Rene di Rosa started collecting Bay Area art over forty years ago. In that time, he and his wife, Veronica, put together a massive collection of works by some of the area's most renowned artists. In August 2008, GALLERY CRAWL took a trip to the di Rosa Preserve in Napa Valley to chat with curator Michael Schwager and to check out a few of the nearly 2,200 works of art in all media -- by more than 900 Bay Area artists -- in the preserve's permanent collection.

The preserve is a gift to the public from Rene di Rosa and continues his mission, promoting emergent and provocative Bay Area art through the rotating exhibitions at the Gatehouse Gallery. in August 2008, Schwager put together THERE! NEW ART FROM OAKLAND, after an exhaustive hunt deep into Oakland's thriving art scene. The show features the work of twenty emerging artists and includes multiple media, from painting to photography to twine.