Galveston Arts Center

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Galveston Arts Center Incorporated in 1986, the Galveston Arts Center is an independent nonprofit organization that promotes contemporary art through exhibitions and education.

Believing contemporary art can inspire, engage, provoke and inform, the Galveston Arts Center presents dynamic and innovative work created by new cutting-edge visual artists. As a non-collecting, non-profit museum, The Center advances the practices and visions of emerging artists through the production of vibrant art exhibitions, interdisciplinary research and supporting media. Collaborative, wide-ranging education and outreach programs create a public forum to engage diverse audiences in an exploration of thought-provoking ideas that inform contemporary art and our experiences in a complex world.

10/10/2026

Will we you this evening?

Our Galveston creative community is on full display for ArtWalk Saturdays as live music, opening exhibits and pop up markets paint downtown from 6PM - 9PM.

🗺️ Head to our website to download your ArtWalk Map or pick one up at any ArtWalk participating location.

Opening this evening at GAC, “The Fruit Jar,” is an immersive installation by q***r Houston artists Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin exploring Southeast Texas’s LGBTQIA+ history.

🗣️ Artist Talk begins at 6:30PM.

Take in our upstairs galleries, currently exhibiting Lauren Christlieb’s “Wish You Were Here,” and Annie May Johnston’s “Dark Enough to See.”

Before you head to the next stop on the October ArtWalk Map, browse the Art Lending Library, now open inside the GAC, to begin checking out artwork from the A.L.L. collection.

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Join us this Saturday, October 10, 6PM - 9PM, for the ArtWalk opening reception of Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin’s, “Th...
10/07/2026

Join us this Saturday, October 10, 6PM - 9PM, for the ArtWalk opening reception of Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin’s, “The Fruit Jar.”

Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin are Houston-based collaborative interdisciplinary artists and husbands. Their work involves extensive original archival research and deep collaborations with local LGBTQIA+ communities. 

In 2025 they co-founded Rendezvous Center for Art, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering public understanding of the contributions of the LGBTQIA+ community by supporting the creation, public presentation and social engagement programming of interdisciplinary artwork that examines the rich diversity of q***r experiences. 

Their upcoming exhibition, “The Fruit Jar,” opening in the Strand Gallery, October 10, will anchor a symposium on October 24th, Town Meeting 2026: Galveston Arts Center. Convening artists, organizers, and scholars to explore the history and potential of q***r artistic participation, the symposium will look at examples of collaboration and co-conspiratorship between q***r artists and broader LGBTQIA+ political and social initiatives to imagine future organizing.

🗓️ArtWalk Opening Reception
“The Fruit Jar”
Saturday, October 10 | 6 - 9PM
Artist Talk at 6:30PM

🗓️ Symposium
“Town Meeting 2026: Galveston Arts Center”
Saturday, October 24 | 10AM - 6PM
Free Registration (required)

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As we congratulate Teresa Potter on her return to the library, it is with a bittersweet farewell. She leaves the Galvest...
10/02/2026

As we congratulate Teresa Potter on her return to the library, it is with a bittersweet farewell. She leaves the Galveston Arts Center prepared for a smooth transition as the search begins for our new GAC Executive Director.

We are grateful for the years of dedication Teresa has given to GAC, and we look forward to a continued friendship. Still on the Island, she will lend a hand if needed until we find her replacement. As the search for the new ED has begun, we are excited about the response so far and look forward to the new energy and insight that change brings.

Head to our website to learn more about our Education Director role and how to submit your resume and cover letter. You will also find information on how and who to contact on the GAC team with any questions or needs you may have.

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09/29/2026

From student, to Teaching Artist, to GAC Board Member, local artist Jessica Antonelli has long been part of the Galveston Arts Center community.

Her connection to GAC has grown alongside her own artistic practice, as she’s progressed from learning in the classroom to sharing her knowledge with others and helping shape the future of our organization.

Now, Jessica Antonelli is bringing that experience into our classroom with 10 Steps to Drawing, a three-session course designed for beginners and anyone looking to refresh their drawing skills.

Over the course, students will explore the seven elements of art, perspective and depth, and a variety of drawing materials including pen, pencil, colored media, and charcoal.

Whether you’re picking up a pencil for the first time or returning to something you haven’t done in years, Jessica’s class is an opportunity to learn from an artist who knows GAC not just as a place to teach, but as a community she has grown with.

10 Steps to Drawing with Jessica Antonelli
October 3–17 | Saturdays | 3 sessions | 2PM - 5PM

Head to our website to register today.
🔗 Link in bio.

