Downtown Modesto venue could be shut down. How can it be saved?
The Stanislaus Arts Council Gallery could shut down less than a year after its August 2024 opening.
The space replaced the Mistlin Gallery in downtown Modesto last year.
The smaller, new gallery is not generating enough community interest, according to Stanislaus Arts Council Executive Director Dominique Johnson.
And it’s not just the gallery. “The level of participation is lacking across the board,” Johnson said. The arts council is “not seeing enough participation from the arts community or the community as a whole.”
Not only is attendance at the gallery down, but fewer artists are submitting works to exhibit, fewer people are attending events, membership in the council is down, and donations and sponsorships are down, Johnson said.
So the council board is looking at whether an art gallery is the best use of its funds.
“We want to make sure the resources we do receive from the California Arts Council is being used in the best way possible,” Johnson said.
The nonprofit Stanislaus Arts Council operates through grants, “but if we don’t get the participation, we won’t get those grants,” she said.
The council received a $62,959 State-Local Partnership Grant from the California Arts Council in February, but that money is for operations such as an office and paid staff to support the community, Johnson said. It isn’t for use to keep the gallery open.
The arts council is hoping to raise public awareness about the gallery and the programs it supports. A recent email titled “Call for Support!” was sent out to subscribed contacts, members, on social media and to news organizations explaining the dilemma.
“While we operate a small but vibrant gallery in the heart of downtown Modesto, our impact reaches far beyond those walls,” the email said. “We work alongside business partners to bring the Third Thursday Downtown Modesto Art Walk, we advocate for arts funding at the state and local levels, and we create opportunities for artists to thrive in every corner of our county.
“But here’s the reality: without community support, the gallery is in danger of closing after June 30, 2025.”
That date marks the end of the current fiscal year, Johnson said. The council’s board is having conversations now for the next budget year.
If engagement doesn’t improve, the gallery could close.
“I know by no means do they want to close the gallery,” Johnson said.
Arts council Board Chairman Jon Tillotson agreed. Closing the gallery is “an option on the table,” he said. “It’s not our favorite option, it’s not our only option.”
But the board does need to see higher involvement, he said.
“(We) used to get a lot of entries to our shows,” but entries and membership are low now, Tillotson said. “A great turnaround would be if both those numbers begin to go up. And then if the gallery can sustain itself monetarily.”
The gallery is funded by its operations, “hence why we have a dilemma,” he said.
“We were lucky enough by our past board, they had a decent savings, but we’ve been pulling from that savings to float the gallery,” he said.
Tillotson said the council wants the community to understand that “we’re here to help them.”
But it goes both ways.
“We have a lot of really good people working really hard ... but at the end of the day it takes a village,” he said.
The June 30 date is not set in stone, Tillotson said. While the board is going to make some hard decisions at the end of this fiscal year, it’s “still an open conversation, nothing has been finalized.”
But the council can’t support a gallery that isn’t self-sustaining and is taking funding away from other programs. “I can’t keep it going in good conscience,” Tillotson said.
The community and artists were “much more engaged” at the Mistlin Gallery, Johnson said. But many past members have not renewed their memberships since the gallery closed.
The board wants to see that the community values having a creative space like a gallery, measured through attendance, artist participation and donations, she said.
Since its call for support, the arts council has had people reach out, including donations totaling about $5,000, she said.
One measure of community interest in the arts council’s work as a whole has been the Third Thursday Art Walks, according to Johnson.
The arts council partnered with Visit Modesto last March to revamp the monthly downtown art walks. The two combined to became the liaison between artists and the participating businesses.
Art walk participation was steadily increasing last year among artists, businesses and community members showing up to the various venues, including the Stanislaus Arts Council Gallery, Johnson said.
The art walks were on hiatus beginning in October and returned Feb. 20.
Seven artists showed works during the February walk, which “we considered a good amount,” Johnson said. More than twice that number already have signed up for the March 20 art walk — all new artists who have not participated before.
Community turnout was also “really great,” she said.
But ultimately the board wants to see the public engage more with the gallery itself, according to Tillotson.
“If donations and gallery attendance increase enough to cover operational expenses and support our mission, it would make a significant difference in keeping the gallery open,” he said in an email.
The Stanislaus Arts Council Gallery is at 1315 J St. The council’s former Mistlin Gallery closed in May 2024 after facing a series of rent increases.
The building that housed the Mistlin Gallery, also on J Street, is owned by Stanislaus County. That space was 5,370 square feet, while the new gallery is about 1,000 square feet, Johnson said in a previous story in The Bee. Current rent is $2,399 a month.
Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, noon to 6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. For more on the gallery and the arts council, see www.stanislausarts.org.
Other art galleries in downtown have closed, including The Chartreuse Muse and Peer Recovery Art Project, Johnson said.
“It’s heartbreaking to me as a person who grew up in this community to watch ... the arts start to wither.”
