GearBox Gallery is an artist-run contemporary art gallery located at 770 W. Grand Ave, Oakland, directly below the well-established Transmission Gallery. We are a member of Oakland Art Murmur, which promotes Oakland arts and sponsors events, including the famous First Friday Art Walks.
GearBox Gallery is dedicated to showcasing the work of its members and a broad range of regional contemporary guest artists, fostering community and education through intellectual and cultural exchange focused on the visual arts.
📣 GearBox is currently accepting new member applications!
👉 Click here for more information about applying to be a member artist.
Artist talk with Christine Ferrouge and Samuelle Richardson for their 2021 exhibition Unlikely Heroes. Photo by Gina Gaiser
Gallery Contacts:
Business Director: Jules Campbell julescampbell@earthlink.net
PR Director: Christine Ferrouge, christineferrouge@gmail.com
Exhibitions Director: TaVee McAllister Lee, exhibitions@gearboxgallery.com
Secretary: Rachel Major, rachelsmajor@gmail.com
Website Manager: exhibitions@gearboxgallery.com
Installation shot from our back room members’ show, including the work of: Harry Clewans, TaVee McAllister Lee and Jamie Treacy (left to right).
Gearbox History
Gearbox Gallery was founded in 2015 by a group of artists from Gallery 621 in Benicia, CA. After finding out the Benicia gallery’s lease would not be renewed, several artists began looking for a new space to house their vision for a collectively-run art gallery.
At a gallery meeting, Ruth Santee offered rent a space she co-owned in Oakland, which was also the location of a gallery she co-owns, Transmission Gallery. Many members drove to Oakland to see the new space. In the meantime, another space was found in Benicia. Half of the members decided to stay in Benicia and the other half came to Oakland and rented the space near Transmission Gallery, thus Gearbox was born. Our first show at the newly named, newly formed gallery, was a pop-up! This came after the founding members: Jules Campbell, TaVee Lee, David Fitzgerald, Joseph Mele, Ruth Santee, Linda Stevenson Dunlop, Susan Aulik, Kari Brink, Phyllis Lasche and Betsy Kluga, all worked very hard to transform warehouse space into a gallery.
Gearbox Alumni
Chronological, including years of membership, linked to their websites.
Kari Brinck, 2015-17
Linda Stevenson Dunlop, 2015
David Fitzgerald, 2015-17
Darrell Hunger, 2015-18
Jerry McLaughlin, 2015-17
Joseph Mele, 2015-18
Jeff Snell, 2017-18
Phyllis Lasché, 2015-21
Deborah Benioff-Friedman 2018-2021
Gearbox Guest Artists and Jurors
Alphabetical order by last name, linked to their websites.
In the Studio with Rachel Major
I arrived to Rachel Major’s San Francisco home and studio to a glorious spread of homemade bread, cheese and afternoon espresso. As I perked up
In the Studio with Christine Ferrouge
I chatted with Christine in her luminous West Oakland studio in late September, as she prepared for her first Gearbox feature exhibition Unlikely Heroes, with
In the Studio with Jules Campbell (a virtual interview)
Equilibrium Jules Campbell & Linda Ellinwood + Inner Room guest: Lori Murphy’s Canaday Redacted The Gearbox Gallery – January 29 through March 13. 2021 Fridays
In the Studio with Harry Clewans
Omens and Observations Harry Clewans and Arthur Gonzalez at the Gearbox Gallery September 11 through October 10, 2020 Fridays and Saturdays, noon to 5:00 p.m.
In the Studio with TaVee McAllister Lee
TaVee’s Happy Hour Artist Talk was on Facebook Live on March 31st! Click here to see the interview. IN the WAKE TaVee McAllister Lee creates
In the Studio With Linda Ellinwood
In anticipation of her upcoming exhibit, Twist of Fate, I recently visited with Linda Ellinwood at her Oakland studio on a gray afternoon that had