HISTORY OF THE COLLECTIVE
The Collective is not strictly speaking an organization, but a loose association of local and visitor artists and scores of outstanding local male and female models. It works strictly on a drop-in basis, without instruction, solely for the purpose of serious study. It was initiated as an independent and more-or-less shoestring operation by Ron Arthaud in 1990, using Mendocino Art Center studios. Under Ron’s nurturance there formed a core group of artists committed enough to carry the regular mixed-pose workshop through its subsequent incarnations.

When Ron moved to France in 1992, Don Koubek volunteered his own studio to sustain the life drawing sessions, floating the group back to the Art Center in 1993. At that time Bob Ross engaged the support of the Art Center to provide ongoing studio space, effectively ending its orphanhood. He directed the new situation for two years, then transferred its guidance to Bill Martin, who organized the group as a collective and who has maintained its vitality to this day.

During the early years, the workshop just managed to keep afloat. Funds were collected from participating artists on a drop-in basis, barely sufficient to pay the models and compensate the Art Center for maintenance and heat. Since the early 90s, participation has become increasingly committed, and the reputation of the Collective has spread. Despite consistently low drop-in fees and regular increases in models’ salary, the collective has become sufficiently solvent to raise thousands of dollars for the Art Center.

The Mendocino Figure Drawing Collective mounts biennial exhibits at the Mendocino Art Center, and recently had its fourth annual exhibit at Scharffenberger Cellars in Philo, CA. These exhibits, and the work of Collective members shown at this website, were all created in the traditional cause of rendering the human body, and would generate appeal as artifacts of study alone. Yet each drawing manifests the spirit and particular vision of its author, transcending its origin in study and ultimately testifying to the beauty and power of the drawing process, and to the exquisite architecture, expressiveness and nobility of the human form.