Exhibition Proposals
San Mateo County non-profits, arts collectives, and individuals are welcome to submit exhibition proposals for specific Center for Creativity galleries. Exhibitions are on a two month cycle: Jan–Feb, Mar–Apr, May–June, July–August, Sept–Oct, Nov–Dec, with the exception of the Community Wall Gallery which is monthly.
The Center for Creativity has experienced artists and curators to assist inexperienced artists, emerging artists, and professional artists with realizing their ideas.
About the Galleries
The Center for Creativity has 7 gallery spaces:
Sequoia Gallery
Eureka Studio Gallery
Safebox Gallery
Phone Booth Gallery
Community Wall
Restroom Gallery
Art Window
A virtual tour is available here, and it highly recommended that you visit the Center for Creativity in person prior to submitting a proposal.
Sequoia Gallery
When you step inside CfC at the corner of Main Street and Broadway, you enter a striking historic rotunda that evokes the elegance of the 1920s - like stepping into a space suspended in time.
The Sequoia Gallery extends through the hotel’s rotunda, hallway, and stairway walls, transforming these architectural features into an immersive exhibition environment. This gallery is dedicated to professionally curated, themed exhibitions, typically featuring 8 to 18 participating artists.
Eureka Studio Gallery
The Eureka Studio Gallery is the longest wall within the Eureka Studio with an adjacent short wall. The long wall measures 31 feet long x 8 feet tall, the short wall 8 feet x 8 feet. This gallery is for curated group exhibitions of framed wall works. The gallery can show approximately 10–15 medium sized works well. Proposals from San Mateo County Arts collectives are welcome.
The Eureka Studio is the largest gathering space at CfC, featuring the longest wall in the building. What makes this space especially meaningful is that it serves as the central hub for many of our programs and events. Whether attending an art class, workshop, or community gathering, visitors are surrounded by artwork displayed along our walls, creating an immersive and inspiring creative environment.
Originally the hotel’s ballroom and dining room in the 1920s, the space was restored and refreshed in 2025 through the efforts of CfC volunteers, who repaired surfaces, repainted the walls, and helped bring the room back to life as an active creative and community space.
Safe Box Gallery
The Safe Box Gallery is the original safe from the 1920s Hotel Sequoia management office - an authentic historic artifact once used to safeguard guests’ valuables. Reimagined as a unique miniature gallery space, the safe retains its original cubbies and compartments, which now serve as an interactive framework for participatory and conceptual art installations.
Designed to inspire curiosity and activate viewer engagement, the gallery invites CfC visitors to open compartments, peer inside, uncover hidden details, and interact directly with the works and objects on view. Its intimate scale and historic character create opportunities for imaginative installations that blend storytelling, discovery, and audience participation in unexpected ways.
Phone Booth Gallery
The Phone Booth Gallery hosts installations within the original 1920s Hotel Sequoia phone booth, once located in the hotel lobby. Reimagined as an immersive and conceptual exhibition space, the gallery invites visitors into intimate, experiential installations that transform this historic architectural feature into a site for creative exploration, storytelling, and unexpected artistic encounters..
Artists are encouraged to create immersive experiences for Center for Creativity visitors. All media are welcome, including 2D and 3D visual art, sound art, video, and animation. Artists are required to return the gallery to its original condition with clean white walls upon deinstallation. White latex paint will be provided for repainting the space.
The traditional-style phone booth measures 57" long × 34" wide × 84" tall and features a sloped ceiling above a built-in shelf that once housed a telephone. The space includes a full-size door with windows, a small interior window, and an electrical outlet.
Community Wall
The Community Wall, located inside the Eureka Gallery, is designed for community groups seeking to exhibit two-dimensional artwork. Works may be presented framed or unframed. Exhibitions are curated by the participating community group, not by the Center for Creativity.
We value and take pride in providing community groups and nonprofits with a dedicated space to share their work and perspectives, ensuring accessible opportunities for public exhibition and engagement. Unlike our other exhibition spaces, which rotate every two months, exhibitions on the Community Wall rotate monthly.
Art Window
Art Window (our newest gallery) is located at 2009-2011 Broadway, two doors down from the Center for Creativity. Four contiguous store-front windows run along ~30 feet of sidewalk, visible to everyone outside 24/7.
Artwork that takes advantage of the unique nature of this space is encouraged – the cabinet-like spaces are particularly suitable for three-dimensional work such as sculpture, installation art, kinetic art and possibly video. Individual artists, or collaborative groups, should utilize the entire space to create a cohesive, engaging experience or story for the viewer on the street. When planning installations, artists should consider the unique viewing experience of this gallery – through glass, both day and night, by people simply walking by.
The spaces behind the windows have a floor 2’ above ground level and are 6’8” tall inside. While the shapes are irregular, the approximate dimensions are 4’ deep and 4’ wide (corner windows); and 2’ deep x 9’ wide (center windows). All work to be installed must fit through 2’x4’ openings in the back. Electricity and adjustable overhead lighting is installed.
A diagram with dimensions is available upon request. Submit a proposal here.
Current & Upcoming Exhibitions
We welcome proposals year-round, and check out our current & upcoming exhibitions to see what’s happening at the CfC!
