NOMA Gallery

NOMA Gallery occupies a striking spot in the historic Coca-Cola Bottling Plant building on North Magnolia Avenue, just north of Ocala’s downtown square. The building itself dates to 1939 and carries a listing on the National Register of Historic Places, which gives the gallery an atmosphere that few art spaces in Marion County can match: soaring ceilings, industrial brick, and big windows that flood the exhibition floor with natural light.

The gallery’s roots trace back to the early days of the pandemic, when it began as ArtCastle, a relief initiative meant to give local artists a way to keep creating and selling work during a difficult stretch for the arts community. That project reopened in February 2021 under the NOMA Gallery name and has continued to grow since, expanding its reach to include artists working well beyond Ocala. Ownership passed to Mel Fiorentino in March 2024, who took over from founder Lisa Irwin and has kept the gallery’s original mission intact: making art accessible to as many people as possible while still showcasing serious, gallery quality work.

Inside, visitors will find a rotating slate of exhibitions that mix local painters, sculptors, and photographers with national and international artists, plus solo shows and juried competitions throughout the year. NOMA also runs classes for both amateur and professional artists, gives kids a chance to try their hand at various mediums, and sets aside one event each month where proceeds or space go to a nonprofit organization at no cost to that group. It is a gallery that clearly wants to be a community hub, not just a place to look at paintings on a wall.

The space is fully accessible, with accessible parking, restrooms designed for all genders, braille signage, and wheelchair access throughout, which is not something every gallery in a converted historic building manages to pull off. Admission is free, and the gallery keeps regular hours Tuesday through Saturday, making it an easy stop for anyone exploring the Magnolia Avenue corridor or combining a visit with the shops and restaurants nearby.

For collectors, NOMA is worth watching closely since new work rotates in regularly and the gallery has built relationships with artists at different stages of their careers, from emerging talent to more established names showing internationally. For casual visitors, it is simply one of the more architecturally interesting places in Ocala to spend an afternoon, whether or not you walk out having bought anything. As an independently run, for-profit gallery, NOMA operates without the constraints some nonprofit arts spaces face, giving it more flexibility in how it programs shows and works with artists on sales.

Anyone planning a visit should check the gallery’s calendar first, since exhibition openings and special events sometimes shift the regular viewing hours, and the monthly nonprofit night draws a different crowd than a typical weekday browse.