Words by Johanna Harlow
“When you get close, you can really see the intricacy of the work,” says Stephanie Martin, pointing out tiny hidden faces in the painting of a tiger at a solo exhibition dedicated to the ephemeral yet earthy works of Steven Spazuk. The Studio Shop Gallery’s new director crosses to another work with swooping swallows. “When the light hits it, like right now, it’s illuminated.” And truly, the gold leaf adorning the image does seem to glow.
Stephanie is the latest in a long legacy of gallery directors who have overseen this 110-year-old institution. Both an art gallery and a picture-framing shop, it’s been around almost as long as Burlingame has. (It opened seven years after the city incorporated in 1908.) Founded by Dorothy and Ralph Crawford to unite Ralph’s art supply and picture-framing services with his wife’s photography studio, the shop stayed in the family until 1955, when it was sold to the parents of its most recent owners, Carl and Janet Martin. They continued that tradition by entrusting it to daughter-in-law Stephanie in January.
Cover Photo: Annie Barnett / Historic Photo: Studio Shop Gallery
Originally from Austria, Stephanie grew up surrounded by the arts. Her father was both a photographer and a painter—and she and her grandfather shared his shutterbug ways. “[My grandpa] would go to the Formula One races and take photos of Niki Lauda and all the big Formula One people. I would see these all framed in our hallway,” recalls Stephanie. After moving to San Francisco as an au pair, Stephanie met Carl and Janet’s son on a trip to the beach, and the two later married. After bookkeeping at the Martins’ gallery, Stephanie discovered a passion for the work. She continued taking on new responsibilities until assuming her role as gallery director.
“I am thrilled beyond belief that Stephanie’s taking over and it’s staying in the family,” Janet says. That’s not to say the decision to step back was easy. Janet has swept the gallery’s floors since she was old enough to hold a broom and used to bike there with her sisters to spend time with their dad.
Photo: Annie Barnett
After taking over the gallery from her parents John and Martha Benson, she dedicated decades of her career to this place and formed countless relationships. “I’ve said it was easier to let go of my kids,” Janet laughs. “It raised me, fed me—and it’s going to do the same for Stephanie.” Janet mulls over how best to put in words what this place means to her. “It’s my life, it’s not a business,” she says finally. “And Stephanie treats it like it’s her life and not a business.”
What has Stephanie learned from Janet? “Everything!” Stephanie declares. “She’s been an incredible mentor for me … and she knows everybody in Burlingame.” Those relationships are why Janet will continue to play a supporting role at the gallery. “I have clients that I’ve worked with for 30 years. They’re going to want to work with me, I’m going to want to work with them,” Janet says. “ I know every wall in every house they have and what piece of art’s on it or what frame is on the art.”
Photo: Annie Barnett
That generational legacy is the glue that keeps this place going strong, Stephanie points out. “Clients were friends with John and Martha, and then their kids would come and work with Janet, and now the next generation comes in and they work with me!” Stephanie says she meets people whose parents collected art from Janet and Carl, and that she’s honored to be able to introduce their children to incredible art.
Just because Studio Shop Gallery is over a century old doesn’t mean it’s dated. “You constantly have to reinvent yourself,” Stephanie says, emphasizing a motto that Janet and Carl drilled into her. “We can never become the ‘old lady gallery!’” Which is why, when the place next door recently became available, they expanded, knocking through the wall and brightening the interior with bold accent walls and modern furniture.
Photo: Annie Barnett
The Studio Shop Gallery also pivoted during the pandemic. “Everyone was at home, no one could travel—and so people were actually finally staring at their walls,” Stephanie recalls. The gallery created an art rental program so homeowners could fill those empty spaces. “We’d bring it out to your house with our gloves and our masks and our booties on,” Janet says. Many people ended up buying the rented art. Studio Shop also supported artists by hosting a series of solo shows: 10 artists over 10 weeks. Almost all of them sold out.
There’s a sense of awe to the way Stephanie describes matching the right art with the right owner. “Art is so personal,” she says. “I call it the soul of the house.” She motions to a couch “where you can bask in the presence of the art” and explains how their large onsite inventory allows the shop to easily introduce collectors to a wide range of pieces. “Having that immediacy and being able to show people different things is really important,” she reflects. At the gallery, they never try to force that process. “It needs to come from the heart. You know when it’s the right piece.”
Photo: Annie Barnett
GETTING FRAMED The Studio Shop Gallery takes its framing services seriously and has even done framing projects for museum exhibitions in Europe. “A frame can make or break a piece of art,” Janet maintains. Take a Rembrandt out of its original frame, replace it with a flimsy contemporary frame and “it wouldn’t be the masterpiece that it is.”
Does the gallery’s director have a favorite piece at home? Stephanie mentions a figurative abstract by Melinda Matyas, titled I’ve Shaken Off the Dust of the Lands, “which is kind of a reference to getting rid of negativity,” she describes. “It’s in my bedroom, so when I wake up in the morning, I can see it and it always reminds me, ‘Keep going.’”
The sentiment holds for the Studio Shop Gallery, too. It has persevered through two pandemics (COVID and the Spanish Flu), the Great Depression, the Great Recession and two World Wars. And if Stephanie has anything to say about it, there will be many more years to come.