About Us

History & Background

Holmes Fine Art originated 1980 in San Jose, California originally as Holmes & Associates, a business comprised by founder Meryle Karloff-Holmes, and other art professionals whose function was to serve as art-media advisors and consultants to private and public companies, developers, architects, designers, and individual collectors.

Ms. Karloff-Holmes created, organized, curated and marketed exhibitions in public and private environments, collaborating with established and recognized curators and non-profit organizations. In 1993, Ms. Karloff-Holmes and her husband, Roy Holmes, established the Holmes Fine Art Gallery as a retail business in downtown San Jose, serving the people of San Jose and Santa Clara County.

Ms. Karloff Holmes recognized that being in Silicon Valley, which is the capital of technology has some of the greatest minds and resources in the world. It seemed logical to create an Institute that would be a resource to the technical world, and inversely, technology would be a resource for the art world. One of the greatest needs in technology of the 90's was to enable artists as content providers. Yet, artists did not have adequate access to the tools of technology. This paradox has been resolved via Art Tech: The Silicon Valley Institute of Art & Technology becoming a leading resource for artists developing technical applications in multi-media, education, entertainment, and professional and consumer areas.

Meryle Karloff Holmes

Holmes Fine Art: Founder / Partner (1980-present)
Native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
M.F.A.1972, B.F.A.1970, Maryland Institute of Art.
Studies at Cheltenham Art Center, Philadelphia College of Art, Tyler School of Art/Temple University, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, and New York School of Holography. Founding member of the Museum of Holography. Continuing Graduate studies in Arts Administration, Art and the Public Sector, San Jose State University, 1982.

Ms. Karloff Holmes started art marketing in the early 1970's, on the East Coast as a practicing artist. Her clients in New York City included Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Macy's. She became artist-collaborator with the Museum of Holography's Marketing Director Roy Holmes. Under Mr. Holmes direction, they created the first international exhibition of holography at the International Center for Photography, New York. In 1975, Ms. Karloff-Holmes became resident artist and holographer for Roy Holmes' company, Holocom Industries in Westport, CT. She designed the first holographic commercial displays for clients such as RJ Reynolds and Wm. Este Advertising. On July 4, 1975, with the Museum of Holography, they created a holographic spectacular event for NYC at Battery Park and the Statue of Liberty for over 500,000 spectators.

In 1979, Holmes & Karloff married and moved to California. In 1980 Ms. Karloff-Holmes founded Holmes Fine Art. In 1986, the American Red Cross of Greater New York hired the Holmes' to liquidate their AAA print collection, bringing the Holmes' back to New York as bi-coastal residents. After being successful with re-introducing the collection and moving the inventory they explored the broadcast industry as a more effective way to market art. In 1987, together they created and executive produced , "The Art Market Report", a national & international weekly television art magazine, which ran for three years as a flagship program for FNN (CNBC) cable and PBS broadcasts.

San Jose, California in 1993, the Holmes opened Holmes Fine Art, a brick and mortar 12,000 sq.ft. gallery downtown, later to develop into Art-Tech: Silicon Valley Institute of Art & Technology, a pioneering new-media non-profit organization. For thirty years, Ms Holmes has been an artist, entrepreneur, art dealer, gallery owner, consultant and collector. Trained as a sculptor, painter, and holographer paving her path into new media.

Roy Bentley Holmes

Holmes Fine Art: Partner (1980-present)
Native of Marinette, Wisconsin
BS. 1960, University of Wisconsin

A successful background in sales and marketing in the high technology sector, as an executive with Fortune 500 companies, and as an entrepreneur, Mr. Holmes continues to explore opportunities of combining technology with art, including his quest of the art in technology. He has been an active business partner with wife Ms. Karloff Holmes for over 20 years including co-founding the Museum of Holography in New York City, and has been active in innovative art programming, pioneering FM radio and TV broadcasts, art sales and collecting, as well as co-founding Art-Tech.