We were recently at Skinner/Howard Gallery talking to Pamela Skinner and Gwenna Howard and were reminded of how lucky Sacramento is to have this taste of hip urbanism in our own downtown. The former warehouse space on Street that is now Skinner/Howard Contemporary Art rivals anything South of Market in SF or South of Canal Street in NY.
Pamela Skinner has long been on art’s leading edge in Sacramento, first gaining recognition in 1994, when she blazed a trail into the R Street Corridor and opened Excentrique Functional Art Gallery in a loft that was once an industrial bakery. At a time when the corridor was still largely abandoned, she helped gather signatures to develop the area.
Skinner and Howard began transforming the cavernous space S Street Space in 2006, bringing in rolling walls to create intimate viewing areas in a gallery that can easily accommodate more than 100 visitors. The move to S Street proved to be good for the gallery, offering ample street parking and breathing room during Second Saturday.
Other galleries and studios have since filtered into the vicinity including S12 Studio and Solomon Dubnick. Verge Gallery and Studio Project is slated to open later this year just one block away and is anticipated to build further momentum for the area as an arts district. We predict that by Summer 2011 this will be the big destination on Second Saturday and beyond.
