on view
Studio in the Fremont home in Black Point now Fort Mason about 1863, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
[Obstructed view of the house through the trees with the road visible on the left side in the foreground.] Or Black Point Reinterpretive Site
an installation by Torreya Cummings & Sarah Lowe
curated by Elena Gross
December 13, 2025 - March 29, 2026
Opening reception: December 13, 2025, 3-5 pm
The gallery will be open during SF Art Week, Jan 17- Jan 25, 2026. Special hours on Monday, January 19- Wednesday, January 21, 12-5 pm
[Obstructed view of the house through the trees with the road visible on the left side in the foreground.] or black point reinterpretive site is an immersive, site-responsive installation and replica of a 19th-century Victorian “period room,” constructed by multidisciplinary artists Torreya Cummings and Sarah Lowe. Period rooms function as domestic interior spaces to present a wealthy family’s opulent and often exotic treasures. At Berkeley Art Center, Cummings & Lowe have fashioned theatrical backdrops, handcrafted facsimiles, props, furniture, and created a stage to play out the political dramas of natural history, colonialism, and mechanical interventions into the Northern California landscape from the time of Western expansion to the present day. These fabricated scenes challenge and question how art and artifice, photography and commercialism, have functioned as tools of both history-making and historical erasure. black point reinterpretive site explores the changes in landscape, in natural species evolution (or extinction), and in the proliferation of industry and development of the Bay Area as a wink to the near-distant past and as a potential warning sign for the future. The massive installation spans the entire gallery and includes sculpture, photography, textiles, soundscapes, and a live fountain, with the heightened artificiality of a theater stage that destabilizes the presumed authority of the museum by being honestly false. Cummings & Lowe invite us into this figurative hall of mirrors to better understand where we stand today and how quickly the tides can turn for all of us.
upcoming
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: 2026 ANNUAL JURIED MEMBERS’ EXHIBITION
February 20 - March 27, 2026
Our call for submissions for the 2026 Juried Members' Exhibition is now OPEN!
This year’s Juried Members’ Exhibition is juried by Jackie Im and Aaron Harbour, Co-Directors of Et al. Gallery, SF. The Et al. Gallery serves as a site for exhibitions and events, working with its select roster as well as other local and international artists, performers, writers, publishers, and curators.
We are excited to invite artists living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area to submit their best works. This open call will consider all artwork mediums and themes.
Submitting work is free for current members. New and renewing members can sign up at a sliding scale on our website. Two Juror Spotlight Award winners will be selected and invited to participate in an Artist Conversation with the Jurors. Our Audience Award will be announced at the exhibition closing. Award winners will receive special consideration.
Exhibition Dates: June 13- August 15, 2026
Questions? Email us at info@berkeleyartcenter.org
Open Call Dates: February 20- March 27, 2026
Deadline to Apply: March 27, 2026, at 10:59 PM PT
Fee: Free for current Members / Sliding scale $35-$55 for new Members
If you want to learn more about our upcoming programs, exhibitions, and events, please make sure to subscribe to our newsletter below!