The Pop-Up Gallery by Studio Trovato
Conceived by Erin Hupp and Jaime Lovejoy, the annual Pop-Up Gallery showcases the works of women artists from across the Bay Area in unused retail spaces. The unique format gives visitors and collectors the rare opportunity to connect directly with exhibiting painters, sculptors and ceramicists. Late last year, designers Erin Hiemstra and Jeanne Chan of Studio Trovato were invited to style the old Mill Mercantile space in San Francisco’s Noe Valley for the fourth anniversary show, entitled “Interwoven”, which explored the theme of interconnection.
Photography by Hannah Franco
How did you come to partner with The Pop-Up Gallery on their recent exhibition?
Since 2021, the month-long exhibition has popped up at different vacant spaces in San Francisco. For the 2024 iteration, we were invited to help design the space to feel less like your typical austere gallery, and instead create something that felt more like being invited into a boutique or even a hotel lobby. We had about two weeks to pull everything together, two days to install and then the gallery was open for one month!
The last theme explored how our communities, lineage and natural surroundings contribute to a sense of interconnection. Do you think that’s particularly true of the Bay Area?
The Bay Area has an extremely long history of innovation, collaboration and community, but I think this is particularly true in the communities of women, artists and designers! We have never found San Francisco to feel competitive, but rather communal, with a very intentional ethos of lifting one another up.
The area’s beautiful surrounds and universal bounty of natural inspiration is a great equalizer. It offers the opportunity to connect directly to the essential details of daily life, those that easily blur in your typical fast-paced urban environments. Instead, we have the privilege of seeing sunsets over the ocean, hiking in the headlands or shopping at the farmers’ markets whose produce come from just down the road. You really can’t find that anywhere else. The Pop-Up Gallery is a prime example of that universal inspiration and how it threads our communities together, allowing a unique experience to spring up, with very little advanced planning!
As a brand founded by women, we’re delighted to support a show that celebrates female-identifying artists. What were some of your favourite pieces from the pop-up?
Erin: As a sucker for ceramics, I was enamored with Sasinun Kladpetch’s interchangeable totems. They were truly unique. I was also thrilled to discover Hannah Franco’s work for the first time. I loved the energy and modernism in her paintings even though they stayed within my preferred neutral color palette.
Jeanne: I’m a minimalist at heart, so I was naturally drawn to Kaleen Cameron’s work. Her paintings exude a sense of stillness, yet there’s a quiet, subtle movement that invites you to lean in a little closer. The palettes are both soothing and grounding, creating a quality that feels timeless yet captivating at the same time. I could lose myself in them for hours! When paired with the other artists’ pieces, which bring more dynamic energy, colors, and shapes, the interplay creates a beautiful synergy that truly highlights the meaning of this show.
INTERWOVEN was set in the old Mill Mercantile space in Noe Valley. How did you transform the blank canvas into a warm and welcoming space for art lovers?
We were thrilled to be able to enliven the Mill Mercantile space – what was once a beloved women’s clothing boutique that had been sitting vacant for nearly seven years. The building had great bones, with large windows, flooding the corner store with natural light. Given that we weren’t allowed to paint or make any permanent changes to the space’s interior, we focused entirely on furnishings and accessories. Our primary objective was to soften all the concrete and beat up walls. Our first stop was Armadillo, as we knew lush rugs would be the perfect foundation for that warm feeling we craved. We also strategically used the rugs to demarcate distinct seating and display areas in the space. We loved the soft curved end of Etoile and the natural knotted texture of Cable.
Then we brought in a unique blend of vintage furniture and contemporary designs – what we consider to be a bit of Studio Trovato calling card – to add depth and interest. We also wanted to bring in pieces you might not expect to see in an art show such as floor and table lamps, as well as books, and beautiful live plants. We dressed the windows with iconic pieces from the likes of Charlotte Perriand, Faye Toogood and Kristina Dam that served as the perfect backdrop for the artists’ works.
How did natural touches like our Cable and Etoile rugs complement the artworks?
The amazing thing about the Cable and Etoile rugs is that their tones and textures worked perfectly with the entire collection of works – even though we didn’t see any of the art ahead of time! The Etoile’s curved end was reminiscent of the ceramics that sat atop it and the movement in the Cable rugs echoed the movement in a lot of the show’s paintings. The symbiotic relationship between art and the furnishings was truly remarkable.
Tell us about some of the vintage finds you sourced.
We love to bring vintage pieces into all of our projects, regardless of their provenance. In the gallery, we mixed collectible stools by Charlotte Perriand and chairs by Peter Danko (that are in MoMa) with scores from Facebook marketplace! It’s all about the high/low mix.
“Collecting is really about honing in on what you love.”
Studio Trovato’s philosophy is that design should be approached with a collector’s mindset. Do you have any tips for the interior enthusiast on building a collection, whether it be art or something else?
We’re the first to say that the hard and fast design rules are made to be broken. Collecting is really about honing in on what you love – it could be paintings, photography, ceramics, chairs, a particular designer or time period. Then the treasure hunt is on, but we usually have more luck when we’re passively hunting, just out browsing antique stores or flea markets, casually browsing a gallery or scrolling an auction site on a Friday evening. It’s often when you’re not really looking that you stumble across the gems. It’s not about over-planning, but rather it's about letting the pieces speak to you naturally. It’s a process that unfolds over time, not something that can be rushed or done in one go. To us, that’s the essence of a true collector’s mindset.
Finally, what are you looking forward to in the year ahead?
After just celebrating our studio’s official second anniversary, we’re excited to be installing some of our first larger projects – they often take years – along with collaborating with a slate of new clients. We’ll also be sharing our studio’s passion for circular and sustainable design by talking a lot more about how to incorporate vintage and refurbished furniture into homes. We believe the cycle of “new new new” everything truly, can, and must, be broken if we’re going to change the trajectory of the design industry and our planet. And we’re eagerly awaiting the Pop-Up Gallery 2025!
