Califia Gallery
In 2007, with the support of the town of Horažďovice, American artist Barbara Benish opened Gallery Califia with the help of many local artists including Jitka Petrášová, Petr Kalaš, Šárka Hnátová, Aleš Loziak and Zuzana Koubová. Thanks to generous support from The Ministry of Culture, Plzeň Region, the town of Horažďovice and other sponsors, Gallery Califia is a fully functioning art gallery and is able to bring international culture to the region.
The name Califia derives from the root of the name of the state of California. Califia is the legendary goddess who guarded the secret gold ores hidden along the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
Gallery Califia is an artist–run, non–commercial space, exhibiting both international and regional art. Our aim through collective exhibitions is to "to create space and conditions for artistic and multicultural dialogue". We support the untraditional pairing of established artists with students and young artists, as well as international and local artists in an attempt to open doors to rich, multicultural, and non-hierarchal dialogue.
Gallery Califia is situated under the non-profit umbrella of Art Dialogue, o.s., whose scope includes a range of activities and campaigns to promote culture, education, and international artistic exchange. To learn more about our activities visit www.artmill.eu
At the gallery there is also a small gift shop featuring local hand-crafted goods from the Šumava region and products of several workshops. The gallery employs special needs groups (or organizations) (such as Tolerance, Český západ, Proutek) and a percentage of the sales go toward helping to balance the operational costs of the space.
Galerie Califia welcomes proposals from curators and artists.