Tomorrow’s Cultural Critics
Your ideas and words have the power to move people.
The graduate program in Visual & Critical Studies at CCA trains creative leaders in visual and critical fields. We believe that enacting positive social transformation requires skills in critical thinking, visual analysis, and visual communication.
Students at CCA work closely with thinkers and makers who cross disciplinary boundaries. At CCA, students discover and contribute to the rich cultural life of the college and the San Francisco Bay Area, an international hub of innovation.
Ten years from now our visual, virtual, and cultural environments will look very different than they do today. Whatever shape the world takes, VCS alumni will continue to occupy positions of influence across cultural fields.
CURRENT STUDENTS
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CURRENT STUDENTS 〰️
SPRING '25 Forum at VCS
Since its inception in 2001, the acclaimed VCS Forum has featured thought leaders from a wide range of creative and scholarly fields. Open to the entire CCA community, these public-facing talks aim to foster dialogues across disciplines on contemporary issues in the visual arena.
This spring, each Forum speaker comes from our own CCA community. Each brings a unique perspective on visual and critical methodologies grounded in their respective discipline(s). Collectively they speak to how visual culture operates as both a tool of critique and transformation. Their work embodies a hybridized, inclusive, and engaged approach to examining the visual and cultural systems that define—and can redefine—how we see ourselves and the world.
This semester’s particular focus is on methods that:
Unpack dominant narratives of race, gender, and power.
Explore the intersections of representation with personal and collective memory.
Reimagine the role of visual culture in building a more inclusive future.
We Are VCS (recording)
AN EVENING WITH PROFESSOR JACQUELINE FRANCIS AND RECENT VCS ALUMNI KATHERINE JEMIMA HAMILTON AND TAMARA SUAREZ PORRAS
Dr. Jacqueline Francis, dean of our Humanities and Sciences Division and longtime VCS professor, hosts an in-depth discussion about the program with recent VCS alumni Katherine Jemima Hamilton and Tamara Suarez Porres.
NEWS
ALUMNI NEWS
Archives Yet to Come
Curated by Alum Hannah Waiters
February 8 – May 4, 2025
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 8, from 3–5pm
Gallery Hours: Thursday–Sunday, 12pm–5pm
Location: 1275 Walnut Street, Live Oak Park, Berkeley, CA 94709
Cost: Free
BEYOND BOUNDARIES: A JURIED GROUP EXHIBITION
CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY
475 25th STREET, OAKLAND, CA 94612
FEBRUARY 7 - MARCH 8, 2025
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 8, 3 - 5 pm
The artist selected for the solo exhibition in the Back Room Gallery will be announced at the Opening Reception.
Open Friday and Saturday: 12 - 5 or by appointment
(e-mail mercurytwenty@gmail.com)
ABOUT: The exhibition "Beyond Boundaries" invited artists to explore the multifaceted nature of these lines. It prompts us to consider not only the limitations boundaries impose, but also their potential as catalysts for innovation and change. The works presented represent a diverse range of perspectives, challenging assumptions and encouraging dialogue about where boundaries are defined, how they are enforced, and what happens when they are crossed or redrawn. Are these lines static or dynamic? Are they inclusive or exclusive? And how can artistic expression help us imagine a future where boundaries are redefined to create a more just and equitable world, especially in the context of evolving political landscapes?
The Museum Worker: Museum Curators on Collecting, Exhibiting, and Access // Anne Rose Kitagawa // Kim Conaty // Rory Padeken // Magdalena Moskalewicz
In this episode of CAA, Kim Conaty, Anne Rose Kitagawa, and Rory Padeken talk to the host Magdalena Moskalewicz about everyday challenges of curatorial work inside collecting institutions such as university museums, art museums, and large, encyclopedic institutions. The curators share their own career paths and address the profession’s current aspirations and needs. The Museum Worker is a subseries of CAA Conversations about pathways to careers in museums, featuring candid conversations with professionals in the field. Museum workers share how they got where they are today, what they do, and the role of diversity, equity, access, and inclusion in day-to-day work as well as hopes for the future of the field. Anne Rose Kitagawa is Chief Curator of Collections & Asian Art and Director of Academic Programs at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon. Kim Conaty is the Nancy and Steve Crown Family Chief Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Rory Padeken is the Vicki and Kent Logan Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, at Denver Art Museum, Colorado. Magdalena Moskalewicz is a member of the CAA Museum Committee.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/caa-conversations/id1429084257?i=1000685314953
NEWLY EXPANDED CAMPUS
Building A Better Future At California College Of The Arts
SF/ARTS
REWIND REVIEW RESPOND
Rewind Review Respond (RRR) is an online forum where CCA students reflect on recent events and the ideas that affect their practice, communities, and fields of study.
MEET THE FACULTY
From @ccaviscrit
