Timely Tribute

Nestled amid the novelty shops and mini-malls of Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, the Orlando Gallery stands out as a fine art jewel set in mercantile surroundings.

Its locale is a tribute to its unique accomplishment: For more than 40 years, the Orlando has presented hundreds of emerging and mid-career artists to the public. It is among the oldest contemporary art galleries in the L.A. area and has served as a springboard for a number of successful artists. The list includes performance art guru Rachel Rosenthal and conceptual artist Eleanor Antin, recently the subject of a retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Perhaps because of its location, and the outdated impression that all culture lies over the hill, Orlando’s co-owners Bob Gino and Don Grant have not received due credit for maintaining such a vital, engaging forum for the arts.

That should change Sunday when Cal State Northridge’s Art Galleries honors the venue with a survey of 26 artists who have enjoyed distinguished exhibition careers at the Orlando.

*

By sponsoring the show, CSUN’s Art Galleries are acknowledging the Orlando’s contribution to the arts in the San Fernando Valley and its support of many students, alumni and faculty at the Northridge campus, said Louise Lewis, director of CSUN’s Art Galleries.

“One thing that’s constantly struck me is how fast galleries come and go,” Lewis said this week. “Especially in L.A. The stereotypical view of the San Fernando Valley is that it’s not the place for any art or cultural activity. But Orlando’s been able to thrive all these years.”

Doug Sutherland, an art instructor at CSUN, has exhibited at the gallery and recommended students and colleagues to owners Gino and Grant.

“Orlando has served the community for so many years,” Sutherland said. “They’ve been there forever, and about half of its artists have some connection to the university.”

The gallery’s quirky sensibility has been important to him and other artists, Sutherland said. “My work is kind of eccentric, to say the least,” he said. “And the gallery has always been one of the few in the Los Angeles area that has always shown figurative work. So it seemed like home to me.”

Gino came to the Valley in the 1950s by way of Indiana and opened a dance studio in Encino with partner Phil Orlando. The art gallery began as a fluke, said Gino, a lively, tanned gentlemen with glasses and a clean-shaven head.

“We had all this wall space where we put photos of the famous people who were taking lessons with us,” Gino said this week, surrounded by scores of paintings and sculptures arranged salon-style in his gallery. “We had artist friends, and they said, ‘You have all these walls, why don’t you put some of our art up?’ And that’s what we did. Finally, some of the students taking dancing lessons told us, ‘You ought to put this stuff up for sale.’ So we started selling art.”

With time, the gallery overtook the dance school and moved in 1976 from Encino to its present location. Gino and Orlando often scouted local art schools for new talent, CSUN being first among many. In 1992, Orlando died and was succeeded by his nephew, Grant, in the business.

“It’s never been an easy task to sustain ourselves in the Valley,” Gino said. “We were never part of a scene. But we made it work.”

Proximity brought CSUN and the gallery together, Gino said, and he was pleased when the school offered to spotlight the Orlando. Gino and Grant served as curators, choosing artists and works that best illustrated the range of talent represented by Orlando. A corresponding exhibition of works by the artists will be on display at the Orlando.

“I believe art should be affordable, and I like to deal with artists who agree,” Gino said. “Art is for all groups of people, not just for the elite.”

BE THERE

“Orlando” at CSUN’s Art Galleries, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge. Runs from Sunday-Nov. 20. (818) 677-2226. The Orlando Gallery, 14553 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. (818) 789-6012.