Gallery 621 will close doors for good this month

Gallery 621 opened its doors as a First Street gallery in 2011, providing a venue for well-known and upcoming artists alike.

At the end of this month, the gallery will close its doors.

A new lease agreement, which was for one year, was the main issue, founder Pam Dixon said.

“We looked over the terms of the new lease … we’re all artists … and we felt if we couldn’t make it, it was not a good position to be in. Each member would be responsible,” Dixon said.

“We feel we’ve done pretty well, but the climate for selling art is not easy. It’s very hard,” she said.

Most recently the gallery hosted Benicia Museum of Art’s first show, “Transmigrational Ceramics from the Corridor.” The show closed Sunday.

In conjunction with “Transmigrational,” the gallery had a reception to acknowledge lifetime achievement awards given by the city to Benicia artists Robert Arneson and Manuel Neri.

Looking back at the last three years on First Street, Dixon expressed frustration at a lack of coverage for the gallery. “We’ve never had anybody give us an art write-up except for The Benicia Herald,” she said.

“The town has been 100 percent behind us, the city of Benicia has been 100 percent behind us. We’ve had sponsors who have sponsored artists so they could afford the rent. All the stuff we have done has worked, except it always falls short of our goal,” she said.

Meanwhile, because the newly formed Benicia Museum of Art was to be temporarily housed in the back room of Gallery 621, it will, for now, be a “museum without walls, until we find a smaller place,” Dixon said.

Benicia MOA’s mission is “to preserve and advance Benicia’s Historic Legend of Art for present and future generations by actively endowing Benicia with a presence of art in the spirit of the city’s art legacy,” and it is “still the physical sponsor of the Children’s Music and Arts Foundation, which is Stan Houston’s (organization) for our non-profit,” Dixon said. “So nothing has changed with our vision.”

Members, sponsors and support for Benicia MOA are a constant need, artists and Gallery 621 member Ruth Santee said. “We need the support of the community for the Benicia Museum of Art,” she said.

Along with those who would pledge financial support, Benicia MOA needs people to pledge time.

“We need somebody in banking, we need an attorney, things like that,” Dixon said. “We need somebody who is good at websites and publicity … we need all that stuff.”

“And a handyman!” Santee added.

For the help they have received so far, they expressed gratitude. But now the museum and its members must focus on finding a new home.

Among the possiblities: space in the Benicia Arsenal Headquarters, 1350 Hayes St.

“I would love to rent there. We’ve all had our eye on it,” Dixon said. “It’s an exact duplicate, room for room, of the Marin Museum of Art. That’s where you could attract top talent traveling through California and people from other states. It would be fantastic.”

Gallery 621’s last day open to the public will be Dec. 28. For more imformation about the Benicia Museum of Art, visit beniciamoa.org or email info@beniciamoa.org.