by Lisa Butterworth

Last Friday, in the art gallery at the Maloof Foundation in Rancho Cucamonga, yoga teacher Michelle Dowd encouraged the folks gathered in front of her on yoga mats to spread their arms like the wings of a bird. “Like a condor,” said one participant, who happened to be the president of the Pomona Valley Audubon Society. It was a fitting metaphor: the walls of the gallery were adorned with work by the late artist and naturalist Nicki Marx, who used feathers to make vibrant wall pieces and wearable art.

It also exemplified the laid back nature of the yoga class, which was free and open to the public — a new weekly offering spearheaded by Dowd and fellow yoga teacher Tamar Baker, supported by the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts.

Dowd, who is also a writer, is no stranger to the Maloof campus. She celebrated the release of her memoir, “Forager: Field Notes for Surviving a Family Cult,” on the grounds when it came out in 2023 and has been teaching writing workshops there since. “Sam Maloof believed in living artfully, that art is a way of life, and I think that is important,” Dowd said.

Yoga instructor Tamar Baker pictured July 18 at a class at the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for the Arts and Crafts. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

Maloof, a looming figure in California’s modern craft movement, grew up in Chino and, with his wife Alfreda, an artist in her own right, worked and raised their family in Alta Loma. He’s best known for his exquisite craftsmanship, an ability to turn wood into functional pieces of art that live in well-appointed homes across the country and institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The Maloof Foundation was created in 1994, and established its current location in 2000, when the Maloof house and workshop, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, were moved to the base of the San Gabriel Mountains to avoid demolition during the construction of the 210 Freeway extension. The 5-1/2 acre site also includes thriving gardens and the Jacobs Education Center Gallery, to be enjoyed by anyone who visits. The foundation’s mission, according to their website, is “to perpetuate excellence in craftsmanship, encourage artists, and make available to the public the treasure house the Maloofs lovingly created.”

It’s a mission that resonates with Dowd, who, thanks to a friendship with Maloof’s nephew, was able to meet the revered woodworker before he died in 2009. “[The Maloofs] wanted arts and crafts to be available in the Inland Empire, and they wanted to let people know that they can live artfully and that they can continue to create,” Dowd said. “And that’s what drew me, the beauty there, but also that attitude that we all are creators of art and that anyone can be an artist.”

Like many organizations and gathering places during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maloof Foundation and its activities were brought to a near standstill; the organization is actively working to bring people back. A new executive director, Drew Oberjuerge, known for her successful tenure at the Riverside Art Museum, will be joining the Foundation in September.

Steven McCracken pictured July 18 at a yoga class at the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for the Arts and Crafts. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

In the meantime, Dowd’s writing workshops are just one aspect of the Maloof Foundation’s programming. Upcoming workshops include book binding, watercolor painting, ceramic tile making, folk art creations with Claremont artist Sandy Garcia, and now, yoga.

“I was asked by the staff if I could expand my offerings. And I said, well, it seems to me that not everybody wants to be a writer. What’d be really great is if we had yoga here,” Dowd said, “because I feel that there is art in movement and that a lot of people don’t know that yoga is available to everyone, does not need to be done in a studio. It is both an art and a craft, learning to move that way. It’s a craft in the sense that you’re building a practice, but it is an art in the sense that you’re expressing yourself.”

And the Maloof is a perfect place to pair the two. “When you understand the hosts, the people who lived here, you understand the property,” Baker said, about the grounds. “It was a very communal space; it was a gathering for artists. And we want to re-gather.”

Dowd and Baker will alternate teaching free yoga classes at the Maloof Foundation every Friday at noon; all you need to do is show up. “Everybody’s welcome,” Baker said. “I like to say there are no gold stars in yoga. You can sit and listen to the rhythm of the class. You can pull up a chair if you prefer. If you want to go into meditation while the rest of the class is moving, that’s all welcome.”

Offering the classes free of charge further expands the inclusivity. “We are hoping to invite more people who wouldn’t necessarily have the funds to be able to go to a studio, to have access to art, including yoga as an art. We also really want people who wouldn’t necessarily think that they are yoga practitioners to discover the art in their own body,” Dowd said, “because I think what art really is is freedom. And yoga really truly is for every body.”

During the heat of summer, many of the Friday classes will be held in the Maloof’s Jacobs Education Center Gallery. “There is something really special about being in here, the creative energy,” Baker said.

Beginning August 1, that energy will be enhanced by a new group show featuring 40 community artists. When the weather permits, Dowd and Baker plan to move the classes outside. “We talk so much about rooting your feet down to the earth or reaching up to the sky. But when you can actually see it, you feel more connected,” Baker said. “And the practice of yoga is about connecting.”

That’s the main goal of this new offering — free yoga at an unexpected place like the Maloof Foundation — which, Dowd and Baker know, can take root and flower in myriad ways. “I hope people get community. I hope they meet new friends. I hope that they feel comfortable in their own bodies and excited to move,” Dowd said. “And I also honestly hope that they discover the garden and get excited about the art exhibitions and find a new place that’s not commercially oriented, a place to connect with art in their lives. I hope they come regularly to the Maloof and know it as a place of belonging.”