We’re celebrating Best of the Bay 2026 with a multitude of Editors’ Picks of things we love. Please join us at our 13th Annual Gala on October 27 to celebrate even more!
When Ann Herbst and Peter Munks opened their gallery on Taraval and 40th Avenue, right across the street from Walgreens, they thought of calling it Walnut. That name didn’t seem quite right—and somebody suggested Far Out West Gallery. They adopted it, minus the “West”—being able to run with the acronym FOG seemed fitting so close to the misty shores of Ocean Beach.
Herbst, a painter who got both her BFA and MFA at the San Francisco Art Institute, decided to open the gallery in 2015 for a few reasons. She was in her 50s, was feeling stalled-out in her own art career, and her father had recently died (her mother passed away too, a week before the gallery opened.) When a spot three blocks from her house opened up, she felt it was time to make a bold move.
At first, Herbst thought that she might use the space as a studio, but a commitment to supporting other artists inspired her to use it to house a gallery instead. Once a year, she puts out a call for artists to exhibit in a group show, free of any jury process or fee. This is decidedly not how most galleries operate.
Herbst used to feel relegated to the perimeter of the art world herself, and anintroverted nature made it difficult to sell her work. Now, she loves to champion other artists’ work and says it’s a triumph when someone who first comes into the gallery thinking of art as something that only exists in museums, buys something for their home.
For the past 11 years, Herbst’s partner, Munks, a musician, has supported her with whatever she needs to make the gallery an accessible and welcoming place. That now includes a singing circle on Sundays—and outpourings of artistic camaraderie to spare.
