Still another San Francisco gallery is in danger of losing its space.
The landlord has delivered an ultimatum to the owners of the nonprofit Meridian Gallery, just uphill from Union Square on the Powell Street cable car line: Pay $100,000 by Monday or face eviction, say the owners. That's a full year’s rent plus a security deposit
The gallery mounts exhibits and new music programs, but co-founders Anne Brodzky and Anthony Williams say they’re most proud of the arts training they offer to “the amazing youth,” about 30 at-risk high school students from around the city. Meridian interns painted a mural a decade ago at Powell and Market, one restored recently by the current group of artist interns.
The gallery has raised about 10 percent of the funds needed through an auction and online pledges, but “we understand that the eviction process is going through, and that any moment the sheriffs could arrive and present us with a departure notice," says Williams.
The problems for Meridian follow the eviction earlier this year of a number of galleries at 77 Geary Street, including Rena Bransten and George Krevsky, to make way for an expanding software firm. Both have since relocated.