Cameron Kelly

post

70th Anniversary Gala

By

SILVER GALA ART TICKET
Tables are sold out! Thank you!
Purchase tickets- Sold Out! Thank you!
SILVER GALA ART MEDIUM SIZE

Honoring the Past,
Inspiring the Future

Celebrate 70 Years of Creative Community
with Chico Art Center!

Join us for an unforgettable evening as Chico Art Center (CAC) celebrates 70 years of artistic vision, collaboration, and community spirit in Chico and Butte County!

For seven decades, our community of artists, teachers, volunteers, students, and supporters have shaped CAC into a vibrant creative home. Together, we’ve built a legacy of artist-led classes, exhibitions, and events that have inspired generations - and we’re just getting started.

Dress to Inspire!

Embrace the theme with suggested attire. Arrive as your favorite artist or simply in your favorite color. Bring friends, bring family, or come solo — you’ll be welcomed into a joyful celebration of local creativity and the people who make it thrive.

What to Expect:

  • A delicious fully catered dinner by OM Foods
  • One complimentary drink ticket (with additional beverages available for purchase)
  • A silent auction featuring unique, locally sourced art and a raffle for locally sourced treasures
  • Honoring supporters who help keep creativity alive
  • A video tribute showcasing CAC’s 70-year journey
  • Live painting by local artists 
  • Fun photo opportunities
  • Live music with Shigemi Minetaka (keys, flute), Aman Cowell (trumpet) and Aron Linker (bass)

Why This Night Matters

Every ticket, every bid, and every moment of celebration helps support CAC’s ongoing programs and expansions — ensuring that creativity, community, and artistic expression continue to flourish for the next 70 years.

Let’s come together in gratitude and inspiration for the future.

We can’t wait to celebrate with you!

post

January 2026 | Member Show

By

member26-postcard

Exhibition: January 24 - March 1, 2026

Reception: Friday, February 6, 5-7pm

Chico Art Center invites members to exhibit one artwork to kick off the new year!  

This exhibition is generously sponsored by Cris Guenter.

CALL FOR ART

ENTRY FEE: Membership: $20 Student / $40 Individual / $65 Family

DROP OFF: Saturday - Sunday, January 17 & 18, 10am - 4pm

For questions contact Cameron Kelly, gallery director at gallerydirectorcac@gmail.com or text 4158234415

TERMS

  • Write your name on the back & attach your name to the front. We use this tag to match your artwork with the wall label once it is hung.
  • Framing and hanging hardwire is not required if artwork can be hung from stretcher bar.
  • Please, no sexually explicit imagery or content that denigrates an individual or group.
  • Pick up: March 3-4, 11:30am - 4:00pm
  • Artworks may not be removed prior to the close of the exhibition, nor will sold artworks be released early.
  • Works submitted must be completely dry.
  • Work determined by the director to be too fragile for safe handling and/or display will not be accepted.
Entry Form
Become or Renew Membership Here
post

December 2025 | Nicolai Larsen Retrospective

By

BuddhaDome_14.5x18

Exhibition: December 9, 2025 - January 16, 2026

Tour the Exhibit with the artist's wife, Marion Hunziker-Larsen:
Sunday, December 14, 2025 at 2:00pm

Reception:
Friday, January 9, 5:00 - 7:00pm 

Presentation of Nicolai’s Mural and Commercial Work:

In Person- Saturday, January 10, 2026 at 2:00pm
Zoom Presentation- Sunday, January 11 at 2:00pm  

Nicolai Larsen (1952-2025)

Nicolai Larsen was known for his inventive, visionary painted imagery, fine art canvases, award-winning large-scale mural art, and architectural painted environments. Nicolai studied art at the San Francisco Art Institute and the Academy of Art College. He was selected to work in the CETA Art in Public Places Project in San Mateo County, CA. Later, he became a set designer at Marine World/Africa USA. Nicolai has been internationally commissioned to create works for public, corporate, and private clients.

Starting in 1982, Nicolai operated his own visual arts company specializing in fine arts, murals, trompe l’oeil, and design. He has exhibited his work in many venues, including the Peninsula Museum of Art, Diablo Valley Planetarium, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, NASA Ames Research Center, and the Vorpal Gallery in San Francisco.

Nicolai moved to Chico from the Bay Area in 2013 with his wife, son, and dog. He came to appreciate the North Valley for its wide open space and relaxed pace of life. The valley and its surroundings provided a wealth of imagery for an artist to respond to, and a quieter, more contemplative place to develop new work. The Chico art community also offered him a chance to engage with art organizations. Shortly after relocating to Chico, Nicolai joined the Chico Art Center and became involved in shepherding innovative exhibition concepts and organizing fun fundraisers while serving on the board of the Chico Art Center.

