Wesla Whitfield and Mike Greensill

Pacifica Center for the Arts

The mission of the Pacifica Center for the Arts (formerly known as the Sanchez Arts Center) is to create community through art. The Center realizes its mission by seeking to create visual art experiences that significantly transform the lives of youth and families in the community. Pacifica Center for the Arts has established a unique presence in San Mateo County and the Bay Area: by conducting education and outreach programs designed to make experiential art accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds; by presenting public exhibitions of works by local artists and those of the Bay Area; and, by providing affordable studio space to local artists. The Center's three exhibition spaces reflect its commitment and passion for presenting diverse art experiences: Main Gallery features an annual curated exhibition program; West Wing Gallery mounts community exhibitions featuring local artists; East Wing Gallery presents visual art by students, children, and multicultural sources. In 1996 a group of artists, volunteers and local residents, in cooperation with the City of Pacifica, leased an abandoned elementary school building that they subsequently converted into the Sanchez Art Center. In 1998, with a neighborhood grant from the Peninsula Community Foundation, a team of local artists, youth and family members completed Pacifica's only large-scale mural, containing images that celebrate community spirit and commitment to diversity. With the renovation of a former classroom as an Arts Education Room in 2000, the possibility to impact the lives of youth in the community with hands-on art experiences was born. The Pacifica Center for the Arts is a non-profit organization. Funding for staff, arts education, and other programs comes from foundation grants, donations, and artists' studio fees as well as through commissions on artwork sold through the galleries. The Pacifica Center for the Arts relies on the volunteer efforts of the community and members of the Art Guild of Pacifica for the continuity of gallery hours and many vital services. The Center is home to the Art Guild of Pacifica, whose 500 members can volunteer to plan exhibitions and events, gallery sit, and serve on the Center's committees and board. The Sanchez Art Center is located approximately 20 minutes South of San Francisco in Pacifica, California. Gallery Hours: Friday, Saturday, Sunday: 1pm-5pm

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