For a Short Time, Art Gallery Pops Into Downtown

A "pop-up" art gallery is calling the soon-to-be demolished Vaquero West Building its temporary home.

A collection of local artists—many of whom display their work at San Juan Capistrano's —opened the Black Cat Gallery on Friday at 26755 Verdugo St., across from the .

"The whole concept is to find space available from someone willing to lease for a short amount of time," said glass artist Randi Peshkin. "We only have a lease until November 11th but we're going to make the most of it and enjoy our time downtown."

Peshkin owns Black Cat Art Glass. She and her husband owned a gallery under the same name nine years ago.

Among the reasonably priced, original works on sale: hand crafted leather belts stamped with roses, studded purses and colorful accessories for men and women; knitted blankets and scarves from Annabelle's Fashions; water color paintings by Jill McAlester; Stan Bowen's photographs of Mission San Juan Capistrano; and mosaics by Pat Piper.

"This is a great opportunity for the participating artists and craftspeople to show some of their more complicated work you don't normally get to see at their street shows," Peshkin said.

Eric Altman, the owner of the Vaquero West Building, has city-issued permits to demolish the building by Dec. 15. About two-thirds of the structure will be torn down during a renovation that, with the help of , will bring more retail and office space to downtown.