La Galeria Gitana was established on November 1, 2008 as the first art gallery ever to exist in the City of San Fernando. Its intent was to introduce a cultural spot for residents of the north-east San Fernando Valley and to provide a venue for artists in the Valley to display and offer their work for sale. The gallery has since become a regular draw for artists and collectors alike from not only the Valley and the greater Los Angeles area, but from the entire Angeles Crest corridor and the Santa Clarita and Simi Valleys. Its popularity has spread statewide and serves as an exhibition venue for many members of the California Art Club, from Associate, Mentor, Artist and Signature levels of its membership. To date, La Galeria Gitana has hosted guest artists outside of Los Angeles from areas as diverse as San Diego, San Bernardino, Orange, Riverside, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Sonoma, Mendocino, Butte and Humboldt Counties as well as from the neighboring states of Nevada and Arizona.
Angela “Angie” Phillips
Gallery Director
Angie comes to the gallery with experience both in business and in fine art. After working 20 years in the Information Technology Department for a large cooperative company, an early retirement enabled her to enroll in oil painting courses at LACMA, Pierce College Extension and to study privately with Susie Devitt of J. Devitt designs and with Margot Lennartz. Angie’s art has been accepted at La Galeria Gitana, Whites Gallery in Montrose, Segil Gallery in Monrovia, La Canada Arts Show and at the Santa Paula Art Museum. Her experience in the non-profit field began as the Fundraiser Administrator for Kadima Conservatory of Music, Inc since its inception in 2005 and continues today.
Growing up just outside of San Fernando, her childhood roots are in the city where she went to San Fernando Middle School (Jr. High) and San Fernando High School.
Cynthia Alvarez
Assistant Gallery Director
Originally from Detroit, Michigan; Cynthia has happily called the Northeast San Fernando Valley home for over 10 years. Her love of art started at an early age with frequent visits to the Detroit Institute of Arts, home to the premier Diego Rivera Court and world class collection donated by the early automotive industry executives. She graduated from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in 2003 with a degree in History of Art and Social Anthropology, with additional course work in College Counseling from UCLA-Extension. Since moving to Los Angeles in 2005, she has taken art lessons from various artists in the area and recently opened her own studio Alvarez Fine Art Studio in the City of San Fernando, teaching painting and drawing to children, teens and adult. She is thrilled to spread the joy of art to new students and working with more artists from the surrounding areas.
Karen Nichols
Founder and former gallery director from 2008-2015, Karen Nichols, was selected to manage the gallery because of her background in art and art education, her familiarity with contemporary artists and her life-long residency in the City of San Fernando. With 15 years of teaching art privately and 21 years with the Los Angeles School District as a secondary art instructor, Karen brought her expertise in art and art history into the business of serving artists and the community.
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