The Drawing Room art gallery will close its Mission Street location just a year after reopening, according to its owner, Renée DeCarlo.
A gallery sale is set to take place from Friday, September 12, through its final day on Sunday, September 14.
DeCarlo expressed her surprise at the swift turn of events. The healthcare company that had been subsidizing the gallery’s rent at 2675 Mission St. was unexpectedly defunded by President Donald Trump.
To protect the identity of the supporter, DeCarlo requested that the company’s name remain confidential.
DeCarlo remarked, “There was no way I could do this without people helping support the rent. I’m not going to squat, and we have to go.”
Additionally, the closure of the neighboring GameStop in 2024 has further complicated matters, as it removed the landlord’s biggest source of income.
The property owner is looking to leave the space vacant to attract potential buyers.
DeCarlo acknowledged the situation, stating, “I don’t want to be a burden to the building which is being sold. We’re at the mercy of real estate.”
This latest development is not new for DeCarlo; the Drawing Room has faced multiple relocations since its inception.
This marks the fifth location the gallery has occupied since it launched in 2018.
DeCarlo has started to view these disruptions as “opportunities of having to move.”
The current space at 599 Valencia St., located at the corner of 17th and Valencia streets, is also facing an uncertain future.
David Levin, a former owner of the property where Harrington Galleries operated for many years, confirmed that the current owner is in contract with a buyer.
Details regarding the contract remain undisclosed, and both the current owner and DeCarlo declined to comment further.
The Drawing Room originally opened at 2675 Mission St. from December 2019 to November 2020, benefiting from a remarkably low rent of $1 per month.
Prior to the gallery’s occupation, the space had been unoccupied for nine and a half years.
The onset of the pandemic prompted a four-year hiatus for the gallery, while DeCarlo kept the operations running at its first location on 3260 23rd St. from November 2018 to November 2021.
Subsequently, DeCarlo moved the gallery to 780 Valencia St. from January 2021 to May 2022, followed by another move to 210 Clement St. from 2022 until earlier this year.
The 599 Valencia St. location opened its doors in January 2024 and quickly became a cultural hotspot, with nearly 1,000 attendees braving the rain for its opening night, according to DeCarlo.
However, DeCarlo emphasized the challenges associated with the pop-up model, saying, “This whole pop-up model and moving around all the time is really exhausting, and it needs so many resources.”
Her staff has dwindled to just two full-time and two part-time employees as the gallery has faced these ongoing transitions.
When the Drawing Room was invited back to the Mission Street location last year, DeCarlo viewed it as a safety net.
She thought it would provide security if the Valencia Street location turned out to be temporary, saying, “If Valencia Street ends up being a 30-day, you have to leave. We’ll have Mission Street.”
Unfortunately, that has not been the outcome.
DeCarlo is now focused on closing the chapter at Mission St. and hopes to find a permanent home for the Drawing Room in the future.
With the gallery sale occurring from noon to 5 p.m. this Friday through Sunday, visitors can find select works of art alongside DeCarlo’s drawings accumulated over more than 25 years of creative endeavor.
image source from：missionlocal