Click here to preview artwork on your phone

Presentation of Nicolai’s Mural and Commercial Work:

In Person- Saturday, January 10, 2026 at 2:00pm
Zoom Presentation- Sunday, January 11 at 2:00pm  

The presentation of Nicolai Larsen's mural and commercial work is now available to watch online. Click button below to visit the exhibition page.

Click here to watch the recording
Screenshot
post

November 2025 | Small Works & Community Altars

By

SmallWorks_CallforArt25

Call for Art: Small Works

Drop Off: October 25-26 during gallery hours, 10am - 4pm
November 1 - 28, 2025
Reception: Friday, November 7, 5-7PM

This annual community exhibit of 12x12 inch artworks is a celebration of tiny experiments in color, shape and materials by artists of all ages. Collage, assemblage, textile, wire sculpture, paper clay, origami, found objects, you name it! Let your imagination run wild! Use it as a platform for a sculpture, hang it from the ceiling, make it a box, use the reverse side, stretch your favorite fabric over it, weave it, upholster it, knit over it, felt it, use encaustic wax, feather it, flock it, fleece it or frottage it!

Entry Fee: $20 ($10 for Students). Complimentary 12x12" canvas included but not required. You're welcome to use your own as long as it is 12x12".

Pick Up: November 29-30 during gallery hours, 10am - 4pm

Sign the Release Form Here

Call for Community Altars Exhibit

Install: October 28-31, during gallery hours 11:30am- 4:00pm
November 1 - 28, 2025
Reception: Friday, November 7, 5-7PM in conjunction with the Small Works Exhibit

In the spirit of El Dia de los Muertos ofrendas, artists and community members create altars that remember those that have passed. You are invited to create an altar with a community minded theme. For example, if you want to remember a loved one, your altar could be dedicated to families. Your loved one's picture can be displayed on a shelf with ofrendas or offerings of things that they loved, like foods, drinks, flowers, incense, stones, etc. On the wall label, a local or national social services organization that relates to your loved ones interests can be dedicated in their honor.

Ofrendas are altars that leave offerings to entice the spirits back for a visit from the spirit world. The elements of the ofrenda stem from the idea of celebration of death in life. Each element and level have significance that you can read about here.

To reserve a 10 ft. tall x 4 ft. wide wall space, please email gallerydirectorcac@gmail.com, subject: Reserve an Altar Space

Take Down Altars: Saturday - Sunday, November 29-30, from Noon-4:00pm

post

August-September 2025 | Peter Jodaitis

By

PeterJodaitis_banner

Reception: Friday, September 5, 5:00-7:00pm

Chico Art Center is honored to announce a transformative legacy gift: The Jodaitis-Walker Creative Works Center and the Peter Jodaitis Studio. This generous bequest includes the couple’s home, Peter Jodaitis’ studio, a significant body of his artwork, and funding dedicated to preserving, studying, and promoting his artwork.

To commemorate this extraordinary gift, we present an exhibition offering an intimate glimpse into Peter Jodaitis’ studio practice. Featured are a selection of works on paper, sketchbooks, sculptures and a rich archive of correspondence, spanning his prolific career from 2001 to 2016.

Peter Jodaitis (1936-2017) was a self-taught painter and sculptor whose work spans 50 years. His education at Bates College and the University of Connecticut was in economics, but his real passion was always art. After a stint in business he devoted himself full time to art, teaching himself by doing, observing and trading modeling in drawing classes for the right to sit in on them and draw from the model. He showed work on the East Coast where he was born and lived with his wife and two children, and then moved to California where he continued to draw, paint and sculpt, showing work at The Humanities Gallery at Chico State, 1078 Gallery, the studios and galleries of Daniel Donnely, and James Snidle among other venues.

Time spent in Mexico, Morocco, and France produced landscapes and related imagery, and reading produced illustrations for two novels, but his first love was the human form, itself, for him, a landscape. “The human form reflects all facets of nature; it is where we all live.” A passionate, even obsessive artist, he produced a monumental body of work, and recorded his thoughts about art, quotations from his eclectic reading, appropriated images, and his own brief sketches in hundreds of artist’s notebooks/sketchbooks. His meditations on the connections between looking and making are expressed in words, images, and above all, in the gestures of the artist.

“I only know that I need to be in my studio every day. If I weren’t able to work, I’d become a lost soul.”

A Landmark Bequest

Chico, CA – August, 2025 – The Chico Art Center is proud to present a memorial exhibition showcasing selections from Peter Jodaitis’ works. His passing on January 5, 2017, is still keenly missed in the local arts community. Titled The hand that spoke, this exhibition offers a glimpse into Peter’s studio practice, featuring a selection of works on paper, sketchbooks, sculpture and archive of his correspondence with a French friend, Sophie Fourré, that spans his prolific career from 2001 to 2016.

