05/01/2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
As P Street Studios and Gallery enter their 3rd year of opening, it is with a heavy heart this letter is being composed and sent. We are officially announcing the closure of our 764 P Street Studio/gallery effective immediately. Reasons include unexpected building reconfiguration eliminating our suite & major construction that has had adverse effects on our art, the art we exhibit, and the gallery space as a whole.
In the spring of 2008, Pearl, with longtime friend Andrew Watrous, founded Downtown Community Arts Collective (DCAC) located at 764 P Street. Until it closed its doors to the public in 2012, Pearl and Watrous shared their creative process with at-risk youth through a series of art workshops sponsored by DCAC and its community partners and benefactors. Retaining their space as private studios, in 2013, Pearl and Watrous reimagined their studio/gallery space and co-developed P Street Studios. Since then, we have proudly walked more than 20 emerging artists through planning, mounting and installing their first Gallery showing. Mentoring has been an important goal for us since the beginning.
Since opening the doors at 764 P Street, together Andrew and I have won the Fresno Arts Council Horizon Award; received numerous reviews and articles; were invited by Leadership Fresno to design bus wraps for FAX; were commissioned to design and paint four Downtown murals for the Small Business Administration; and most recently, were named Best Gallery in Fresno 2015.
Looking back on our accomplishments, we want to thank everyone who supported us over the years. From studio mates, artists, volunteers, friends, and donors, to artHop regulars; we appreciate you and sincerely recognize that we could not have come so far without you. We’d like to extend a special “Thank You” to Will D**e of Suma Properties for housing us and supporting us over the last 7 years so we could do what we love and share it with our community.
Going forward, Andrew and I will continue to produce and exhibit our art. Hope for a new location for P Street Studios is dependent on cost and availability. As for now, we leave it up to fate.
We welcome any questions or comments.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Pearl [email protected]
Website: www.stephaniepearl.com
Andrew WatrousAndrew Watrous [email protected]
Website: www.studioapw.com
P earl's career as an artist began with a myriad of media, from story box assemblage to wire sculpture. The gravitation toward canvas and later wood, was a natural evolution and one in which she has...
