Volunteer’s vision helps transform library gallery into regional arts hub

Tiburon’s Diane Green has been organizing art exhibits at the Belvedere-Tiburon Library for nearly two decades. Since the library’s expansion in 2022, Green has worked to transform the library’s art gallery into a highly regarded exhibition venue that draws artists from across the Bay Area for juried shows. (Amelia Plumb / For The Ark)

Diane Green had been organizing art exhibits at the Belvedere-Tiburon Library for about a decade by 2019, when construction began on the library’s $18.31 million expansion. The timing seemed right, she says, to step aside from her volunteer role on the art committee and hand off the responsibility.

Then she took a hard-hat tour of the construction site and saw what would become a dedicated gallery space boasting some 65 linear wall feet, with another 35 feet available for display in the hallways.

“I turned the corner and I saw that gallery, and my heart just started thumping,” says Green, 72. “I went, ‘Whoa, I’m not ready to go yet.’”

The Tiburon resident immediately saw the potential to transform the library’s exhibition program.

“Let’s see what kind of quality artists are willing to bring their art over here, and let’s see what kind of conversation comes out of that,” she recalls thinking.

Since the gallery opened as part of the remodeled library in 2022, Green has helped transform the library from hosting solo shows focused on local artists to a highly regarded exhibition venue that draws artists from across the Bay Area for juried shows exploring diverse themes.

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