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Bedford Gallery
Rating Details »
- Hours:
Tue-Wed. 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Thu-Sat. 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Thu-Sat. 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
- Price Range:
-
$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
7 reviews for Bedford Gallery
I came here for the Post Secret exhibit a few months ago, and what a perfect place to have it. I've been following Post Secret for years and am constantly impressed by such a simple idea that is so significant.
We didn't get to see him speak because that was sold out, so we waited out a trip here. From previous experience, I know better than to attend an exhibit early into it. We came near the tail end of the exhibit on a Friday evening which was perfect because it wasn't crowded and I was able to take my sweet time looking over all the details of each card if I wanted to. And I sure did.
The exhibit was $5 and you pay as you enter, the gallery itself is an open room with a few displays in the center of the room. There's only one small separate room to the left and that displayed a video. Although a small room, it was very open and well-lit. I felt this was a great place to have the exhibit, anything in San Francisco would have been a nuisance to get to/park/and far more expensive I assume.
I'm not sure if photos are allowed, I'll be sure to ask next time.
We had a little confusion getting in. I thought the ticket office was where you purchased tickets, but it wasn't. It was for another event. Oddly, an event upstairs (Evita) that I didn't know my friend was performing in! Then it appeared that the doors were locked and a couple was waiting outside so we were waiting as well. From the other side of the door, a lady asked, with a little 'tude, if we were coming in or not --- it was just awkward? Anyway, we figured it out but would have preferered a little less attitude?
I just saw a fantastic exhibit called Post Secret at the Bedford.
From their website:
In November 2004, Frank Warren handed out 3,000 postcards to strangers. He invited people to write down a secret anonymously and mail it to him. Each secret had to be true and something that had never been shared with another person. These initial secrets were exhibited in Washington, D.C., later that year. After the first exhibition closed, word of the project spread. People began crafting their own homemade postcards and the artful secrets began arriving from every continent.
Today, Warren has received more than 250,000 postcards and they continue to come at a rate of about 1,000 per week. Every Sunday, Warren posts secrets on his award-winning website (http://www.PostSecret.com), which has been viewed more than 155 million times. This international phenomenon has spawned four New York Times bestselling books with the most recent, A Lifetime of Secrets, published in October 2007. One of HarperCollins most sought after speakers, Warren has spoken at dozens of college campuses and appeared on international media including Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN, BBC, CBC, and NPR.
The PostSecret exhibition features more than 400 postcards that bring together the most powerful, poignant, and beautifully intimate secrets Warren has received. Why is PostSecret so appealing? It is because Warren has tapped into the universal stuff of being human, the collective, often unconscious level of existence that defies age, culture, gender, and economics. Addictively compelling, the cards reveal our deepest fears, desires, regrets, and obsessions. The exhibition brilliantly reveals that human emotion can be unique and universal at the same time. The secrets are both provocative and profound, and the cards themselves are works of art. Carefully and creatively constructed by hand, the postcards are made from cardboard, old photographs, wedding invitations, and other personal items artfully decorated and have traveled to Warren from all over the world."
This is one of the BEST exhibits I have ever seen.
The postcards sent in represent people of all ages, ethnicities, social classes, sexual orientations, mental states, etc.
Some of the postcards make you laugh out loud others will make you sad.
Besides the 400 postcards there is a video with an interview with
Frank Warren. There are also tables with blank cards for you to post your own secret. One of those read, "I snuck in here without paying admission......I'm sorry."
Two of my favorites from the exhibit:
"I reschedules a business conference because it was my dog's birthday."
"I'm 65 and I still want to be a famous tennis player.
Please see my pix.
I can't wait to send in my secrets!
fyi The Post Secret Exhibit closes on April 19th.
We have also seen at least two other fabulous exhibits; one featuring Julia Parker, one of the foremost Native American basket makers
and an exhibit about childhood dreams an eclectic collection of art including a Hello KItty dirt bike, A Hello Kitty skirt made of HK toast, A Hello Kitty Uzi,
Yes the gallery is small but it is well worth it for $5.
Don't dismiss this place just because it is in Walnut Creek.
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The five stars are for the exhibit I saw. The Bedford Gallery itself is a nice space. The room was well lit and spacious, but I'm not sure what else to say about it.
I went to see the Postsecret exhibit here, and I LOVED it. I have been a huge fan (to the point of counting down the days whenever a new book is released). The closest that Postsecret got to SF last year was USC, which was a little too far for me to travel to see an exhibit.
I was so excited when Walnut Creek was added to the list! I was a total slacker and didn't bother to buy my tickets in advance for the opening night event with Frank Warren, so it sold out and I didn't get to go.
I went to the exhibit tonight and loved it. There was a good mix of secrets I'd already seen (either on the website or in the books) with new things I'd never seen. They ranged from hilarious to heart breaking.
The exhibit runs through April, and it's totally worth the trip to Walnut Creek. Only $5 and they're open until 8pm most nights.
http://postsecret.blog...
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Small, local art gallery in Walnut Creek, California. This art gallery changes exhibits every couple of months or so. My first visit was a couple years ago when they exhibited Dutch painters influenced by Van Gogh. It was truly a good exhibit and great timing, overlapping the Dutch Sinterklaas Eve/Day (I celebrate every Dec. 5th/6th).
Earlier this year they had an interesting exhibit housing a photography collection of JFK. There was some historical documents and artifacts on display, providing a cultural and historical lesson at the same time.
For $3.00 or so admission, it is a nice change of pace from the busy shopping district of downtown Walnut Creek.
http://www.bedfordgall.../
http://www.ehow.com/ho...
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Laughable. Culturally relevant art will never be found in a wealthy white suburb.
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As mentioned in another review they do change their exhibits often, I went yesterday and saw one on graphite. Overall the art was uninteresting and some you could consider to be literally trash in a frame (used carbon paper).
The gallery itself is rather small so don't expect to spend much time here no matter what the exhibit is. If you happen to be in Walnut Creek and you've got $3 and time to burn this place is great.
The lovely Dean Lesher for the Arts houses the Bedford Gallery; a venue that features historic, modern, and contemporary artists highlighting what they claim to be "...reflect[ive] and engage[ing of ] the diverse audiences of the entire Contra Costa region. Are they kidding? Mmmm, Central Contra Costa County: Orinda, Moraga, Lafayette, Alamo, Danville, Diablo and Blackhawk. There is more diversity in a Republican Party fundraiser. The only diversity embraced in this area is which part of East Asia or Europe you're from and what wing of the G.O.P. you subscribe to. This area of the East Bay is notoriously comprised of well to do professionals who moved there from the City with their new family for the schools and to live in a bubble of valet parking, shopping, manicured lawns, and frolic care free in their homogenous, desperate house wives neighborhoods. However, I digress; despite the lack of diversity that is these aforementioned communities, the Center for the Arts is a welcome site in this quintessential suburbia.
http://bedfordgallery.org/
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