects to Rosa Parks in Washington, DC or Detroit, stop by the African American Museum on Art Hop. A memorial to the civil rights pioneer will be held from 6pm to 7:30pm. While you're there, check out the permanent collection of photos and artifacts of Fresno freedom fighters.

Next travel a few blocks south to Arte Americas, which just celebrated its tenth anniversary last week. It's your last chance to catch this year's Dia de los Muertos exhibit: DEADications. Featuring 25 memorial alters, the exhibit puts a modern twist on the Day of the Dead tradition. Also closing is the Simon Silva exhibit. Silva is a popular painter who work primarily with colorful migrant images.

Head over to Bill Bruce Studio for a party compliments of Fresno State's KFSR. The station will be providing the tunes, and Bill will be exhibiting his new pieces. Since the artist is also a jazz DJ, you can bet the music won't disappoint.

This month at Club Jinnaka three ceramic artists take the stage in a celebration of clay. Jaime Arvizu, Rennon Fielding, Richard Rosas and Geoffrey Spach have a combined 75 years experience in ceramics. ''Firing Imaginations'' aims to increase awareness of ceramic arts in the Valley, and features sculpture, paintings, drawings, and mixed media.

Be sure to stop at Broadway Studios, where the ever-morphing building walls are some of the best art. Most of the 25 artist studios will be open, showcasing work from traditional paintings to craftsman shoes, to graffiti art. A new sculpture has been installed on the roof, and we hear there might be flames involved. Broadway stays open late.

On your way down to the Mono Street hub, stop at Janzen Idea Corp on Van Ness and Tulare. This new stop will feature the work of Anne Olsen Daub, a Fresno native who has returned to exhibit her paintings and mixed media. A former designer for Mattel, Daub has designed clothing for Barbie! She calls her current work "an exploration".

This month at Gallery 25 Joan Krejcar Sharma and Jenn Figg exhibit their work in "Resonance." Sharma, a design professor at Fresno State, "created a series of luminous abstractions that silently resonate with energy and express subtle aspects of natural forces." Krejcar explores the mechanics of flesh: "revealed is a poetics of rupture, cracked and broken desert plates. Figg's work, then, explores sexuality as a crossroads, where we confront that which is both most desirous and repulsive." Fig Tree Gallery around the corner will feature paintings by Juliana Harris.

Keep heading south on Van Ness to Chris Sorensen's studio. The 3rd annual Nudes in November will showcase paintings, drawings, metal work, and mixed media centered around a central theme: the nude.

Cap off your Art Hop night at 3 Brush Gallery. "American Gothic: Tattoo You" features the photographs of Johnny Stafford. Stafford captures people with interesting and unique tattoo work. Complimenting the photos will be an exhibit by Bobbysox Tattooing and paintings by Josh Wigger and Eatcho. If you don't make it during Art Hop, come out on Friday for a serious art party with live tattooing, DJ Frank D, and live music by Variation.