Grand Central Art Center 2026

(image credit: Jon Rubin, The Stolen Dove, a GCAC artist-in-residence project carrying the memory and story of Cal State Fullerton alumnus Alex Odeh)

HELP MAKE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT POSSIBLE! 

There is no easy way to explain what happens at Grand Central Art Center (GCAC)—and that is part of what makes this place so exciting. An artist arrives with no preset plans and begins to explore, a community becomes a collaborator, a gallery becomes a gathering place, a tree becomes something we learn to listen to, or a dove begins traveling from home to home carrying a story that might otherwise be forgotten. For over 27 years, GCAC has had the privilege of working with artists who challenge us to see, listen, and participate differently. The work is rarely simply an exhibition; it can become a conversation, a walk, a performance, a gathering, a film, or an experience that unfolds in ways we could never have fully predicted. That spirit of experimentation, discovery, and connection is what makes GCAC unique—and your support helps make it possible.

That spirit is alive throughout our current and upcoming season. Jon Rubin’s The Stolen Dove is carrying the memory and story of Cal State Fullerton alumnus Alex Odeh from Santa Ana to communities across the country, transforming a monument into an ongoing act of remembrance and connection. Misty Choi’s CuppyBreak: A Cup of My Own begins with something as ordinary as a cup and opens into an exploration of failure, adaptation, and the unexpected possibilities that emerge when familiar things stop working as expected. Ben Kinsley’s The Lost Champion invites us to explore, measure, listen to, live with, and ultimately remember the trees that shape our city. These projects are wildly different, but each creates opportunities for people to encounter one another, engage with their surroundings, and see their communities—and themselves—differently.

And there is much more ahead. In November, Enrique Ramírez will join us for a residency to continue developing the work for his solo exhibition early next year, followed by an upcoming residency with Anna Berenice Garner, while Ben Kinsley returns for his third The Lost Champion activation, Living With, coming in early 2027. On October 22, we will present the second installment of our new Curator Talks series with Miranda Lash of the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. GCAC also continues to serve as an extension of the CSUF classroom, with faculty bringing students to tour exhibitions, visit artists’ studios, meet artists, and engage directly with the ideas and processes unfolding here. These encounters—between artists and students, artists and communities, and people and the places they inhabit—are at the heart of what we do.

YOUR SUPPORT MAKES THIS POSSIBLE!

Socially engaged art requires time, flexibility, trust, and the freedom to follow a project where it leads. Your contribution does more than help us put an exhibition on the wall—it helps create the conditions for something unexpected to happen. Your support provides artists with the space, resources, staff, and time to research, experiment, build relationships, take risks, and discover what their work can become. It helps sustain our artist-in-residence program and the ambitious exhibitions, public programs, student experiences, and community projects that grow from it. As I have learned through years of working with artists, collaboration is not simply a style of making—it is an ethic built on trust, listening, generosity, and a willingness to see what emerges.

If GCAC has ever surprised you, challenged you, introduced you to an artist, connected you to a community, or simply made you curious about what might happen next, please consider making a gift today. A contribution of $5, $10, $25, $50, $100—or whatever amount feels meaningful to you—helps make this work possible. Every gift helps us continue creating the space for artists to experiment, communities to connect, students to learn, and new ideas to take shape. And if you are in a position to make a larger contribution, we would welcome a conversation about deeper support or an endowment for GCAC. Thank you for believing in artists, in experimentation, in community, and in the extraordinary possibilities that emerge when we are open to creative process.