Our Mission
Building Community Through Art
Petaluma Arts Center is a vibrant hub for the arts, recognized not only by local residents but also by the wider community for fostering meaningful connection through creativity, education, and community-focused programs.
Our History
Petaluma Arts Center (PAC) began in June 1998 as a grassroots community initiative known as the Petaluma Arts Council. Founded to celebrate local artists and engage the broader community in the visual arts, the organization quickly became a gathering point for creative expression in Petaluma.
Approximately a decade later, with support from the City of Petaluma and a generous private donor, PAC opened its permanent home in the historic Railroad Depot Freight Building on Lakeville Street. Located adjacent to the Petaluma Visitors Center and the SMART train station, the Arts Center sits at the heart of downtown Petaluma.
Since opening its doors in 2008, PAC has grown into a regional hub for arts and culture. The Center presents rotating exhibitions featuring local, regional, and national artists; offers educational classes and workshops; hosts community events and performances; and provides professional development and support for artists through its membership programs.
Over time, PAC has evolved beyond a traditional gallery into a community-centered arts and cultural organization committed to inclusivity, engagement, and the celebration of diverse artistic voices throughout Sonoma County. Today, the Arts Center actively connects people with art both inside the gallery and throughout the wider community.
Feeling Seen, Heard and Understood:
Our Commitment to DEI
As a community arts center, PAC believes that advancing a cultural consciousness of diversity and inclusion is crucial. We resolve to create a space where people feel a sense of belonging, feeling seen, heard, and understood.
The Petaluma Arts Center (PAC) acknowledges there are influential elements within political, cultural, and economic systems that grant access and recognition unequally. This can result in limited representation of diverse community members. We resolve to create a space where people feel a sense of belonging, of feeling seen, heard, and understood. We hold ourselves accountable to this important work by affirming and acknowledging the following:
That cultural equity is critical to a healthy and thriving community. Cultural equity addresses discrimination of people based on race, color, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, veteran status, (dis)ability, and socioeconomic status by eliminating barriers and providing fair treatment, access, and opportunity.
That PAC will partner with diverse institutions and individuals through our programming, policies, and practices by representing varying points of view, by affirming our similarities and finding value and curiosity in our differences.
That establishing an annual review of our diversity, equity and inclusion goals and collecting data to ensure measurable outcomes – by examining our board, staff, volunteers, and programming - is an essential part of PAC’s accountability.