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Opening in the Strand Gallery, October 10, Fruit Jar is an immersive installation by q***r Houston artists Nick Vaughan ...
09/25/2026

Opening in the Strand Gallery, October 10, Fruit Jar is an immersive installation by q***r Houston artists Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin exploring Southeast Texas’s LGBTQIA+ history. It is the third exhibition in the artists’ ongoing initiative inspired by Town Meeting 1, the formative 1978 gathering of 4,000 q***r community members at the AstroArena.

The installation is anchored by a monumental stencil depicting the façade of a building located two blocks away from the Galveston Arts Center at 2214 Mechanic that housed a gay bar called The Fruit Jar in 1978. This façade is both a monument to the unsung spaces that nurtured the q***r community and a frame/screen through which to view an evolving collection of LGBTQIA+ narratives written in chalk, layered atop one another in an ever-changing canvas of q***r collective history.

🗓️ The exhibition will anchor a symposium on October 24th, Town Meeting 2026: Galveston Arts Center. Convening artists, organizers, and scholars to explore the history and potential of q***r artistic participation, the symposium will look at examples of collaboration and co-conspiratorship between q***r artists and broader LGBTQIA+ political and social initiatives to imagine future organizing.

Town Meeting 1978-2028 is the first initiative of Nick and Jake’s nonprofit, Rendezvous Center for Art.

The Fruit Jar builds on a 2025 exhibition and symposium at Art League Houston and a 2026 project wall at the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University.

These historical gazes attempt to contain the multitude of our regions’ diverse LGBTQIA+ narratives in all of their contradictions.

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09/24/2026

A word for the kids.

At GAC, we believe a creative community is built through exchange. The people who come through our doors don’t just participate in what we offer, they help shape what GAC becomes.

In this GAC Stoop Talk, our Education Director, Kellie Rooks, and GAC Teaching Artist, Harper Caldwell, talk about the impact of growing up with access to a community art center and the importance of giving kids a safe, supportive space to discover and explore their individual creativity.

Because the next generation of our creative community is already here.

Watch the full GAC Stoop Talk on GAC’s YouTube channel.
🔗 https://youtu.be/9lBUZU7RcYM?si=VnxzBLSF_fyJm_Xr

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Exhibitions at GAC open with an opportunity to hear directly from the artists, giving you an opportunity to learn more a...
09/19/2026

Exhibitions at GAC open with an opportunity to hear directly from the artists, giving you an opportunity to learn more about their practice and the stories behind their work.

Head to our website to watch our current exhibiting artist’s Artist Talks, and plan your visit into GAC this week, Wednesday - Sunday, 12PM - 5PM.

GAC Artist Talks
1️⃣ Cody Arnall | “Looking Up Looking Down”
2️⃣ Annie May Johnston | “Dark Enough to See”
3️⃣ Lauren Christlieb | “Wish You Were Here”

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09/16/2026

No need for the same project, the same style, or even the same medium to create as a community. The community is created from the intention we all share, to create in the same space.

Craft Club, our new monthly craft night at GAC, will have a guided craft for you to learn from, starting with Printmaking with Lauren Christlieb, currently exhibiting in the Brown Foundation Gallery.

OR bring your own creative project and enjoy full use of the GAC classroom space, supplies, and machinery.

Head to our website to register for our first GAC Craft Club, Printmaking with Lauren Christlieb, October 1st, 7PM - 9PM.

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We're thrilled to share that our spring GAC Art Club students will get to design their very own works of art to be attac...
09/15/2026

We're thrilled to share that our spring GAC Art Club students will get to design their very own works of art to be attached to a lifeguard tower on the seawall. During these sessions our students will learn from Galveston's Beach Patrol lifeguards about water safety and the ecosystem of our beautiful beaches.

GAC Art Club is a welcoming, hands-on program where young artists can experiment with a variety of materials, techniques, and artistic styles while building confidence and discovering their own creative voice.

Each session is led by a talented local artist and offers engaging art projects designed to encourage imagination, self-expression, and creative problem-solving. Students will have the opportunity to work with different mediums and learn new skills in a supportive, museum-based environment surrounded by art and inspiration.

Whether your child already loves to create or is simply curious to try something new, Art Club is a place to get messy, make something unique, and connect with other young artists.

Seats are limited, register today! https://galvestonartscenter.wildapricot.org/event-6837841

🗓 Wednesdays | February 03, 2027 - May 26, 2027
Art Club for Kids | Ages 6 - 11 | 4:15PM - 5:15PM
Art Club for Teens | Ages 12+ | 5:30PM - 7:00PM

Address

2127 Strand Street
Galveston, TX
77550

Opening Hours

Wednesday 12pm - 5pm
Thursday 12pm - 5pm
Friday 12pm - 5pm
Saturday 12pm - 5pm
Sunday 12pm - 5pm

Telephone

(409) 763-2403

Website

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