Qualia Contemporary Art to move into former Pace Gallery space

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Qualia Contemporary Art has found a big way to celebrate its third anniversary: the downtown Palo Alto gallery is moving to a larger space. But visitors won’t have to go far to check out its new digs: the contemporary gallery is relocating just three blocks away from its current spot at 328 University Ave. into the space vacated by Pace Gallery just over a year ago.

Qualia Contemporary Art is relocating to 229 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto, the former location of Pace Gallery. The space is located on the ground floor of The Cardinal Hotel. Courtesy Qualia Contemporary Art.

The gallery announced on Tuesday in a press release that it’s moving to Pace’s former location, a 3,200-square-foot space on the ground floor of The Cardinal Hotel at 229 Hamilton Ave. The move will increase Qualia’s exhibition space by 700 square feet — and it also happens to coincide with the gallery’s third anniversary of opening its doors.

“Three years since the gallery’s founding, we’re delighted to deepen our Palo Alto roots with our move to the new gallery space, to raise the profile of our artists, and to serve our community as a platform for critical dialogues on contemporary art,” DaciaXu, Qualia’s executive director and co-founder, said in the press release.

The public will get to see the space for themselves on Nov. 11, when Qualia opens its first show at the new location, the two-woman exhibition “Chu Chu + Gail Skudera: The Edge of Days.”

Qualia's new location will provide an additional 700 square feet of exhibition space, according to a press release about the movie. Courtesy Qualia Contemporary Art. — Qualia’s new location will provide an additional 700 square feet of exhibition space, according to a press release about the movie. Courtesy Qualia Contemporary Art.

The show “highlights the gallery’s commitment to presenting innovative work from both Bay Area and internationally based artists,” according to the release.

The former Pace location has largely been quiet since the international art gallery group left in 2022 to consolidate its West Coast operations in Los Angeles, but this summer saw Menlo Park-based artist Mitchell Johnson bring a one-time exhibition of his works to the space. At the time, management for The Cardinal Hotel, which owns the space, had expressed the hope that it would remain a gallery.

Qualia Contemporary Art will open Nov. 11 at 229 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto. For more information, visit qualiacontemporaryart.com.