Flashpoint

At 900 square feet, the nonprofit Flashpoint isn't the area's smallest gallery. (That would be Curator's Office, a 234-square-foot "microgallery.") But it certainly doesn't have the flexibility of other, larger spaces. Since 2003, the long, narrow room in a building that also houses a black-box theater has managed to do a lot with very little. Gallery director Karyn Miller calls the space "transitional" - halfway between a commercial gallery, which it physically resembles, and a museum, whose freedom from financial constraint allows greater experimentation.

This summer, look for Flashpoint to host a series of site-specific installations in the building's normally unused (or under-used) spaces: a back hallway, a stairwell, a bathroom. "I'm trying to make the visual art program transcend the physical space," says Miller.

Good neighbor: Reyes + Davis Gallery. "Michael Enn Sirvet: New Sculpture" featuring metal works is on view through Saturday. After that the gallery will go dark for two months and reopen in the spring.

-- Michael O'Sullivan (Jan. 14, 2011)