Sausalito Center For The Arts Open
A Juried Showcase of Bay Area Creativity
Oct. 19 - Nov. 16
The Sausalito Center For The Arts Open
Exhibition
Oct. 19 - Nov. 16
Wednesday - Sunday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Opening Reception
Saturday, October 25
5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
No host bar
Live music by: Osmosis Trio: A Jazz Odyssey
RSVP Required: SOLD OUT
Artist Demonstrations
Saturday, November 8
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Details below
Closing Reception
Sunday, November 16
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM (no host bar)
This fall, as the Bay Area’s art season comes alive, Sausalito Center for the Arts proudly presents the inaugural Sausalito Center For The Arts Open (SCA Open) — a dynamic juried exhibition celebrating creativity, diversity, and the enduring spirit of Sausalito’s artistic community.
From an astounding 1,482 submissions by 590 artists, a distinguished panel of jurors selected 271 works by 197 artists across painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, digital, textiles, and more. The result is an inspiring showcase of vision and talent, from emerging voices to established professionals.
Jurors Hilary Magowan (de Young Museum), Craig Coss (College of Marin), and Susan Snyder (Caldwell Snyder Gallery) brought together three distinct perspectives — academic, institutional, and commercial — to shape an exhibition that reflects both the zeitgeist of our time and the timeless beauty of artistic expression.
The SCA Open celebrates where we’ve been and where we’re going, it’s a continuation of Sausalito’s creative legacy and a glimpse into its vibrant future. Founded in 2021 by a collaboration of local arts organizations and community leaders, SCA has quickly become Sausalito’s home for visual arts, performance, and cultural connection. The SCA Open marks a milestone in that journey ,a celebration of community, creativity, and renewal.
In The News:
Sausalito Center For The Arts From Festival Roots To Community Hub
Artist Demonstrations
Artist Demonstrations at the SCA Open
Saturday, November 8th | Free Event
Join us for a full day of live artist demonstrations as part of the SCA Open exhibition! Experience the creative process up close as six Bay Area artists share their techniques and inspirations across a variety of media — from encaustic painting and ceramics to fiber, tapestry, clay, and mosaic.
Schedule of Demonstrations
12:00 PM — Ceramic | Joan Pinto
Watch how a slab-coiled vessel comes to life, from pre-thrown base to finished form, using an array of ceramic tools.
12:30 PM — Encaustic | Nancy Pollock
Discover the art of blending and fusing heated beeswax, damar crystals, and pigment on birch panels.
1:30 PM — Fiber | Jayne Tucker
Explore how recycled tea bags become intricate sculptural fiber artworks.
2:00 PM — Tapestry | Nanilee Robarge
See how natural inspiration is transformed into stunning woven tapestries.
3:30 PM — Clay | Jeff Downing
Follow the creation of a life-sized dog sculpture — built, assembled, and refined until a unique personality emerges.
4:00 PM — Mosaic | John Whitmarsh
Learn the process of casting weathered end-grain wood in ceramic using plaster moldmaking techniques.
Come be inspired, ask questions, and watch creativity in motion — all inside the beautiful Sausalito Center for the Arts galleries.
Meet the Jury Behind the Vision
Three jurors brought their expertise, taste, and boldness to the selection:
Hilary Magowan, Associate Director of Exhibitions at the Legion of Honor, with extensive curatorial experience spanning ancient to contemporary forms.
Craig Coss, Bay Area fine artist and visual storyteller; known for bridging narrative and gesture in painting.
Susan Snyder, a longtime curator and gallery leader whose influence spans galleries in San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and beyond.
Their combined voices helped shape a balanced, provocative, and resonant show — one that invites you to look deeper, challenge assumptions, and feel moved.
Hilary Magowan
Hilary Magowan is the Associate Director of Exhibitions, Legion of Honor at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, which comprise the de Young and Legion of Honor.
Hilary received her BA in Art History from Connecticut College, and her MA in Humanities with a concentration in Art History from New York University.
She began her art career in New York City at Christie’s working in various departments including Old Master Paintings & Drawings, 19th Century Paintings, and Japanese and Korean Art. After receiving her MA, she worked as the manager and then director at the art gallery Sebastian Izzard Asian Art in New York City from 2000-2005. In 2005 she returned to her home town of San Francisco after over a decade working in NYC’s art world.
In San Francisco, she was the director of Addison Fine Arts, a private art gallery, and she later founded her self-named art consulting company, where she advised private and corporate clients on purchases and sales of modern and contemporary American, European and Asian art.
Hilary began working at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco in 2012, and is responsible for organizing temporary exhibitions from the early planning stages through implementation, and has helped plan over fifty major exhibitions in various media ranging from Ancient to Contemporary art at the de Young and Legion of Honor.
Craig Coss
Craig Coss is an award-winning San Francisco Bay Area fine artist, illustrator, and storyteller whose paintings have been exhibited in several small northern California museums and galleries, and who illustrated the Game of Thrones Tarot for HBO and Chronicle Books.
