our mission

Berkeley Art Center is a hub for artistic exploration and community building that champions Bay Area artists and curators.

Located in Live Oak Park in North Berkeley, we make contemporary art approachable at an intimate scale while serving diverse communities through exhibitions and artist-conceived events, workshops, and programs. Since 1967, BAC has exhibited work by important local figures such as ROBERT BECHTLE, ENRIQUE CHAGOYA, BILL FONTANA, TARANEH HEMAMI, MILDRED HOWARD, HUNG LIU, JIM MELCHERT, CHIURA OBATA, SONYA RAPOPORT, KATHERINE SHERWOOD, PETER VOULKOS, and CARRIE MAE WEEMS, among many others.

OUR VALUES

• We are committed to building an equitable organizational culture that advances opportunities at all levels of the organization for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), queer and trans people, and people living with disabilities.

• We are committed to offering welcoming and inclusive environment for artists, members, and visitors.

• We believe art builds community and conversation, opening our minds and imagination to the experience of others.

• We believe in the importance of supporting artists in their professional growth and development, and that participation in exhibitions and programs should be sustainable and financially beneficial.

• We acknowledge that the Berkeley Art Center was built in a wealthy, resourced, and historically red-lined neighborhood of Berkeley, and our geographic location has kept marginalized communities from participating in our programs. We are committed to deeply collaborating with these communities that have been historically excluded from our programs in intentional and sustainable ways.

• We respectfully acknowledge that the Berkeley Art Center is on the traditional native land of the Muwekma Ohlone people. We know this acknowledgement is one step towards aligning with efforts to support local, Native communities, and are actively building deeper relationships and leveraging our resources to support land trust and rematriation efforts.