Former Somerville Starbucks Becomes Art Gallery

SOMERVILLE, MA — A vacant coffee shop has found a new use as an art gallery in Davis Square.

The Diamond Factory at 260 Elm St. held its official ribbon-cutting on Saturday, Oct. 17, approximately a year after Starbucks closed at the location. The pop-up gallery began welcoming visitors during HONK! weekend, Oct. 9 through 11, and is expected to remain open through December.

The project was proposed by Susan Berstler, who worked with staff from Mayor Jake Wilson’s office and Somerville Arts & Culture to bring the gallery to the empty storefront.

“Not every city can say that they turned a Starbucks into an art gallery, but that’s what makes Somerville and our art community so special!” Wilson said.

Berstler serves as curator and operator of the nonprofit gallery, which follows a volunteer model similar to the Nave Gallery. She received the keys to the space on Sept. 1 under a short-term lease between the city and property owner Asana.

The opening exhibition, “Diamond Factory I,” features work by Resa Blatman, Sarah Meyers Brent, Zack Faugno-Teig, Andrew Fish, Carol Fonde, Sharon Lacey, Greer Muldowney, Andrew Neumann, John Savone, and Michael Talbot. The gallery is also seeking volunteers to serve as gallery sitters.

According to the city, the gallery takes its name from “We Create Diamonds,” an exhibition curated by Talbot at the Nave Gallery earlier this year. The exhibition ran from March 21 through April 18 and explored how artists respond to hardship and political and social pressures through their work. The Diamond Factory builds on the idea that beauty can emerge under pressure.

“I love taking an empty space and giving it a new life through art,” Berstler said in the city’s announcement.

Berstler is director of the Nave Gallery, which has operated in Teele Square since 2004 through ARTSomerville, a nonprofit volunteer organization of artists and arts enthusiasts. The organization also operated the Nave Annex in Davis Square from 2013 through 2017.

The Starbucks storefront had remained vacant since the coffee shop closed in September 2025. The property is part of Asana’s planned 120,000-square-foot redevelopment known as 7th Spoke, which included lab space. Several businesses closed or relocated ahead of the project, but plans stalled as demand for lab space weakened.

The city initially announced that the gallery would operate for approximately three to four months as part of an effort to provide affordable space for artists to create and share their work. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the city helped turn an empty Assembly Row storefront into a temporary dance space, an effort that helped lay the groundwork for SomArt. The program provides subsidized space for artists and creative organizations, while the city’s Nibble program at Bow Market provides space and support for culinary entrepreneurs.

Upcoming programming includes a poetry reading with William Bowry on Friday, Oct. 23, from 7 to 9 p.m. Bowry is a London-based poet, educator, and performer who previously lived in Somerville and will share poems inspired by his time in the city.

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