{"id":844869,"date":"2026-09-12T03:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T03:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/844869\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T03:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T03:56:14","slug":"beyond-the-white-cube-petalumas-non-gallery-art-galleries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/844869\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the white cube: Petaluma’s ‘non-gallery’ art galleries"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few months ago, there was a gathering of local business owners who display rotating art in their spaces for the public to view. The meeting was held to generate conversation about how to better promote Petaluma as an arts destination, the same way visitors might think of the town as a place for wine, antiques or craft beer, where the impact of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.<\/p>\n

While many of those in the room had more traditional gallery spaces, there were a growing number of \u201cnon-gallery\u201d galleries among them.<\/p>\n

\""It's\u201cIt’s a wonderful way for people to discover the shop,\u201d said Jennifer Conner, owner of Petaluma’s Pennyroyal Design, describing the rotating art shows she hosts on the walls of her downtown store. (Carin Jacobs)<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, the doors are wide open to art in all sorts of unexpected spaces,\u201d\u00a0 said Jess Brown, who convened the group.<\/p>\n

More and more local businesses, which otherwise provide goods and services, have taken to displaying art on a regular basis, with most of them rotating the artwork on their walls at least quarterly. While this effort is secondary to their main raison d\u2019\u00eatre, business owners feel there are benefits to claiming art as part of their identity.<\/p>\n

These perks include deeper community engagement, creating a nicer place to work, providing more reasons for people to visit and shop in the space, feeling the joy of promoting local artists and enjoying the regularly changing environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it creates a fresh vibe to the energy of my space, and it really highlights how many artists live among us,\u201d said Kathy Jeter, owner of Ethical Clothing, which has been hosting art shows for the last few years.<\/p>\n

Petaluma venues experimenting with art displays include women\u2019s clothing and accessories boutiques, cafes, a co-working and shared office space, a hair salon and a packing, shipping and mail depot. All of these are located in the downtown core or in the nearby Warehouse District.<\/p>\n

Asked about inspirations for weaving art into the fiber of their businesses, owners listed everything from childhood dreams of owning a gallery and majoring in art in college to family brainstorm sessions on new ways to build community \u2014 or simply thinking outside the box, in this case the \u201cwhite cube\u201d space of many typical art galleries..<\/p>\n

\""Many\u201cMany of my customers are pleasantly surprised to see art hanging in a gritty business such as mine,\u201d says Maureen McGuigan, owner of the Petaluma Mail Depot, which regularly hosts art shows. (Carin Jacobs)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful way for people to discover the shop, and many first-time visitors return later as customers,\u201d said Jennifer Conner, owner of Pennyroyal Design.<\/p>\n

Most of these merchants have no trouble sourcing artists. They come through referrals, walk-in inquiries, regular customers, friendships and word of mouth. Some spaces even have a wait list. This would seem to indicate that the demand for showing in Petaluma is outpacing the number of traditional gallery spaces available.<\/p>\n

Artists usually handle their own installation and hanging, with some collaboration from business owners. Most all mediums are up for consideration, and works are often for sale, with about half of the sample businesses taking a small percentage to cover their costs. Many businesses assist with marketing and host opening receptions to celebrate each new show.<\/p>\n

Conversations about the art, between friends and strangers, are commonplace and often become part of the environment of these businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur customers love that we change our art and they\u2019re always admiring it and talking about it,\u201d said Anaise McNaught of Dukes and Dolls salon.<\/p>\n

\"PetalumaPetaluma Coffee Company has small rotating art shows on one dedicated “art wall” in its adjoining seating area, with local artists displaying their works on a monthly basis. (Carin Jacobs)<\/p>\n

One outgrowth of the meeting I attended in the spring is a new map plotting art-viewing spaces on one accessible resource. While in its early stages, this effort reflects a growing desire to promote art as a key facet of Petaluma\u2019s personality. All the business owners I spoke with were enthusiastic about the idea of being included.<\/p>\n

Maureen McGuigan at Petaluma Mail Depot quipped, \u201cMany of my customers are pleasantly surprised to see art hanging in a gritty business such as mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having spent most of my career in the museum world, I am all too familiar with the idea of the white cube \u2014 a style of art gallery or museum space featuring a spare, clean space with plain white walls, designed to direct visitors\u2019 attention to the art and nothing else.<\/p>\n

But those taking a walk around Petaluma, and sampling some of the city\u2019s local businesses doubling as art galleries, will discover a refreshing antidote to the old \u201cwhite cube\u201d paradigm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A few months ago, there was a gathering of local business owners who display rotating art in their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":844870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88,357598],"class_list":["post-844869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-petaluma-art-gallery-artists-exhibition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}