Saturday, May 21, 2005

Click here to view photos from the event

SCWCA members and guests were provided with a behind-the-scenes tour led by Sherry Frumkin, gallery owner and Co-director of the recently opened Santa Monica Art Studios located at the Santa Monica Airport. This dynamic complex includes two exhibition spaces, studios for over 30 working artists (including several members of SCWCA), and a variety of lectures and classes in an historic 20,000 square foot hangar.

Sherry discussed the exhibition Porcelain Ware of the Cultural Revolution: Selections from the Doug Wong Collection in her gallery as well as the exhibition titled China Avant Garde in ARENA 1 Gallery. This was followed by a tour of the building. Sherry explained the reasons she moved her gallery from Bergamot Station to the Santa Monica Airport location, how the project got off the ground, what it takes to run a multi-dimensional art complex, and how this venue fits into the local art scene. She then answered questions about being an art dealer, the kinds of artists she chooses to represent, and the nature of her personal and business relationships with them.

SHERRY FRUMKIN opened a gallery on 9th Street in Santa Monica, California in 1990 with the mission of exposing and supporting young emerging artists from both coasts, and then moved to Bergamot Station when it opened in 1993. Through 14 years of consistent exhibitions, her gallery has been applauded and lambasted as feminist for its championing of female artists and its preeminent interests in political, social or psychological works that challenge the viewer. Because of its commitment to introducing new tendencies, her gallery features conceptual artists ready to push the boundaries of contemporary art through the use of unconventional materials and new technology. In October 2004, her gallery moved into an historic hangar in the Santa Monica Airport where Sherry Frumkin and partner Yossi Govrin have developed Santa Monica Art Studios, which houses numerous artists’ studios, her gallery, and ARENA 1 Gallery—an alternative exhibition space and an arena for open dialogue between international cutting-edge artists and curators.

Sherry Frumkin and SCWCA president, Ann Isolde

SCWCA members and guests with Sherry Frumkin in her Santa Monica gallery

SCWCA member Diana Hobstetter and SCWCA exhibitions co-chair Gwen Samuels pose for a picture in Gwen's Santa Monica Studio

Artist Maddy Le Mel in her studio.