DEC 5 - JAN 24TH 2026 

MEMBER PREVIEW: Friday, December 5, 5-6 PM

PUBLIC OPENING WEEKEND: Friday, december 6-8 PM

Saturday, December 6, 10-4 PM

Once a year, our studio becomes a gift-giver’s paradise: the Creative Growth Holiday Show. This beloved exhibition and sale features work by over 140 artists, in every medium and at every price point. There are thousands of artworks to see!

Join us for an exciting opening weekend on Friday, December 5th, from 5-8 PM and Saturday, December 6th, from 10 AM-4 PM.

Meet the artists, find one-of-a-kind pieces, and join the community that makes this historic event a Bay Area favorite.

ASL interpretation provided. Se proporcionará interpretación al español.

Learn more about accessibility at Creative Growth here. Contact Emma (emma@creativegrowth.org) for other access support and questions.

OPENING PARTY

FRIDAY NIGHT EVENT DETAILS: 

Friday, December 5th

MEMBER PREVIEW:  5-6 PM

PUBLIC OPENING PARTY: 6-8 PM

If you're looking for cheer, this night is for you! Get first pick on all the merry one-of-one original goodies available during the sale. 

Tables overflow with original works by every Creative Growth artist in the program. The studio comes alive with dancing, laughter, and music. Come ready to shop, dance, and celebrate.

Food and Beverages by Bar Chisme.

Food Menu :
- Mushroom Tostada

- Chili Colorado Frito Pie

- Pan Con Pollo Frito

SATURDAY EVENT DETAILS:

December 6th, 10 AM-4 PM

Looking for a more relaxed vibe? Saturday’s your day.

Enjoy the same incredible art and holiday spirit as opening night, just with smaller crowds and more time to explore, connect, and discover.

Food Menu :
- Classic (salted)
- Asiago
- Jalapeno & Cheddar
- Cinnamon Sugar
and maybe some surprises!

About Squabisch:

Squabisch is a Berkeley-based husband-and-wife-owned pretzel bakery that opened on Solano Avenue on January 1, 2022. We make Classic German (Swabian) pretzels as well as many different Special Variety pretzels, which vary week to week. In addition to our pretzels, we make pretzel roll sandwiches, pretzel rolls, and espresso drinks from HigherLand Coffee. We also teach pretzel-making classes in our bakery.

RICKY AGARVA

Born 1941

Practiced at Creative Growth Art Center since 1989

Rickie Algarva has an extraordinary ability to synthesize reality and fantasy, to which she credits “computer in [her] mind.” Activated by color and enclosed in bold black outlines, her shapes slide and vibrate around the page. Like all true Surrealists, Algarva has a host of motifs to call upon: hamburgers, flowers with wings, clocks, toy boxes, fish swimming out of faucets. Her austere figures, often seen from behind in Algarva’s “360-degree” perspective, give no indication that their surroundings are anything other than ordinary; they ride their bicycles with hamburger wheels and dance on clock-faces with serene expressions. 

"In my early 50’s I started making artwork from home just for myself, then in 1985 my sister introduced me to Creative Growth- that's when it really started! I go into a different space all together when I make art, I feel love. Art was my first love and Creative Growth was my second love.  I start a drawing by sketching in pencil where I want to put the people on the page. I like fantasy stories and magic things. I use my imagination to draw characters going backwards and forwards- people are walking away for a purpose - trying to get somewhere. Markers and pens help me to make definite lines and color on the page. And of course, my favorite color is all colors.  My ideas come from my head and heart, especially my heart. Well, also the stomach, you see all the food in my drawings? All the raviolis, carrots, apples, hamburgers and hotdogs that fly.  I can't eat hamburgers and hotdogs anymore because they are greasy and make you fat. They are flying away and out of reach. (laughter)  In the drawings you see the clocks? These represent time- that You only have so much time in this world and must enjoy this time and love everyone you come into contact with. Enjoy everyday as it comes. You also see the sun a lot in my drawings-  it keeps you warm and without it it would be a cold cold world. Art is therapeutic- it makes you forget all the bad things. It makes you happy instead of thinking about the horrible things- you have to be happy. The story I am telling is that I am happy  content with what I am doing. I'd like people to interpret the work as they wish, there is a story there but it doesn't have to be the story i am telling. Making art makes me feel good and like I can do something. I can be something- which I am - I am an artist."  - Ricky Agarva

**Rickie participates in our Alternative Services Program, which provides weekly in-home visits for artists who are unable to come to the Art Center. Through this program, facilitators like Veronica Rojas support artists by bringing Creative Growth’s services directly to them.
 

JOSEPH ALEF

Born 1981
Practiced at Creative Growth since 2001

Joseph Alef makes active paintings that radiate with energy. Blending an impressive array of colors with gestural and drip elements, Alef has created his own expressive visual language. Often beginning with delicate fields of color, Alef then integrates linear and distinct graphic elements that form sculptural effects. Alef has been a studio artist at Creative Growth since 2001, and devotes most of his time to painting, though he has also explored ceramics. Like his paintings, the abstract ceramic tablets he builds are deeply layered with organic abstractions and vibrant colors. Joseph's artwork is included in the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA).

I have been at Creative Growth for 22 years and my artwork keeps getting better. My artwork is mostly about colors. I used to put faces in my art and now it is all color and shapes. It is easier to get all of the emotions out without the people. I just used my imagination to create the colors, the shapes and the textures. I feel my style when I move the color with my hand and the paintbrush. I choose which acrylic paint colors, brushing on just a couple of colors. Yellow, blue, green, purple, pink and orange. I paint all over the paper. Once it dries, I use markers, Posca markers on top. Mostly I work on paper. Occasionally, I work on canvas and wood. But mainly paper. I think working on canvas is my favorite though. I use my imagination- my brain. I just imagine what I feel in my mind. All my pieces are different. People like the layers of paint and markers. It just makes me cry out of happiness. It makes me happy to make my artwork.  - Joseph Alef