About Gualala Arts

Gualala Arts Center

This multi-million-dollar cultural facility in the little community of Gualala on the Northern California coast is home to art exhibitions, performing arts and community events of Mendocino and Sonoma counties.

The facility is open weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and most weekends from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. Visitors are always welcome. Please see the current calendar of events or call (707) 884-1138 for information about exhibits, musical and theatrical events and classes.

Gualala Arts - Growing with its Community

2012 Year in Review

Since 1961, Gualala Arts has served Sonoma and Mendocino County coastal residents and visitors with year-round programs of art, music, theater and education. With a budget of over half a million dollars, Gualala Arts operates with over 20 members on the board of directors, an executive director, office manager, bookkeeper, public relations coordinator, Dolphin Gallery manager, and hundreds of dedicated volunteers.

Gualala was vastly different in the early 1950s. The Gualala Hotel was the only place to stay and eat in this little lumber town. There were no motels, gas stations, or supermarkets. There were four sawmills, a general store, four bars and about 300 people. There were no art galleries.

After the sawmills closed in the 1960s, people drawn by the natural beauty of the area began to settle here, many of them creative, imaginative and artistic. They opened art galleries and staged musicals, plays and other artistic events. Gualala, and these people, attracted other creative and artistic people. Gualala became recognized as a center for individuals who enjoy many forms of the arts.

In 1961, Gualala Arts was formed as a non-profit organization. Since then, it has become a vibrant and active arts association supporting a variety of programs for both residents and visitors to the area.

Gualala Arts regularly holds art exhibits and gallery shows both at the Dolphin Gallery and at the Gualala Arts Center. On the third weekend in August each year, we present one of the most prestigious art exhibitions in northern California - the Art in the Redwoods Festival.

We give scholarships to local high school seniors each year, and provide concerts, plays, and art classes within the public schools, using our abilities to fill in where public school funding is limited.

Dolphin Gallery

The Dolphin Gallery is Gualala Arts' retail location in downtown Gualala. The Dolphin is open 363 days a year, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day except Thanksgiving & Christmas, and staffed entirely by volunteers.

The Dolphin features art and fine crafts by local artists and those in the extended coastal communities of Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. These artist frequently serve as volunteers at the gallery. The inventory changes regularly, and each month the Gallery presents exhibits of work by local artists who are members of Gualala Arts. Visitors to Gualala return to the Dolphin time after time to enjoy the shopping experience and see the new exhibits.

The Dolphin also serves as a Sea Ranch / Gualala area Visitor Center where visitors can obtain information about our coastal communities, such as where to find other art galleries, where to go horseback riding or rent kayaks, and where to find restaurants and accommodations.

Interview with David 'Sus' Susalla,
Executive Director of Gualala Arts

On Mendocino Coast Television (MCTV)
November, 2011

What others are saying about Gualala Arts

Gualala Arts receives an Art Champion Award
presented by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors.
October, 2012

The Little Arts Center That Could
Mendocino Traveler's Guide
Summer-Fall, 2011

Jay Gordon Mendocino Region Travel Examiner Mendocino Coast's Gualala Arts Center: Culture in a redwood forest

The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Gualala Road in Gualala, CA,
is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information, or email info@gualalaarts.org.

Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.