Art inspires. The Berkeley Art Center is the City of Berkeley's art gallery, charged with serving our city, the Bay Area and beyond as a forum for the art of our time in all media. We celebrate art--complex, beautiful, and provocative--through compelling exhibitions, performances and educational opportunities in an exploration of the social and political concerns of our diverse community. Be inspired.

The BAC presents exhibitions with a national reputation and produces publications such as art catalogs, and limited edition portfolios. We also sponsor weekly chamber music concerts and a Literary Arts Program that features poetry readings, workshops, exhibits and performances. Lectures, panel discussions, slide presentations and conferences relating to the exhibitions program augment the center’s offerings. An annual Youth Arts Festival showcases the talent and dedication of Berkeley’s students and the commitment of their teachers.
Nestled in a corner of Berkeley’s Live Oak Park, situated on the bank of Codornices Creek, the Berkeley Art Center is one of the city’s architectural jewels. It was designed by the venerable and disinguished architectural firm of Ratcliff and Associates and built in 1966 by the Berkeley Rotary Club, which donated it to the city in 1967.
A city agency during its first decade, the Berkeley Art Center has since 1979 been run for the community by the Berkeley Art Center Association, a non-profit corporation. Beginning the mid-sixties the Berkeley Art Center has presented programs that challenge, delight and inform audiences. BAC has moved many artists forward in their careers through exposure to critics, collectors, gallery and museum professionals and the viewing public.