Located on the outskirts of Santa Fe in the Eldorado-Lamy area, we offer rotating exhibitions, artist residencies and retreats, mentoring and workshops.
Our rotating exhibition program includes artists who have completed a residency with us along with curated group and solo exhibitions from emerging and mid-career artists.
Our Story
Jen Tough Gallery began in the Bay Area of California in February, 2017. After three years we moved to Santa Fe, NM in February 2020—unfortunately just a few weeks before COVID shutdowns. Being declared a “non-essential” business, our plans to open the gallery on Old Santa Fe Trail on April 4, 2020 were destroyed. Sadly, we never even got to open our doors: our dreams and investments were for naught, our savings tapped from the move. And like millions of others, we lost all our income almost overnight—our ability to earn an income became impossible without a space. Unable to reach a compromise with our landlord, we lost our brick and mortar space and we moved online.
It took another three years of re-inventing and saving, but our dream was finally realized when we opened the doors to our new gallery space in May 2023. In an interesting twist of fate, we found this opportunity through another COVID casualty: office buildings. We converted an office building on the outskirts of Santa Fe into exhibition spaces, artist studios and workshop space—and finally got to re-open the gallery. Our residency program has been the highlight of our new space, and we love hosting artists from all over the world who come to Santa Fe to create and be inspired. Our new space has been a long-awaited dream come true for us, and we hope you can visit us for an exhibition, workshop or residency!
About Jen Tough
I have both a studio and commercial art background with a BFA in fine arts. Most of my professional life was spent in Los Angeles as an art director. I am the former art director for Warner Bros Records, Urban Outfitters (corporate), Hollywood Records (Disney Music) and several ‘90s magazines. Longtime freelance clients include Drew Carey and Nike (Image Design). My passion is working with artists, creating unique exhibitions, and hosting artists in Santa Fe through our Artist in Residence Program, Workshops and Retreats.
Press & Media
TedX Marin 2020 Featured Innovator for the Artist Alliance online community
Eric Trules’: Santa Fe substack
Interview on KKOB Radio (Interspecies exhibit)
Exhibitions
Jen Tough Gallery, Santa Fe, NM (partial list)
Alissa Van Atta Oct 2024
Hilary Sheehan Oct 2024
Beverly Todd Sept - Oct 2024
Liz Steketee, Sept - Oct 2024
Claudia Hollister, August 2024
Save the Chimps (benefit exhibition), Interspecies, July - August 2024
Graceann Warn, June 2024
Danielle Krysa / The Jealous Curator: Witch, Please, May-June 2024
Pavel Acevedo, May 2024
Alexis Mixter, solo exhibition, May 2024
Flora Bowley: HeartLand, March 2024
Laura Balombini: Spring Cleaning, March 2024
William Pura, Night Roads & Other Landscapes, March 2024
Laura Klopfenstein: Dissecting, Feb 2024
Super Fresh: New Work Right off the Studio Wall (Lower Gallery, Feb 2024)
High & Dry: New Mexico Artists (Lower Gallery, Nov & Dec 2023)
Rhenda Sapporito, solo exhibition (Nov & Dec 2023)
Gina Tuzzi: Wild Seed (Lower Gallery, October 2023)
Pam Sullivan, solo exhibition (Sept 2023)
Sarah Boyts Yoder: Realm (Lower Gallery, September 2023)
Sharon Brush, solo exhibition (August 2023)
Spring 2023 Collective Exhibition (Upper Gallery, June + July 2023)
DeAnne Olguin Williamson, solo exhibition, July 2023
Autumn 2023 Collective Exhibition (Upper Gallery, July - December 2023)
The Bright Side, group exhibition (Lower Gallery, August 2023)
Kathleen Mooney, solo exhibition (May-June 2023)
Fable: Art with Narrative (Lower Gallery, June + July 2023)
Jen Tough Gallery, Bay Area, CA (partial list)
Wax: Artists working in Encaustic, group exhibition, March 2017
California, group exhibition, 2017
Lisa Kairos solo exhibition, 2017
California Printmakers Society Show, 2017
Earthly Evidence: Carol Dalton, Mark Eanes, Michael Shemchuk, 2017
Guilty Pleasures, call for entry group exhibition, 2017
Gina Tuzzi, solo exhibition 1, 2017
Strange Nature, group exhibition, 2017
Stacks of Facts, Jeff Snell solo exhibition, 2017
Something Catches, Erin Wheeler solo exhibition, 2018
Lisa Pressman, solo exhibition, 2018
Tangential, Ridj Johnson, Jenny Phillips, Mark Ashworth, 2018
Susan Stover, solo exhibition, 2018
You and Your Big Ideas: Suzanne Long solo exhibition 2018
Ancestral Convergence, Diane Williams & Chuck Potter, 2018
Hell’s Valley, Tamera Avery solo exhibition, 2018
Mark Ashworth solo exhibition, 2019
Learning Curve, students of Michael Shemchuk, 2019
Flora & Fauna, call for entry exhibition, 2019
Sara Post, solo exhibition, 2019
Sugar High, group exhibition, 2019
John Yoyogi Fortes, solo exhibition, 2019
Pulp: Works on Paper, group exhibition, 2019
Gina Tuzzi, second solo exhibition 2019
Michael Shemchuk, solo exhibition, 2019
Carol Dalton, solo exhibition, 2019
Extra Crispy, group exhibition, 2019
Women in the Abstract, I, II (2017-2019)
Art Fairs
Art Market San Francisco 2019
Artexpo NY 2023
Red Dot Miami (Art Basel Week) 2022, 2023
Art Expo Dallas, 2022
Art Santa Fe 2018, 2019, 2023
Art Expo Las Vegas 2018
Art San Diego, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023
PopUp Exhibitions: Dogpatch, San Francisco
New Lands, group exhibition (2018)
Wild Things, group exhibition (2019)
Kate Kretz solo exhibition (2019)
The Ladies Room
Produced and created by Jen Tough. Juror: Danielle Krysa (The Jealous Curator), San Francisco 2018
Juror, Curator
Juror, national exhibitions: Marin MOCA, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts 2x, Marin Society of Artists 2x, Arc Gallery and more
Curator: Jamie Madison at the Pence | Rebecca Katz solo exhibition | Arts Benicia, After Dark
Awards
Bay Area "Art Star" Issued by NCWCA (Northern California Women's Caucus for Art), Sept 2019
AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) Justified competition for book design and art direction, 2014
Named "Designer to Watch for the 2000's” / Issued by David Carson in Metropolis Magazine, 1999
Best of Editorial Design, Communication Arts Design Annual, design and art direction of Bleach Magazine, 1997
Jen Tough Gallery Books & Contemporary Artist Magazine
Identity, 2020
Wild Lands, 2021
Fun Size, 2021
Artists of the Bay Area, Vols 1 and 2, 2021
Contemporary Artist magazine, created and published by Jen Tough Gallery, LLC