ABOUT US
In 1992 the City of Willits formed a Cultural Arts Commission. Interested artists and arts boosters began to focus on renovating the historic Women’s Improvement Club building (circa 1926), initiating the creation of a cultural arts center for the Willits community.
With the help of countless volunteers and many fund-raising events, WCA’s downstairs galleries and classrooms were opened in February 2000. After an additional eight years of community-led renovation, the upstairs Great Room was opened, expanding the Center’s gallery space and providing a beautiful state-of-the-arts performance space for the Willits area.
In 2015, the Willits Center for the Arts officially became a 501(c)(3) corporation, and the City of Willits officially transferred the operations of the building to the Willits Center for the Arts .
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We acknowledge the heritage of the Pomo, Maidu, Yuki, Wailaki and other Northern California Tribes who live in this place in which we all now live and work. We acknowledge the complex historical migration and economic trends that have influenced and formed our diverse community.
We acknowledge the work of those who established the Little Lake Community Arts Project in 1992, and went on to renovate the historic Women’s Improvement Club building, along with the visionary creative artists and volunteers who together built our member supported art gallery and arts center in our small rural town.
We acknowledge the Cultural Arts Commissioners and community volunteers, whose aspirations laid the foundation for the Willits Center for the Arts, and the initial Board of Directors who formalized our non-profit status, and those WCA members, instructors, staff and volunteers who continue to lead us into each new era with a strong vision and sense of mission.
Finally, we acknowledge the critical and ongoing support of the City of Willits and that of the population of Willits, which allows the Willits Center for the Arts to pursue our mission to promote active community enrichment and participation in artistic and cultural expression and education in Mendocino County.
OUR MISSION STATEMENT
The Willits Center for the Arts’ mission is to promote active community enrichment and participation in artistic expression and diverse cultural events in Mendocino County by providing a public space for gallery shows, arts activities, and education.