Bedford Gallery at Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts Opens Late-Autumn Contemporary Craft Exhibition

Visual arts curators with the City of Walnut Creek's Arts + Rec department and the Bedford Gallery inside the Lesher Center for the Arts at 1601 Civic Drive are welcoming East Bay audiences this week to the gallery's late-autumn exhibition of contemporary ceramic sculpture, fiber arts, and mixed-media assemblage. Spanning the spacious 3,500-square-foot ground-floor exhibition hall at the corner of Civic Drive and Locust Street, the autumn showcase brings together more than sixty works by California and national studio artists.

Operated as a municipal visual arts program under the guidance of the Walnut Creek Arts Commission and the Diablo Regional Arts Association, the Bedford Gallery pairs museum-caliber thematic exhibitions with hands-on community education. Throughout late October and November 2026, trained volunteer docents are leading interactive weekday morning tours for elementary and middle school classes from the Walnut Creek School District and Mount Diablo Unified School District, followed by studio art-making activities designed around sculptural texture and geometric pattern.

Beyond the indoor gallery walls, the Bedford Gallery guild is also hosting third-Saturday walking tours of downtown Walnut Creek's outdoor public art collection, guiding participants past bronze, steel, and mosaic installations along North Main Street, Broadway Plaza, and Civic Park. Local restaurant and retail owners in the downtown pedestrian district noted that afternoon gallery visits and matinee theater performances at the Lesher Center provide steady cultural foot traffic throughout the autumn season.

The Bedford Gallery is open Wednesday through Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., with general admission priced at $5 and free entry for children under thirteen. Visitors can check exhibition dates, reserve group docent tours, or register for public art walks online at bedfordgallery.org or by calling (925) 295-1417.