Mendocino Art Center 2025 Summer Fundraiser
“How does one go about starting an art center? I just rummaged around. I don’t know, I was just going to start an art center.”
Bill Zacha
Scorched Earth and an Improbable Dream
Let’s Build Something Beautiful Together
Nearly 70 years ago, Bill and Lucia Zacha arrived in the sleepy town of Mendocino—to a burnt-up estate, to be exact—and dreamed. They dreamed of art and community. Of interdependence. Of boundless possibility.
Together, with a growing circle of artists, neighbors, and community members, they did the improbable: they transformed that burnt-up estate into a living, breathing art center: a home for creative experimentation, hub for community care, a spark for revival.
That dream didn’t stay theirs alone.
It became ours.
Bill Zacha showing future Art Center grounds to Bud Pisarek, editor of West Art (Photograph by Nog Johnson)
Art Center grounds circa 1967
the Mendocino Art Center continues the Zacha family’s ethos of community-building and collective care. We support artmaking across a wide range of mediums, fueled by that same ‘can-do’ spirit so alive here in the rural north that makes improbable dreams come to life.
Their dream wasn’t just about artmaking. It was about artmaking as a vehicle to interdependence. It was about asking: what happens if we stay and build something beautiful together?
Today,
Art is both the process of creation and the people who gather to create it. It lives in shared meals, lively conversations, and the quiet acts of collaboration that keep a place like this alive and thriving.
As we look toward the future, we’re at a critical moment—for MAC and for the world. In times of fracture, spaces like ours become havens. They become soil for connection, reciprocity, courage, and care.
That’s why we’re launching 60 Days Toward Mutual Thriving—our summer fundraising campaign to raise $150,000 by July 31. It’s a big goal, but we are a place of improbable dreams that become reality with community support invested into that dream together.
If you believe in big dreams of art, artmaking, and community building in Mendocino, there are so many ways to support our 60 Days of Mutual thriving:
Memberships – Starting at all income levels. You’ll receive a 10% discount on classes and in our store—and the knowledge that you’re keeping the MAC dream alive.
In-Kind Donations – Own a business? You can sponsor an event, donate tools or materials for campus improvements, or offer your time and energy.
Sustain Sponsors – We’re looking for 50 donors to give $1,000 each, which will expand our community offerings—workshops, courses, and residencies.
Abundance Sponsors – If you’re in a position to give more, your gift can support essential upgrades to our aging, beloved campus—bringing it into the next 70 years with environmental care and resilience.
Whether you’re offering time, resources, or simply belief, your support is what makes this dream real.
Thank you for continuing to walk with us. Our doors are always open. Let’s dream improbable dreams together.
With care and gratitude,
Dav Bell, Executive Director
Tristan Crane, Board President
Give or become a member today.