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Gallery Opening

New Gallery Opening Press Release Template and Example

A new space, a relocation, or a second location. This is the one release where the institution genuinely is the story, so the usual rule about keeping the gallery out of the way does not apply.

The example

Galería Méndez Opens in Madrid

New space on Calle Mayor opens 15 March with a programme focused on textile and material practices

Galería Méndez opens at 14 Calle Mayor on 15 March, presenting contemporary artists working in textile, fibre and material practices, with an emphasis on the Americas and southern Europe.

The gallery occupies a 340 square metre former haberdashery, retained largely as found. The original oak fitting counters have been kept and repurposed as display surfaces, and the rear workroom has been left intact as a project space for works that need to be made on site.

The gallery is founded by Elena Méndez, previously a curator at the Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, where she organised exhibitions with Rosa Iglesias and the Taller Textil collective. "Textile practices are still shown as craft or as anthropology," Méndez said. "I wanted a room where they are shown as art, with the same seriousness and the same wall space."

The opening exhibition is "Luminous Threads," a solo presentation of new weavings by Maria Alvarez. The 2026 programme continues with a two-person exhibition in September and the gallery's first institutional loan in November.

Opens: Saturday 15 March 2026

Opening reception: 6 to 9pm, RSVP to press@galeriamendez.example

Gallery hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm

Galería Méndez, 14 Calle Mayor, Madrid

Every artist, gallery and institution in this example is invented.

Why it works

The room is a story

A former haberdashery with its fittings intact is concrete, photographable and specific to you. Square metres alone are not. Architecture and press writers will both take this paragraph.

One quote, and make it an argument

The founder quote earns its place because it states a position that could be disagreed with. A quote saying you are excited to open says nothing and will be cut.

Programme, not manifesto

Naming the next two shows proves the programme exists. A paragraph of values with no exhibitions attached proves nothing, and every new gallery writes one.

Conventions
  • Give the address in the first paragraph. It is the single most useful fact.
  • Describe the space physically: size, former use, what was kept.
  • Name the founders and where they came from.
  • Announce at least the next show, ideally two.
  • Say what the programme is for, in a sentence someone could argue with.
What gets it deleted
  • Announcing a vision with no exhibitions behind it.
  • Describing the space only in adjectives: light-filled, dynamic, welcoming.
  • Omitting opening hours, which listings editors need and will not chase you for.
  • Claiming to fill a gap in the city without saying what the gap is.
Write yours

ArtWire writes this one for you

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