Where the Art is – March 2023

Earlier this month I was interviewed for a story in Sacramento Magazine about the evolution of the art scene in the city, plus the impacts COVID had on galleries and art exhibitions.

Here’s a short snippet from the article by Jessica Laskey (thanks Jessica for talking to me!), and make sure you read the full article to learn more about area galleries, the annual Introductions show, and more!

D. Oldham Neath has seen this evolution of the local gallery scene from multiple angles. As the director of Archival Gallery since 1983, Neath helped found the Second Saturday Art Walk with the late Michael Himovitz, the late Chuck Miller, Sheri Watson and the late Judith Weintraub. She’s also served as a curator for several galleries in and out of town and for the PBS KVIE Art Auction and gallery.

“The gallery role has really changed,” Neath says. “I’m one of the few galleries that still actively represents their artists and places them in galleries—some I’ve represented for 30-plus years. There used to be a lot of sales driven by interior designers or people who were paid to choose work for corporate or private clients. Now, people walk in and want a piece of art because they like it; they don’t care where the artist went to school. We have a younger clientele, and they have a different aesthetic from their parents. It’s really nice to see people making their own choices.”

Neath can also see a positive even in the pandemic. “I think COVID was actually really good for art galleries,” she says. “When they were locked in their homes for two months, people started nesting and figured out that their environment was important. They started to want things that people made, not mass-produced crap. Even business owners are taking their environment more seriously. Art has become more of a personal choice and less of a status statement.”