The exhibition includes selections, primarily from his bicycle series and nudes, demonstrating his vibrant color sensibility and command of watercolor, gouache and ink media.  His hand is celebrated for his fluid, gestural compositions. Jodaitis was known for his distinctive approach to color, texture, and form, often working in series. 

This special exhibition is made possible through a generous bequest from Peter’s wife, Ellen Walker, who, upon her passing, will leave the entirety of Peter’s artistic legacy – including his artwork, studio, and house to the Chico Art Center. The scope of Peter's collection is truly remarkable: Over 4,000 completed works, along with an extensive archive of sketchbooks, studies, and personal artifacts that span five decades of his creative life.

In honor of this extraordinary gift, the Chico Art Center has committed to promoting and exhibiting Peter Jodaitis’ work for generations to come. The artwork will be carefully managed, ensuring that future generations can enjoy his art.

As part of the bequest, Peter’s house and studio will also be donated intact to the Art Center. The Chico Art Center envisions transforming the property into a hub for community engagement, including guided public tours, special receptions, and the establishment of a visiting artist program. This exciting new initiative will allow visitors to experience the space where Peter lived and created, fostering an immersive connection to his life and work.

“We are deeply honored to be entrusted with Peter’s legacy,” said Cameron Kelly, Gallery Director of the Chico Art Center. “Through this bequest, we are ensuring that his artistic spirit will continue to inspire and enrich the lives of others for years to come.”

The Peter Jodaitis: The hand that spoke exhibition will be open to the public from August 16 to September 19, with an opening reception on Friday, September 5, 5-7pm. The Art Center invites all members of the community to come and celebrate the work of one of Chico’s artistic icons.

Peter’s studio will be participating in this year's Open Studios Art Tour on the weekends of October 11-12 and 18-19. You may preview the list of participating artists online at chicoosat.com, view one artwork by each artist in the gallery exhibition at Chico Art Center opening October 3rd (free admission), then purchase a guidebook for studio locations.

For more information about the exhibition or to learn more about the bequest, please contact the Chico Art Center at gallerydirectorcac@gmail.com.

post

July 2025 | Pizza My Art

By

PizzaMyArt25_PosterTop

Call For Pizza Box Art

$800 Cash Prizes + Fun Consolation Prizes announced at Pizza Party. Need not be present to win.

*Auction Ends at 6:00 PM, then awards given after and auction winners are welcome to pay and pick up their purchases.

PizzaMyArt25

Makers of all ages transform the common pizza box into extraordinary objects

This is our 5th Annual Community Art Competition & Auction and this year all the artwork will be on exhibit in our main gallery for two weeks. This will give our audience time to view the art and to bid on their favorite entries over an extended time. This delightful event and silent auction is a fundraiser for the Chico Art Center.

Pizza My Art is a playful way to engage with art and our community and over the last three years entries have really become quite extraordinary. For anyone entering the competition, it is a chance to stretch your imagination and to win cash awards, gift certificates for pizza, and consolation prizes. For art lovers and collectors, this exhibit and silent auction is an opportunity to view and acquire fun art for home or office.

As in previous years, our sponsors are  Mountain Mike’s, Grana, Mulberry Station, Woodstock’s Pizza, Tio's, Rione, Burbon Kitchen and Farm Star Pizza. They have donated pizza boxes, gift certificates and in-kind prizes. Cash prizes were donated by Becky Williams, Marion Hunziker-Larsen and Nicolai Larsen.

Special thanks to Marion Hunziker-Larsen and Nicolai Larsen for graciously producing this fundraiser.

Competition Rules

  •  Pick up pizza box at CAC & pay entry fee.
  •  Box can be flat, open or closed, constructed or deconstructed, or incorporated in art. Pizza Box Art can be 2D or 3D or Popup. Medium can be painting, drawing, collage, popup art, mixed media, wall or table sculpture, or anything else you can imagine or create. All attachments must be secure.
  • Must be ready to hang or to be placed on a pedestal.
  • Write your name (+ age if kid) on the back of the piece AND enter artwork on online drop-off form.
  • All pizza box art will be on display and auctioned off to the highest bidder at CAC from July 26 to August 8.
  • To get any Pizza My Art entries during the auction, including your own, you will need to win the final bid.
  • Any artwork not picked up or claimed by August 9 at 4pm can be reclaimed by the artist.
  • Pizza box art still unclaimed after Sunday, August 10 will be recycled.
CLICK HERE TO FILL OUT AN ENTRY FORM