Gallery 300, located in The Barlow in downtown Sebastopol, is a beautiful space with even more beautiful artwork.
Located next to Barge North and across the street from the one-and-only Fern Bar, there are several other businesses in close proximity worth a mention—but the thing is, every business in The Barlow is worth a mention.
Go check it out—Gallery 300 pulls the wandering eye in immediately. Full of punchy, colorful work ranging wildly in size and medium, Gallery 300 is more than the standard gallery; it’s a studio, showroom and collective all in one, built on the idea that the space where art is generated is often the best place to experience it, and that art should feel vital and accessible to the viewer. No stuffiness or tightness is to be found in this often-sunny, open-fronted art space.
Gallery 300’s first iteration was on A Street in Santa Rosa, in what is known as the SOFA district. It was there that artists Jennifer Heirshfield, Barbara Elliot, Mary Vaughn, Cat Kaufman and Alejandro Salazar met and shared studios with the street number 300, hence the name. Gallery 300 is built as a collective, curated by owner and original ideator Jennifer Heirshfield. Jennifer curated this group of artists based on her appreciation for each of their styles and dedication to their work. “We’re all 100% into our art careers,” Heirshfield says.
Though an eclectic and international group, the Gallery’s motto is “creating locally, showing locally.” Hirshfield and Thorpe both use the space as their studio, and all the artists work within 15 miles of the Gallery. The expansive styles and boundless inspirations still fortify and impact the local community. The goal of the gallery is to represent a group of creators consistently over time, rather than constantly showing a rotating wheel of artists. Hershfield believes there’s something special to be gained by viewing multiple works of art from a standing group of artists and watching their creative development over time.
Gallery 300 survived the pandemic—which we’re now tentatively and hopefully referring to as an endemic—and emerged as strong as ever.
“Business picked up in a big way right before Covid hit,” Hirshfield says. And, though the shutters went down during the hardest months, business stayed strong. In keeping with the undulating rhythm of the rest of the world, things have been up and down since the world semi-reopened, but Hershfield says Gallery 300 is on an overall upswing.
And not only are things on the upswing for Gallery 300’s success in The Barlow—the collective was recently accepted, for the sixth year running, into Art Miami, the internationally renowned annual art fair, which is doubly exciting because they are the only Sonoma County gallery to be represented.
They’re headed to New York this March for the Affordable Art Fair—because yes, their work is both stunning and not impossibly priced—and the next in-house art show will happen this summer when things are a bit less hectic. Between now and then, don’t miss a chance to visit the Gallery, open Monday through Sunday, 11am to 5pm. It’s an amazing creative boost.