Craig holds an MFA in Visual Narrative from the School of Visual Arts, and is on the faculty at Dominican University and College of Marin, where he has taught drawing, painting, and traditional materials & techniques since 2018.
Susan Snyder
Susan Snyder holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri, earned in 1981. Just two years after graduating, she founded the Caldwell Snyder Gallery in San Francisco and Santa Barbara. Over the decades, Susan has played an instrumental role in expanding Caldwell Snyder into multiple cultural hubs, including New York, Carmel, and St. Helena. Through these galleries, she have curated compelling exhibitions and cultivated a roster of over 40 artists, many of whom they represent exclusively.
In addition to curatorial work, Susan has co-designed and published a number of artist monographs and exhibition catalogs. Her expertise extends beyond the gallery walls, encompassing the creative direction of annual art fair presentations, monthly exhibitions, and comprehensive promotional campaigns that include advertising and marketing strategy.
A longtime member of the San Francisco Art Dealers Association, Susan is deeply rooted in the West Coast arts community and continues to be a vital force in shaping its evolution. Her curatorial sensibility and professional insight have been recognized through jury roles for esteemed exhibitions, including those hosted by Marin MOCA, Marin Society of Artists, the Sausalito Art Festival, and the Mill Valley Arts Festival.
Known for a discerning eye and an ability to recognize artistic individuality across all mediums, Susan has helped place works in major collections around the world. She collaborates closely with private collectors, art advisors, designers, and architects, and brings a confident, seasoned perspective to any judging panel.
From Festival to Future: Sausalito Center For The Arts Launches the Inaugural SCA Open
As autumn settles across the Bay Area and the art season comes alive, Sausalito Center For The Arts (SCA) is stepping into the spotlight with its most ambitious endeavor yet: the inaugural Sausalito Center For The Arts Open (SCA Open), begining October 19.
For decades, Sausalito has been synonymous with creativity, a small waterfront town with a big artistic spirit. Once home to the famed Sausalito Art Festival, the city’s cultural identity has always been deeply tied to the arts. Now, that legacy finds new expression through SCA, a community-driven arts institution that has quickly become the beating heart of the city’s creative renewal.
“We received an amazing and unprecedented 1,482 submissions from 590 artists,” said SCA Executive Director Shiva Pakdel. “From that, our jurors selected 271 works by 197 artists. The range is incredible—painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, digital, textiles, and beyond. The energy and quality of the submissions show how vibrant this region’s creative community really is.”
The inaugural exhibition was shaped by three distinguished jurors, each bringing a unique perspective: Hilary Magowan, from the de Young Museum in San Francisco; Craig Coss, artist and faculty at College of Marin; and Susan Snyder, co-founder of Caldwell Snyder Gallery.
“The jurors represent three distinct disciplines—academic, institutional, and commercial,” explained Pakdel. “That diversity of perspective allowed for an incredibly rich and well-rounded selection process. It was three different ways of seeing, and three different ways of choosing art.”
Magowan reflected on the breadth of work: “While many of the artists in the SCA Open are local, their ideas are global. The exhibition includes self-taught artists and established professionals alike, people who are pushing boundaries in both style and substance. The artistic voices are as multifaceted as the media themselves.”
Coss spoke to the spirit behind the selections: “We chose over 250 pieces that not only reflect the zeitgeist—the spirit of our time—but also offer glimpses of timeless beauty and wonder. The exhibition moves fluidly from bold abstraction to delicate figurative work, from political commentary to poetic metaphors that tap into the collective imagination.”
He added, “There are lyrical images of nature and reflections on our relationship with the natural world. Some of the sculptural works in glass, metal, ceramic, and fiber arts are particularly striking. As a 2D artist myself, I’m humbled by the craftsmanship and imagination on display in every medium.”
For those who know Sausalito’s creative pulse, the SCA Open is more than just an exhibition, it’s a milestone. The Sausalito Center For The Arts was conceived in 2021 through a collaboration between the Sausalito Art Festival Foundation, ICB Arts Association, Marin Open Studios, and local business and civic leaders. Their shared vision was to repurpose the former Bank of America building downtown into a community hub for the arts, a place where artists, residents, and visitors could gather, learn, and celebrate creativity year-round.
In just three years, SCA has become that hub. It now hosts exhibitions, performances, lectures, and events that showcase both established and emerging artists from throughout Marin and the greater Bay Area.
“The arts have always been at the center of Sausalito’s identity,” said Pakdel. “But every generation needs to reinvent what that means. The SCA Open is part of that reinvention, celebrating where we’ve been while creating space for what’s next.”
The SCA Open runs October 19 through November 15, filling SCA’s galleries with works that reflect both the diversity of the Bay Area and the spirit of Sausalito itself.
The exhibition includes an invitation-only preview, followed by a public opening reception on October 25 from 5–7 PM. Visitors can also enjoy live artist demonstrations and special programs throughout the month.