The Palo Alto Art Center is a multi-purpose center open to the public for art activities for all ages, located at 1313 Newell Road in Palo Alto, California. It is managed by the City of Palo Alto,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and supported by the non-profit Palo Alto Art Center Foundation (PAACF). The center is located adjacent to Rinconada Park and the Rinconada Public Library.

History

The Palo Alto Art Center was originally named the Palo Alto Community Cultural Center when it was founded in 1971. The building which occupies Palo Alto Art Center was built in 1953 by architect Leslie Nichols and used to be the location for Palo Alto's City Hall. From 2010 until 2012, the building underwent major renovations which included adding additional classrooms and a new children's wing. In 2016, after the death of local art collector and printshop and press owner,

Paula Kirkeby Paula Zolloto Kirkeby (née Paula Ruth Zolloto; 1934–2016) was an American art collector, art donor, and the director and founder of a commercial art gallery. She was a co-founder of Smith Andersen Editions, 3EP Ltd. Press, and Smith Andersen G ...

, her printshop and studio equipment was donated to the Palo Alto Art Center. Karen Kienzle has been the director of Palo Alto Art Center, since 2009.

About

Arts education

The Art Center has art classes for both adults and children, workshops, summer camps, and drop-in programs that take place in the Center's studios and classrooms. Courses include painting, drawing, mixed-media, ceramics, and jewelry. School outreach programs include offering schools with Project Look field trips and the Cultural Kaleidoscope program that pairs students from the Palo Alto Unified School District and

Ravenswood City School District The Ravenswood City School District is a public school district headquartered in East Palo Alto, California, US. The district, in the San Francisco Bay Area, serves the communities of East Palo Alto and eastern Menlo Park. Students from this sc ...

for art activities.

Exhibitions and events

Visitors can view free exhibitions with artwork in a wide range of media, and participate in free events. Events include Friday Night at the Art Center, Family Days, The Great Glass Pumpkin Patch, and the Clay and Glass Festival. The City of Palo Alto maintains a list of past exhibitions. Some highlights are: * 1980 exhibition, ''Contemporary Trends in Presentation Drawings'', curated by Roberta Loach,

Linda Langston Linda Langston is director of strategic relations for the National Association of Counties in Washington, D.C., US. Prior to that Langston was a member of the Linn County (Iowa) Board of Supervisors. She also serves as the co-chair of the Resil ...

; including J.J. Aasen, Walter Askin, Gary Brown, Eleanor Dickinson, Bob Anderson, Harry Lynn Krizan, Judith Linhares,

Roy DeForest Roy De Forest (11 February 1930 – 18 May 2007) was an American Painting, painter, Sculpture, sculptor, and teacher. He was involved in both the Funk art and Nut art movements in the Bay Area of California. De Forest's art is known for its quirk ...

, Robert Freimark, Sylvia Lark, Roberta Loach, Norman Lundin, Shane Weare, Vince Perez, Mary Snowden * 2017 exhibition, ''Play!'' contained a range of pieces exploring the power of play. * 2018 exhibition, ''Through That Which Is Seen'' shared the art of

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...

s. * 2019 exhibition, ''The Sheltering Sky'' features 18 artists on sky-related themes, such as the 2-story photo "Sky Front" by Sukey Bryan. A Patrick Dougherty temporary installation called ''Whiplash'' (2016), which was a woven structure of willow branches forming a series of shelters was on display the lawn on Embarcadero Road and was a popular place where many people took photographs. Dougherty's sculpture was created in part by a team of volunteers and a crowdfunding campaign of $15,000. In June 2020, the Dougherty sculpture was removed. The center has produced solo exhibitions for many artists including: Christopher Brown, Jim Campbell, Joseph Cornell, Stephen De Staebler, Richard Diebienkorn, Marjorie Eaton, Keith Haring,

Julie Heffernan Julie Heffernan (born 1956 in Peoria, Illinois) is an American painter whose work has been described by the writer Rebecca Solnit as "a new kind of history painting" and by The New Yorker as "ironic rococo surrealism with a social-satirical twist ...

Mildred Howard Mildred Howard (born 1945) is an African-American artist known primarily for her sculptural installation and mixed-media assemblages.Baker, Kenneth"Artist Intrigued by Interaction of Materials, Ability to Revise at Will", ''San Francisco Chronicl ...

, Jess, Carlos Loarca, Manuel Neri, Beverly Mayeri, David Park,

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

Alan Rath Alan Rath (1959–2020) was an American electronic, kinetic, and robotic sculptor. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982, with a BS electrical engineering. He worked for a Boston en ...

Judith Selby Lang Judith Selby Lang is an American artist and environmental activist working with found beach plastic. Selby Lang is known for sourcing beach plastic from a single site: 1000 yards of Kehoe Beach along the Point Reyes National Seashore in Northern Cal ...

Elizabeth Sher Elizabeth Sher (born 1943) is a San Francisco Bay Area artist, known for eclectic short films, documentaries about women, art, aging and health, and mixed-media artwork employing digital and analog modes.Peters, Catherine. "Totally Tubular Arti ...

Masami Teraoka Masami Teraoka (born 1936) is an American contemporary artist. His work includes ''Ukiyo-e''-influenced woodcut prints and paintings in watercolor and oil. He is known for work that merges traditional Edo-style aesthetics with icons of American cul ...

, Ruth Terrill, Beth van Hoesen among others. The artists-in-residence program also provide opportunities for artists to engage with the public.

Gallery

Great_Glass_Pumpkin_Patch_2018.jpg, Great Glass Pumpkin Patch 2018 Circus_Family_Day_2018.jpg , Art Activities at Circus Family Day 2018 Circus_Family_Day_2018_-_The_Nook.jpg, Circus Family Day 2018 - Nook Activity FNAC Paper Cuts Large-Scale Collage 2018.jpg , Friday Night at the Art Center - Nook Activity Ceramics_and_Jewelry_Studio_Holiday_Sale_2018.jpg, Ceramics and jewelry studio creations (2018 Holiday Sale)

References

External links

Palo Alto Art Center - main sitePalo Alto Art Center Foundation
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Palo Alto, California Art museums and galleries in California Arts centers in California Tourist attractions in Santa Clara County, California 1971 establishments in California Organizations based in Palo Alto, California Art in the San Francisco Bay Area