TRUCKEE, Calif. – There are a lot of talented artists in the Truckee/Tahoe region and not enough wall space to show their work; therefore, Piper J Gallery owner Piper Monika Johnson is trying to fix that.  

The Piper J Gallery in downtown Truckee on 10250 Donner Pass Road is opening a second location a few blocks down on Commercial Row, called the Ridgeline Gallery on 10104 Donner Pass Road. It’s next to Cabona’s (the oldest retail shop in Truckee) across from the train station and will have its grand opening on June 19, 2025. 

Ridgeline Gallery will have “art with altitude”, curating art that complements modern mountain architecture and lifestyle. Johnson co-owns Ridgeline with local photographer Douglas DeVore, who used to be one of the owners of the Alpenglow Gallery.  

---

---

“I’ve always been friendly with the guys who owned Alpenglow Gallery, as we all have the same goal to attract more buyers to town and sell art. I walked down there one day and saw they were closing,” Johnson says. Rising rents and being just outside of Commercial Row attributed to the shuttering. 

However, that also meant Truckee lost a photography gallery.  

---

---

Shortly after, in the fall of 2024, a friend told Johnson that The Tree House Children’s Boutique was disappearing, and the space would be available for lease (the owners had been in the space for 45 years and were retiring). Johnson and DeVore teamed up and claimed it.  

“One of the things was I thought it was wise to team up with photographers is the galleries that seem to make it around here are photography studios,” Johnson says, referencing the Keoki Gallery in the Village at Palisades Tahoe and the three Eadington Gallery locations around the Tahoe basin.  

“There seems to be a market for it. Now that we don’t have Alpenglow and we don’t have a photography gallery in town, it was easier to team up with someone who understands that [fine art photography] business model and we [the Piper J Gallery] can stick to our wheelhouse and brand,” she says.  

Johnson likes that photography can be more custom in that you can order a specific print size and have it drop shipped in a couple of days rather than commissioning an original artwork that could take months. 

While Piper J Gallery staff will primarily be managing the gallery, Ridgeline will have substantial photography representation and a variety of landscape paintings. The Piper J Gallery represents around 30 different artists of all styles and mediums, with the goal of having more “mountain” work in Ridgeline and more “modern” work at Piper J Gallery with rotating artwork between the two locations.  

“We’re two experienced gallery owners, and one thing we both learned is that Commercial Row is the place to be,” Johnson says.  

Johnson herself has owned art galleries since 2016. She originally opened Cobalt with a partner in Incline Village and renamed it the Piper J Gallery in 2018. Johnson was a longtime hairstylist and plein air artist and when she moved to Truckee in 2021 and transitioned to become a full-time art gallery owner. For the first 6-9 months, she was commuting to Incline Village before relocating the Piper J Gallery to the Garden Folly building on West River Street. She opened the Piper J Gallery in Truckee in 2022.  

“Knowing galleries do better when they’re around other galleries, I moved to Truckee to get exposure to a broader audience. I heard Truckee had an arts alliance, and it being a California cultural district appealed to me,” Johnson says.  

Knowing how rich the arts scene is in places like Jackson Hole, Wy., and Santa Fe, NM, Johnson wanted to be part of Truckee’s historic charm and flourishing artistic community.  

“If you go to Santa Fe, there are a bunch of galleries. People always ask, ‘Doesn’t that give you more competition?’ But it’s actually the opposite, all art galleries do better when there’s more of them around,” Johnson says. “I’d love for Truckee to be known as the Carmel of the Sierra,” she added.  

However, the 2022-23 winter was one of the snowiest on record, and being on West River Street was challenging.  

“It was the biggest snow season in something like 70 years; the snowbanks were so big you couldn’t get there. No one was coming in, I felt cut off from all access to the world,” she recalls.  

Then in spring 2023, the tenant at 10250 Donner Pass Road across the train tracks wanted out of her lease to move into a smaller space. The new location proved to be more ideal as it had guaranteed foot traffic. They both subleased their spaces to fulfill the rest of their lease agreements, and Johnson moved the Piper J Gallery to 10250 Donner Pass Road, opening in May 2023.  

“We have so much more visibility on 10250 Donner Pass Road. People are not as much in a hurry; they’re driving slower, stopping, and looking around,” Johnson observed.  

Now, two years later, Johnson says business has been good. 

“There’ve been some growing pains with building out the space, finding staff, and the seasonality of the area. It’s so variable—we have people seeking us out and random people finding us. We’re open seven days a week now because if people are online specifically looking for art galleries in Truckee, we don’t want to miss out on that business,” Johnson adds.  

People may be surprised to learn that July is the slowest month for the gallery, because people are out boating, hiking, golfing, and enjoying the outdoors. “We’re so sports and recreation-focused that it’s when the second homeowners do all their activities. Once they get to Tahoe, people stay in their insular area,” she adds.  

While Johnson is consistently contacted by artists wanting to show at the Piper J Gallery, she says it’s a good problem to have.  

“There is a lot of great art and artists here, more than we have wall space. But the more variety, the more we can sell, and I feel a little bit like we’re outgrowing our space (at 10250 Donner Pass Road). We gain more wall space with Ridgeline, visibility, and foot traffic.  

“I’m excited for Truckee to have one more gallery on the main block; it’s going to make people really think of downtown Truckee as an arts district. This is also a big stride in growing this area as a cultural district,” Johnson says.  

The Truckee Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon-cutting for the new Ridgeline Gallery on 10104 Donner Pass Road on June 18 at 4 p.m. and then will be open seven days a week starting June 19. For more information, visit https://www.ridgelinegallery.com/.