SCA open 2026
A Celebration of the Artists Shaping Our Region
Opening Reception: November 1, 2026
Exhibition: October 30 - December 6, 2026
The Sausalito Center for the Arts is proud to present SCA Open 2026, our annual juried exhibition celebrating the extraordinary depth, range and vitality of artists from across the Bay Area and beyond.
The response to this year’s Call for Art was remarkable. Building on the momentum of our inaugural exhibition, SCA Open 2026 received submissions from nearly 1,000 artists, with 2,250 artworks submitted for jury review. This represents a nearly 40% increase in submissions, a powerful reflection of how much creativity is thriving across our region.
From this extraordinary field, 207 artists were selected to present nearly 300 artworks in this year’s exhibition. Together, their work will fill the galleries with a dynamic view of the ideas, materials, questions, beauty, experimentation and creative energy shaping art in the Bay Area today.
This year’s exhibition was shaped by three exceptional jurors, each representing a distinct and important perspective within the art world: museum, gallery and educational institution. Together, they bring a rich range of experience, discernment and vision to the selection process, creating an exhibition that reflects not one way of seeing, but many.
SCA Open is more than a juried exhibition. It is an invitation to look closely at the artists working in our time and place. It is a celebration of artistic risk, craftsmanship, storytelling, beauty, experimentation and voice. It honors the established artists whose work continues to deepen and evolve, while creating space for emerging artists whose perspectives help define what comes next.
For Sausalito, a city long rooted in creativity, SCA Open continues a powerful cultural legacy. Once home to the famed Sausalito Art Festival and generations of artists drawn to its waterfront light, bohemian history and spirit of possibility, Sausalito remains a place where art and community meet. At the Sausalito Center for the Arts, that legacy is being carried forward through year-round exhibitions, programs, performances and gatherings that bring artists and audiences together.
This exhibition fills the galleries with work that speaks to the moment we are living in, while reminding us of art’s enduring ability to move, challenge, connect and inspire.
Join us for SCA Open 2026 and discover the artists whose work is helping shape the creative future of our region.
Exhibition Dates: Friday, October 30 to Sunday, December 6
Opening Reception: Sunday, November 1, 1pm to 6pm
Artists’ Closing Reception: Sunday, December 6, 3pm to 5pm
Location: Sausalito Center for the Arts, 750 Bridgeway, Sausalito
Admission: Free and open to the public
Reserve your spot at the Opening Reception.
Click here to RSVP
2026 Jurors
SCA Open 2026 was reviewed by three distinguished jurors representing different segments of the art world: a museum, a gallery and an educational institution. Their combined perspectives bring depth, range and rigor to the exhibition, offering visitors a rich view into the artwork shaping our region now.
Nancy Lim is associate curator of painting and sculpture at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). She is currently preparing an exhibition on Northern California craft, 1945-1980, opening next year. Previous exhibitions include Creative Growth: The House That Art Built (2024), Chiura Obata (2023–24), Hung Liu: Witness (2023), New Work: Anna Sew Hoy (2023), and Joan Brown (2022–23). Prior to SFMOMA, Lim held curatorial positions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, both in New York.
Danielle Fox currently oversees operations for SLATE Art LLC, directs SLATE Contemporary Gallery, manages SLATE’s Public Art program, and curates collections for key private and corporate clients. She has also served as a Member of the Board of the San Francisco Art Dealers Association and Oakland Art Murmur, and is a member of Art Table. Danielle has over thirty years of experience in the art world as a teacher, writer, editor, and curator; as Deputy Director of Business Development at Sotheby’s in London; founder of SLATE Contemporary Gallery in Oakland since 2009; and Principal Partner of SLATE Art Consulting since 2014.
Chester Arnold is a Bay Area painter who has exhibited and taught in area colleges for more than three decades. His large narrative oil paintings deal with many contemporary issues and may be seen in collections the San Jose Museum of Art, SF MoMA, the Nevada Museum of Art and other institutions across the country. A major show of his new work opens at the Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, June of 2026, where he has been represented since 2003.