Berkeley Arts Center

Mission

The Berkeley Art Center is a community arts organization and gallery serving the City of Berkeley, the San Francisco Bay region and Northern California.

Our mission is to present exhibitions and programs which provoke, enlighten, and reflect the diversity, of the artists and audiences in our region.

We are committed to promoting cultural literacy and providing accessibility to underserved groups and individuals.

We honor professionalism, integrity and creativity in our exhibitions, performances, public programs and daily operations.

Established in 1967, the Berkeley Art Center represents and supports the diversity of the Bay Area region with exhibitions and other cultural events in a broad range of disciplines.

Special efforts are made to present exhibits that reflect the unique perspectives of women, Native American, Latino, African American, and Asian traditions, as well as programs aimed at seniors, youth, the disability community and people of diverse sexual orientations.

History

Built by the Berkeley Rotary Club, the Berkeley Art Center (BAC) was donated to the city in 1969. BAC operated under the Community Arts program of the City of Berkeley until 1978 when passage of Proposition 13 drastically cut city funding. In response to these cuts, a group of artists, art professionals and community activists formed the Berkeley Art Center Association in 1979 to operate a community arts program under contract with the city.

BAC's mission is to represent and support our region's diversity with exhibitions and other cultural events in a broad range of disciplines. The BAC's exhibition schedules over the years reflect the cultural vibrancy and unique history of the Bay Area. Many artists with national and international reputations showed their work at the art center early in their careers. Among them are Nathan Oliveira, Peter Voulkos, Betye Saar, Mildred Howard, Bill Fontana and Enrique Chagoya.

The Center's educational programs, panel discussions, lectures and performances are usually developed in tandem with the exhibitions. The BAC has employed round table discussions featuring exhibiting artists, art critics and other professionals knowledgeable about the themes and issues addressed in a given show.

A special program which unites artists, viewers and collectors is the occasional publication of limited-edition artists' portfolios. Portfolios were produced in 1992 and 1995 and have been widely collected in the United States and abroad by public institutions and individuals. Portfolios and catalogs are available at the Berkeley Art Center.