GW Contemporary: Genevieve Williams Illuminates Laguna’s Art Scene
A new light continues to shine in Laguna Beach—literally and figuratively. Since opening this summer, GW Contemporary has quickly become a defining presence in the city’s creative landscape. Founded by curator Genevieve Williams, the gallery sits opposite the Laguna Art Museum and has already staged three distinct exhibitions that bridge local perspectives with an international sensibility.
“I’ve been in the arts for over 15 years, curating and directing for other galleries,” says Williams. “To now have my own space—it’s a little terrifying, but incredibly exciting.”
Her vision for GW Contemporary was clear from the start: to create a space where art feels personal, and where dialogue between artist, place, and viewer unfolds naturally.
The inaugural exhibition, Lucent Ground: Contemporary Perspectives on Abstraction, opened in July and introduced the gallery’s distinct curatorial perspective with works by Larry Bell, Rosalind Tallmadge, Jonny Niesche, Laddie John Dill, Heather Hutchison, and others. The show reflected Williams’ dual identity—an Australian now deeply rooted in Southern California—and her desire to merge those two worlds through the artists she champions.
That global-local conversation has continued through the gallery’s next chapters. In recognition of her curatorial leadership and growing impact on the regional arts community, Williams received the Emerging Arts Leader Award in September—a testament to her influence within Orange County’s evolving cultural landscape. The following month, GW Contemporary presented its first solo exhibition, Mantra, featuring Nobuhito Nishigawara, whose ceramic sculptures balance precision and intuition. “Nobu’s sculptures live at the intersection of form and feeling,” Williams says. “Each piece reflects a deep awareness of touch, time, and material.”
Now on view, The Space Between: First Light, Last Light brings together ten artists who explore the threshold between night and day. Conceived around the liminal hours between dusk and dawn, the exhibition moves through darkness, shadow, and reflection into moments of color and illumination. Featuring works by Mara De Luca, Katie Shapiro, Peter Alexander, and Brian Lotti, among others, the show captures the poetic balance between light and its absence—between perception and feeling.
Beyond its exhibitions, GW Contemporary embodies Williams’ vision for a collaborative, ever-evolving space. Conceived as a platform for rotating partnerships between artists, designers, and creative brands, the gallery’s first season features collaborations with female-founded ventures—including a photography pop-up by Taylor O’Sullivan (Culterra) in the main space and a design showroom by McCall Henke’s Table Thirty Three in the rear Annex. “I see the gallery as a living, breathing environment,” Williams says. “Collaboration introduces new perspectives while staying true to a unified vision. It’s about championing other voices in the arts and creating a platform where ambition, experimentation, and shared growth can thrive.”
More than an exhibition space, GW Contemporary has evolved into a lively meeting point for the Laguna community—hosting intimate dinners, sound baths, private tours, and monthly First Thursdays Art Walk receptions. Each gathering reinforces Williams’ belief in art as connection and shared experience. “I want people to come in, pause, and really feel something,” she says. “And if they choose to live with a piece, that connection only deepens over time.”