From his gallery perched above Saint Helena’s Main Street, Christopher Hill has been bringing international artists to–and highlighting internationally acclaimed artists with strong local roots in–the Napa Valley for over a decade. He is celebrating his ten-year anniversary this fall by looking to Sonoma. On November 1st, the doors at 326 Healdsburg Avenue opened on Hill’s third location (he also has a gallery in his native home of Austria).

Hill has been busy over the past several months digging out layers of carpet and drywall from the former real estate office to reveal concrete and hardwood floors and sky-high exposed brick walls. The dramatic space is a perfect showcase for the likes of Rogelio Manzo’s enormous and darkly compelling portraits, and Mario Garcia Miro’s fusion art, which juxtaposes 1960’s pop art with hyper-real scenes of both natural and urban landscapes.

“The art here needs to be edgier [than in Saint Helena]” says Hill. This is partly because he has noticed his San Francisco clientele looking increasingly to Sonoma and Healdsburg as a weekend Wine Country alternative to the traffic-packed Napa-bound Highway 37 corridor.

Hill joins a handful of galleries scattered around the Healdsburg Plaza; by continuing his commitment to important contemporary artists from around the globe, he brings a fresh perspective to the town.