NanHai Art is building some buzz around its commercial gallery, set to open in the New Year.

With a mission to bridge the East and West, the Millbrae-based organization has launched a lecture series to educate the local art community about Chinese art. The three-part series, hosted on subsequent Saturdays in November, will feature art history professors from around the Golden State.

Director of UC-San Diego’s program in Chinese Studies, Kuiyi Shen, kicked off the program last Saturday with an explanation of how ink has evolved as a medium in light of 20th century globalization. Next week, a professor at the University of Puget Sound, Zaixin Hong, will address the role of the global art market in establishing a modernist Chinese aesthetic. And, finally, on November 16th, artist and former professor at San Jose State University, Arthur Musen Kao, will examine the mutually shaping influences of Eastern and Western painting.

The growing interest in Chinese art amongst Bay Area artists, collectors, curators and art aficionados has driven NanHai Art to transform its exhibition hall into a commercial gallery for contemporary Chinese artists. The newly renovated space is set to open with a retail store in February 2014. 

NanHai Art is located at 510 Broadway, Suite 301, Millbrae. The lecture series runs until November 16th. Registration is required.