The Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, a non-profit 501(C)3 organization, was founded in 1989 and moved to its current location of 1519 19th Street in August, 2005. CCAS is dedicated to the advancement and appreciation of new and experimental art by international, national and regional artists. CCAS brings the greater Sacramento Region “the art of our times.”
In addition to the 6-8 free, annual exhibitions that CCAS presents, the museum also brings related programming in the form of artist’s lectures, films and panel discussions. CCAS has also started the very innovative education program called Art Connections. Using video conferencing, artists at CCAS “visit” a local classroom, discuss the work on display and answer student questions. The students are given the assignment of creating work that is somehow inspired by this exchange. In a subsequent visit, the students actually visit CCAS and the exhibiting artist discusses the students’ work with the student and class. CCAS is constantly looking at how to enrich visitors’ experience of art- the museum is on the cutting edge by using QR codes having the artists discuss their work, as if a visitor is getting their own private tour. In addition to QR codes, CCAS has offered streaming audio of lecture presentations for several years on the website as well as video streaming of select exhibitions on YouTube (for 2012, CCAS is planning on offering streaming on its website- no longer limited by the restrictions of YouTube).
CCAS has partnered with other organizations to allow it to bring much more than the visual arts. For example, this year CCAS is hosting Crossroads, a series of free poetry readings featuring Sacramento’s literary talents. The museum is also partnering with the Electo-Acoustic Music Collective, a group of primarily electronic musicians that will present free concerts and discussions. For several years, CCAS has worked with the California Lawyers for the Arts and has hosted several lectures at the museum.
This is just a sampling of what CCAS offers to the Sacramento Region. CCAS fits into a unique, and greatly needed niche, offering contemporary art to the general public- serving as a Center for the artist and the Arts. If you would like to help us to continue to bring “the art of our times” to Sacramento and to enrich life in the Sacramento Region, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. Thank you.
