“I discovered that my art form was not creating art but bringing people to art and telling those stories [and] being a conduit for artistic expressions and the community that needs to engage with them.”
A wood-cut sign hangs from the eaves of a Spanish-style balcony on Palo Alto’s Ramona Street architectural district. The sign reads “Pamela Walsh Gallery” in gold lettering. Inside, contemporary works of art hang neatly on the white walls of the historic building designed by Stanford architect Birge Clark in 1929. The gallery is named after owner, curator, and gallerist Pamela Walsh. More than simply managing a gallery, Walsh carefully orchestrates exhibitions, weaving together visual narratives that connect artists to space and viewers to artwork.
Curating exhibitions requires close collaboration with artists, pushing them to dig deeper into their craft, shaping themes, or relying on creative instinct to curate engaging experiences. Walsh explains, “That’s the part that I think is sometimes misunderstood. Real gallerists are artists. I attended art school and studied fine art in art history. I discovered that my art form was not creating art but bringing people to art and telling those stories [and] being a conduit for artistic expressions and the community that needs to engage with them.”
Walsh’s journey to owning her gallery has been a puzzle of self-discovery, business, and inspiration. Originally from Tennessee, she developed an interest in painting during high school, eventually pursuing a degree in art at university. After college, Walsh moved to California, hoping to break into the art gallery business. She was determined to get her foot in the door as a woman in a male-dominated industry. When she did—essentially paying to work on a draw against commission—she took a gallery job at Franklin Bowles Gallery in San Francisco. She worked her way up the ranks, creating a career over two decades. “I’m deeply grateful for that because [Franklin Bowles] really believed in me and taught me so much about the business…and when I was ready to go, he had three galleries in San Francisco and one in New York. It was a big company with many employees. I ran three locations and had 25 salespeople working under me. [That experience] has informed me about what my path [would] be as a gallerist,” she says.
Before opening Pamela Walsh Gallery in 2019, Walsh explored running her own art advisory business to free herself from the overhead of operating a brick-and-mortar location. Before long, she realized the importance of space. “Having worked in another gallery space for many years…I was coming out of that experience, wondering at the time [in] 2017, ‘Do you really need space? Is space important?’ ” She continues, “What I found is that space is precious. What space allows you is not only what artists really, deeply desire, which is a place to exhibit art and put together meaningful exhibitions that tell stories that you can’t tell otherwise, but it also allows you to build relationships with your community.”
Opening in November 2019, Pamela Walsh Gallery aimed to forge a new path, transforming the Palo Alto art scene by creating a destination for art buyers and enthusiasts on the peninsula in a region outside of San Francisco’s bustling art community. Sensing the absence of many thriving art galleries in the area, Walsh envisioned fostering an ecosystem of contemporary art in the heart of Palo Alto. Originally planning to open the gallery with partner and renowned gallerist Michael Schwartz, Walsh came as close as signing term sheets before Schwartz became ill, forcing him to pull out of the arrangement. Walsh recalls, “It was a tough moment. We had come so far, and I had spent so much energy and money figuring out how this business would work. And I had to think it through. Could I do it alone? And I just decided to go for it.”
Pamela rounds out that conversation by honoring Michael, who passed away in 2020. “He was a lovely, wonderful man. He was really somebody who believed in me in a way that was so powerful that it compelled me to do something that I was supposed to do. And I hope to return those gifts to someone in the future. Sometimes, you meet just a couple of people along your path who are the people who change your course.”
Even though the gallery opened just months before COVID-19 shutdowns, the pandemic underscored the importance of physical spaces for art. Walsh recognized that without space, she had nothing to offer potential art buyers, and coming out of the pandemic, she witnessed firsthand how people longed for in person art experiences. Galleries, museums, and art were pivotal in providing solace and inspiration during trying times. Walsh’s commitment to fostering art and community was reaffirmed.
In the ever-evolving landscape of contemporary art, Walsh remains a steadfast advocate for artists, their work, and women in the art business. As a mid-sized gallery, she is a crucial element of the arts ecosystem that provides a platform for emerging talents, curates impactful exhibitions, and serves as a link between art and community.
Episode #117 – Lauren Schell Dickens – San Jose Museum of Art
Our job is to ask the questions that the audience is thinking so that we can all connect with what the artist is thinking. -Lauren Schell Dickens, Chief Curator San Jose Museum of Art Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and YouTube. The current San José Museum of Art Exhibition, Seeing through Stone, is on […]
“In a sense, that’s my mission: to hold onto what’s transient, even as it fades, leaving traces behind.” At an early age, Vĩ Sơn Trinh learned of his parents’ journey as refugees escaping Communist-ruled Vietnam. They spent seven days and nights at sea, eventually arriving in Galang, Indonesia, where his mom promptly gave birth to […]
