Arts Alive! podcast: Lisa Lippincott, Soft Water Gallery

Today we welcome Lisa Lippincott to the Arts Alive! podcast. A little over a year ago, she was named director and curator of Soft Water Gallery, on the Warehouse Arts District’s ArtsXchange campus; owners Carrie Jadus and Mark Aeling brought her in to help with the professional overhaul.

Lippincott helped transform it into a destination gallery, with visiting exhibitions that intrigue and inspire.

The first order of business, she explains, was getting the place air-conditioned.

Although she’s not an artist herself, the Pennsylvania native says she’s been “arts adjacent my entire life,” studying, appreciating and learning about art and the creative process. “To me, an artist is someone who has this burning thing inside them that they need to express,” she explains. “And I seem to be absent that thing.

“I do need to be surrounded by art at all times. That is non-negotiable. It does not need to be my art.”

Lippincott arrived in the bay area in 1993, and in less than a decade was operating the late, lamented Gallery Enormous in the 500 Block of Central Avenue.

She is also an accomplished graphic designer who specializes in contract (magazine) publishing. She’s been doing this for 22 years. “Once I get my teeth in something, I dive in deep,” she laughs.

With a new exhibition of work by Jadus, Open to Interpretation, opening this weekend, Soft Water Gallery will be open for business Saturday during the monthly Second Saturday ArtWalk.

You can meet the artist – and the gallery director, too – during the reception. Hours are 5 to 9 p.m.

Click on the arrow to listen to the interview.