Artists Lament Gallery’s Closure

The closing of Santa Ana’s Legacy Art Gallery amounted to a blip on the city’s cultural radar.

But four months later, local artists -- many Latino -- are lamenting the demise of the gallery, which owner Margie Tabor Zuliani turned into a venue not only for Orange County’s established artists but also for budding talent from local schools.

“It leaves a big void,” said muralist Emigdio Vasquez. “This was a special gallery because I think [Zuliani] was more inclusive. Big galleries wouldn’t think of putting up the work of a grade-schooler.”

The walls of a gallery are like precious real estate. Works of art that can fetch big bucks get priority. Yet for eight years, Zuliani’s gallery showcased an eclectic group of artists, helping many Native Americans, Japanese Americans and Latinos get their start.

Santa Ana’s schoolchildren were among her passions -- not surprising given that her first art teaching job was at Heninger Elementary.

G. Randall Coleman, coordinator of visual and performing arts for Santa Ana Unified School District, said Zuliani and the students had a great relationship, adding that the gallery’s closure caught teachers off-guard.

“I really don’t know whether any other gallery would give up their art space the way Margie’s gallery did,” Coleman said. The district now plans to display student art in the lobby of its administrative office on East Chestnut Avenue.

The gallery’s rent in the basement of the Santora Arts Building on North Broadway was $600 a month -- fairly cheap for 1,600 square feet in the city’s core.

But Zuliani, who struggled with both money and a hip ailment, said she also had an ongoing feud with her landlord over flooding when it rained. When early storms in October raised the specter of a long season of mopping up, Zuliani decided to close.

As a single mother of four, Zuliani, 57, has had her hands full raising children, teaching art, painting and running the gallery.

“Sometimes I had help,” she said. “But often I did it single-handedly. I curated the shows, hung the shows and also did all the publications, labels and promotion.”

Artists were drawn to the gallery because Zuliani allowed them to experiment.

“At Legacy, you could really take chances, unlike other places,” said J. Gregg Stone, 52, of Laguna Niguel. “I had my first solo show at the Legacy.”

Stone’s work shows a fascination with the U.S.-Mexico border. His paintings of Tijuana’s prostitutes, musicians and other street people are too edgy for mainstream galleries, he said.

But at the Legacy, Stone’s art was a natural fit, especially when street festivals brought in residents from Mexico.

“The response from Santa Ana people was wonderful,” Stone said. “They would come up to me and say, ‘That’s just the way it is in my hometown.’ ”

Zuliani, who has packed up the gallery’s odds and ends, said she hasn’t taken time to contemplate the loss of the gallery -- to the community or herself.

“I don’t think I’m ready to look back yet,” she said. “I think of the children and how proud they get when they saw their work inside the Legacy and I get sad.”