The Valley Art Gallery on Botelho Drive in Walnut Creek has a lot to be proud of this year as it celebrates its 70th anniversary of serving our surrounding communities in so many ways. We are indeed fortunate to have so many artists around us who have helped educate and inspire our children, provide us with beautiful art in our parks and on street corners, and enrich our lives through their music and theatrical talent. Artistic groups and individuals have stepped forward time and again for many years, keeping the arts alive throughout our community.
The historically significant Valley Art Gallery in Walnut Creek not only provides a place where people can purchase fine art, it is the only place in the East Bay where people can rent to own all forms of award-winning art for their homes and businesses.
Many people may not realize the value of renting fine art to enhance the value of a home you are trying to sell in today’s real estate market. My wife and I recently sold a rental property and purchased another rental property. In both cases, the realtors who managed the sales of these properties insisted on the owners employing home staging companies to make the properties as beautiful and as attractive as they could before potential purchasers came to evaluate and appreciate the properties that were for sale. In both cases, I can testify that fine art selected by the staging companies both increased and enhanced the sales.
The story of this local gallery began in 1948, when a small group of area residents, comprised of a Clayton Valley rancher, two artists, a local attorney, and a civic leader, formed an alliance to promote art exhibitions in the area encompassed by Walnut Creek, Lafayette and Orinda. Their inspiration and hard work led to the formation of an organization that became known locally as the Outdoor Art Shows. The media that they chose to include in their outdoor art shows included all forms of artistic painting, sculpture, photography and fine crafts (ceramics, jewelry, textiles, etc.).
These shows took place during the annual Walnut Festival and became so successful, that when a significantly expanded re-organization of the outdoor art shows took place, it included both an artist’s market, where the art could be sold, and an art rental service, which took place in a storefront on Mount Diablo Blvd. in Lafayette. The gallery was open several days a week, staffed by volunteers of the organization so that its members could provide classes in drawing, painting, and ceramics, as well as providing their first painting rental program, all of which flourished.
In 1955, as the organization continued to grow, the name was changed to the Valley Art Center. About this time, the city of Walnut Creek established a city arts commission with the intent of building a civic arts community program of arts education, theater performance, and art exhibition. Consequently in 1967, Valley Art and their rental gallery moved into a portion of what was formerly known as a walnut processing facility on Locust Street where it continued to operate until the old warehouse facility was razed by the city in 1987 to make way for the Lesher Center for the Arts. It was at this time that Valley Artmoved to its current location of 1661 Botelho Drive in downtown Walnut Creek, where their new space would be known as Valley Art Gallery.
The organization has always been a nonprofit entity and continues to be operated and staffed by volunteers. Today it boasts a stable of over 100 artists and 40 craftspeople. Most all of the gallery’s artists have had extensive education in the visual arts; many have taught art, and some have made careers in art-related occupations. Since 1994 the gallery has presented the Gloria Marshall Memorial award annually to local schools, to provide a cash gift to public school art programs in need of that financial support.
The Valley Art Gallery has survived and prospered for 70 years and as Julie Armstrong, president of the Valley Art Gallery has informed me, there are many citizens in our communities that come into their cleverly designed store, to view and examine many pieces of fine art, often renting it for a period of time so that they can enjoy it in their home while making up their mind if they wish to purchase it. A very appreciative lady by the name Nicki Scott, invited me into her home in Alamo where I could see for myself, 21 of the 22 beautiful pieces of art that she and her husband have rented and then purchased over the past 21 years. She pointed out that it was through a real estate stager she employed when selling their home in Concord in 1998, that she first learned of the Valley Art Gallery’s art rental program.
Nicki repeatedly praised the gallery and the fine art that she and her family have enjoyed personally in their own home, year after year for many years. She told me that the ability for her to rent a piece of art and place it in her home for up to one full year, before she purchases it, has made her a firm believer in this unique and wonderful service. She said that it was almost like a layaway program!
You might wish to visit their lovely and informative website at valleyartgallery.org. I suggest you call them (925) 935-4311 at your first opportunity to determine the best time to meet with one of their volunteers for a personal showing. The regular shop hours are 11:00 am 5:00 pm, Tuesdays through Saturdays.