Bergamot Station in Santa Monica is a collection of
warehouses that holds 34 galleries, the Santa Monica Museum of Art
and the Gallery Café.
By Kenny Chang
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
As is applicable to all things, judgments can never be made from
outside appearances. Old warehouses and trolley stations are no
exception to the rule.
The Bergamot Station is an unsuspecting collection of art
galleries conveniently located in Santa Monica, just off of the 10
freeway.
What was once the old Red Line Trolley Station and a series of
warehouses now holds a wide variety of fine art; there are 34
galleries, the Santa Monica Museum of Art and the Gallery
Café. The collections range from architecture to jewelry,
photography and, of course, to a whole multitude of painting
galleries.
Pulling into the parking lot, the collection of buildings
appears to be just a series of warehouses with aluminum siding
““ the run-of-the-mill former celery-packing or ice-making
operation. It was only with the assistance of the City of Santa
Monica and Wayne Blank, developer and co-owner of the Shoshana
Wayne Gallery, that the station was altered for artistic purposes.
The official opening was in September of 1994, and though there was
a change in purpose, the station’s look retained its rustic,
industrial appearance.
 Photos by MAIYA HOLLIDAY Photos find a home in the Craig
Krull Gallery. Various types of the current forms of modern art
““ such as sculpture, photography and functional ““ can
be found in this and the other galleries at Bergamot Station.
“What’s different about Bergamot is that it is sort of
recycled,” said Jeff Stuppler, owner of the Gallery
Café. “Basically, instead of razing the buildings and
building anew, it’s kind of cool to have a place with real
history.”
In addition to this unique appearance of the station, other
attractions immediately come to mind. If the station were to be
described in one word, it would be “variety.” If it
were to be described in two words, it would be “convenient
variety.”
“One of the things I did was that I made sure that there
were all kinds of different galleries here,” said Blank.
“There are very eclectic types of art, photography,
sculpture, functional art, so that there are lots of things for
everybody.”
In this town of excessive cars and scarce parking, Bergamot
Station provides a more than adequate parking infrastructure, free
of charge, that only is crowded when there are several receptions
going on at the galleries.
 The Craig Krull Gallery is just one of 34 galleries at
Bergamot Station welcoming all visitors, including non-prospective
buyers.
“The thing I would say about Bergamot Station is that
it’s easy,” said Mayo J. Thompson Jr., director of
Patrick Painter, Inc. “If you live in Los Angeles, you know
what it’s like when you have to drive somewhere and find
someplace to park and fool around. It’s just easy to come
here, and you get to see a wide, wide range of material. There are
all kinds of forms of artwork from a lot of different galleries and
a lot of different people.”
There seems to be a consensus on the greatness of the diversity
in artistic media at Bergamot Station. As a collective, all the
galleries contribute their own individual flavor of independent art
forms.
“Well everyone contributes, because everyone is a
different person,” said Craig Krull, owner of Craig Krull
Galleries. “Everyone has their own point of view, their own
perspective. That’s what’s great about this place
““ is that there are so many different kinds of galleries
going on here.”
Within the many galleries, the individual exhibits keep
audiences, visitors and buyers up to date with the current forms of
modern art. The museum is one of the organizations that promotes
such notions.
The Santa Monica Art Museum is a public, nonprofit organization,
and therefore does not have to rely on the pressures of having to
make sales, and can exhibit more avant-garde works.Â
“What we seek to do is really show work that exists across
boundaries that allow audiences to see work that expands their
perspectives ““ whether that be geographical perspectives or
ideological perspectives or cultural perspectives,” said Lisa
Melandri, deputy director of the Santa Monica Art Museum. “We
try to run a program that lets you see the most important issues in
contemporary art today, but not necessarily those that are in
fashion. It’s cutting edge but not fashionable.”
There is an air of individuality at Bergamot Station. With so
many independent features combined, all the galleries complement
each other to create a one-of-a-kind environment of artistic
promotion.
“It’s fantastic, it’s very unique and I think
for artists and for clients, it’s a great place to come and
look, put their art on the wall and see if they’re going to
put it in their home or start collecting an artist,” said
Michael Wilson, a visiting art and antique broker from Paris,
France.
Even with this diverse mixture, the attitude of those in the
station stays consistent with the buildings’ humble
appearance. Contrary to the stereotype of art dealers being
pretentious, these gallery owners are not ones to shun
non-prospective buyers. College students are welcome and are
encouraged to go and experience first-hand the eclectic diversity
of Bergamot Station.
“We’d like you to come in and look around, but I
know that college students have a lot on their minds and are very,
very busy,” said Thompson. “It is my conviction that
most things you could get exposed to are here ““ you might
find something, you might learn something, you might see something
you like ““ you never know. It’s worth checking things
out, if you have the time and the energy.”