A Gallery of Valley’s Own

In Northridge, you will soon be able to saunter from Burger King to the Valley’s newest art gallery.

Located in a modest shopping mall, the VIVA Gallery is a rarity on our side of the hill--one of the few dedicated spaces where artists can show and sell their work.

Since Artspace in Warner Center closed two years ago, Valley artists have been forced to hang their work in restaurants, banks, even hair salons, where it often functions as decoration, says Connie Larson, president of VIVA.

“There’s been no place for artists to show their work, and so people had no idea how vibrant the art scene is in the Valley,” Larson says.

“We need a Bergamot center out here,” says veteran Valley artist Gerald Brommer, alluding to the thriving arts complex in Santa Monica, Bergamot Station. Brommer, who juried VIVA’s inaugural show, has lived, and painted, in the Valley for 50 years. And like hundreds of other artist / residents, he has been appalled by the lack of local gallery space.

“It’s been that way forever,” says Brommer.

VIVA, or the Valley Institute of Visual Art, is a nonprofit organization formed by four venerable local arts groups--the Valley Watercolor Society, Collage Artists of America, Valley Artists Guild and Women Painters West.

As Betty Beam, one of VIVA’s eight directors, explains, local art groups often had to wait years to mount shows at such overbooked local venues as the Burbank Creative Arts Center or the gallery at the Brand Library in Glendale. They sometimes held shows as far away as Torrance. Past efforts to build a major arts center in the Valley have fizzled, including an ambitious plan for the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area.

According to Brommer, the lack of gallery or museum space is a problem that outlying areas of large cities routinely have. Small cities such as Brea in Orange County often do far better by their local artists than big cities do.

Beam, who has two vivid collages in VIVA’s inaugural show, agrees. “Over the years, there’s just been nothing in the Valley. . . . We’ve been the stepchild of Los Angeles.”

Beam says the project was made feasible by Elizabeth Waldo, Northridge composer, violinist and arts patron. Waldo and her family own the shopping center that houses the new gallery, at 8516 Reseda Blvd.

As Beam recalls, Waldo said: “I have this space, and I’d really like to do something for the arts. I’ll give you a really good price, and you go in there and liven up the neighborhood.”

Waldo leased VIVA space formerly occupied by a yogurt shop and a Dollar Deals store.

“We call her our art angel,” Larson says of Waldo.

The four arts groups have nearly 600 members and have worked for a year and a half to make the 3,000-square-foot gallery a reality.

Earlier this week, Michael Donegan, another of VIVA’s directors, had finished hanging the inaugural show on the movable gallery walls he spent hundreds of volunteer hours building. White and sparkling, the gallery is a delightful surprise for someone who unexpectedly encounters it, tucked behind a Chinese restaurant.

“It’s beautiful,” says Brommer, seeing the nearly finished space for the first time. “It’s like an oasis.”

VIVA raised about $20,000 to launch the gallery. Most of that came from artists, who said, according to Larson: “We’re going to back you. We’ve been waiting 30 years for something like this.”

The group will be seeking sponsors, grant money and other funds so it can continue to pay its rent, hang future shows and launch additional programs, including demonstrations, lectures and workshops.

“The only value of any show,” Brommer says, “is to educate the public and other artists. Otherwise, it’s just an ego trip.”

Brommer, who judged nearly 250 entries before choosing 130 for the first show, notes that “there are very good artists in the Valley.”

In mounting the first show, which continues until the end of this month, Donegan created a kind of maze with his movable walls. He wanted to avoid the numbing march of one painting after another in a long hallway that is the fate of much art hung in banks and other inferior venues.

“This gives you a chance to come in and meditate a little on the individual pieces.”

New signs are expected to go up shortly in what Elizabeth Waldo is now calling Global Village Plaza. The parking lot is going to be resurfaced, and there is talk of greenery being added.

Meanwhile, the VIVA Gallery will have its grand opening Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. Everyone is welcome. As Larson says: “You can come and see and buy local art at an affordable price.”

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VIVA Gallery is at 8516 Reseda Blvd., just north of Chase Street, in Northridge. Hours are Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. (818) 576-0775.