Memories of Belmonte

by Tim Foster

Robert Arneson, Bruce Nauman and the whole TB9 crew posed for this 1965 Belmonte show poster

Robert Arneson, Bruce Nauman and the whole TB9 crew posed for this 1965 Belmonte show poster

Gone for four decades, and now nearly forgotten, Oak Park’s Belmonte Gallery was once the headquarters of the art vanguard in Sacramento.  The brainchild of Sal Yniguez, an artist and woodworker, the Belmonte consistently showed the most groundbreaking work in the region from such seminal artists as Robert Arneson, Willam Wiley and Bruce Nauman.  Though never as famous as Folsom’s Candy Store Gallery, the Belmonte Gallery probably played an even more crucial role in developing Sacramento’s artistic identity. Read more »