The Co-op Food Stores

The Co-op Café Gallery came into being in 2002 with a whisper rather than a roar. The Co-op’s Lebanon Food Store had just expanded to provide additional seating for customers of the Prepared Foods and Café departments, using a pleasant open area in a retail footprint previously occupied by another business.

From the beginning, the new space seemed perfect—except for its empty walls. So to fill those walls, old Co-op banners, posters, and other promotional materials from days gone by were dug out and put up as a temporary solution. The bright light of the space meshed well with the vibrant colors of the graphic design, and as White and others looked on, the idea of an art gallery was born.

Soon after opening, word of the new exhibition space spread quickly within the abundant community of painters, photographers, and other visual artists who live and work in the Upper Valley. Within two months of the gallery’s opening, the Co-op’s Gallery Review Committee was booking exhibits a year in advance. Today, the gallery continues to host new exhibitions every few weeks. Participants include everyone from professional artists to elementary school students and, in keeping with the Co-op’s commitment to the spirit of cooperation, no commissions are ever charged for artwork sold.

Gallery Details

The Gallery is open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Artists who are interested in displaying their work should contact gallery coordinators Emily Rogers or Jolleen Shepard at 603-643-2667, or email us.