Pomona Valley Art Assn

Gallery SOHO recently celebrated its 15^th year in the Pomona Arts Colony. Things have changed since the last review posted here. The walls are now a navaho white, nicer and more monochromatic. There are twenty one artist exhibiting presently and a nice variety of oil, watercolor, photography, ceramics, acrylics and more. Each month the «Monthly Show» wall host artists from the community and association with a different themed show. The galley in 2014 will empty and host first the Annual Open Juried Show and then the Young Artist Show which show cases students in grades seven through twelve. Information on all shows and events are available on the Pomona Valley Art Association’s wonderful website:
. The gallery is located in the basement of the old Progress Bulletin, and may be accessed via the small stairway or the elevator. The gallery is open 11am to 4pm Thursday through Sunday, excepting the 2^nd Saturday Art Walk where it is open until 9pm. If you have not been there recently, give it a try !

This is the physical headquarters of the Pomona Valley Art Association. It is also a co-​op gallery called «Gallery SoHo.» I showed at this gallery for almost a full year, and I still serve as the newsletter editor for the association.
There are a few issues with this gallery: 1) The gallery is more of a boutique then an art gallery. Yes there are a lot of paintings on the walls, but the presentation makes it feel like a boutique. The walls are painted different colors (yellow, green, rust/​orangy color). It looks nice, but when it comes to vewing the artwork it’s very overwhelming. There are a lot of nice pieces of art, a variety of style and media, but there is so much on the walls it’s hard to see any one piece individually. It feels a bit crammed. 2) The lighting is really bad, and there is no AC. This is not nessecarily the PVAA’s fault. The Owners of the property (Jeved) have refused to bring this and most of their buildings in Pomona into the modern age. There are fans running in the summer, but it’s just not enough.
If you have the patience to look through everything, you will find a few artworks that you’d like to take home. The prices are very reasonable and there are no commisions-​all the money from a sale goes to that artist. Each month there is a «monthly show» with a different theme that anyone can enter. There is a specific wall dedicated to this show. All entries are displayed (no work is rejected unless there is a technical issue-i.e. video/​computer work), the winners win anything from art supplies to cash, you can enter any and all monthly shows, and the money made off of the entries goes into gallery expenses, and prizes for the student shows they host.
The Association is starting to bloom. It is a non-​profit dedicated to creating inexpensive and free venues for members to show their artwork. They also offer classes. It costs $ 20.00 a year to be a member, which includes discounts on the monthly and annual shows they produce, as well as a subscription to the newsletter. To exhibit in Gallery Soho, it is $ 15.00 a month, plus 5 hours a month of working the gallery.