About

MISSION

The mission of Verge Center for the Arts is to expose the Sacramento art region to internationally recognized contemporary art, while providing vital resources to local career and emerging artists.

HISTORY OF VERGE CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Verge opened in 2009 as a private art gallery owned by Jesse Powell. It was hailed for its upscale approach to contemporary art, often compared with New York's finest galleries. It was considered a leader in the Sacramento arts scene with national recognition. As Powell's vision for the gallery expanded beyond the ability of the space, he gathered leaders from the community to help him build something even more exceptional.

In 2010 VCA relocated to a 22,000 square foot warehouse in the heart of downtown Sacramento, and is now a 501(c)3 non-profit arts organization. Recognizing Sacramento's desire for a thriving contemporary arts center, Powell led the formation of a new, nonprofit venture that will house artist studios on site, provide expansive gallery space, feature community education, and provide a one-of-a-kind printmaking lab.

EXHIBITIONS

From the moment VCA opened, its programming and exhibitions have been critically acclaimed in Art in America, Arts and Culture, and the Sacramento Bee, among others. The new gallery will include 6,000 square feet of exhibition space. With 20-foot high ceilings and polished concrete floors, this space offers opportunities for the community to experience installation and performance art, sound and video, and other contemporary art forms unable to be exhibited in the Sacramento area. Verge's past accomplishments include:

• Review in Art in America for our grand opening show, Stephen Kaltenbach's Nuclear Projects and Other Work.
• Presenting high-caliber artists to the Sacramento community from outside the region including artist and musician Daniel Johnston, award winning filmmakers like Jeff Feuerzeig and Greta Snider, and guest curator and artist Emily Prince.
• Doug Biggert's Hitchhiker exhibition received a feature article in the international contemporary art publication Vice and went on to White Columns in New York the following year.
• In 2010, Haute Romantics, an exhibition curated especially for Verge by noted New York art critic Paddy Johnson, was presented at the New Museum in New York later that year.