Blog

Fatman with Edith,

CCA Announces Gallery Hours to View “Critical Mass” by Meridel Rubenstein July 23-August 16

BlogExhibitions

Santa Fe, New Mexico – July 21, 2023 The Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) is pleased to invite the public…

Read More

Fatman with Edith,

CCA to Host Photoworks from “Critical Mass” by Meridel Rubenstein July 21-August 16

Santa Fe, New Mexico – July 10, 2023 The Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) is pleased to announce that in…

Read More

CCA to Host Special Pre-Screening Event to Celebrate the 35mm Debut of Oppenheimer

BlogEventUpcoming Films

Santa Fe, New Mexico – June 26, 2023 The Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) is pleased to announce a July…

Read More

CCA Announces Summer Poetry Workshop with Elizabeth Jacobson

Santa Fe, New Mexico – June 14, 2023 The Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) is pleased to announce that acclaimed…

Read More

CCA Re-Envisions Gallery Space for Performance in its Re-opening Plans

Santa Fe, New Mexico – May 25, 2023 The Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) is pleased to announce that the…

Read More

CCA Thanks Community on May 21 with FREE Cinema Day

As a thank-you to our generous donors and to the whole Santa Fe community, CCA Cinemas is having a full…

Read More

Closer Looks: Cinema + Conversation Resumes May 11

BlogUpcoming Films

We’re happy to announce the continuation of CCA’s popular film and conversation series! CCA began Closer Looks in January 2023…

Read More

CCA Cinema to Reopen

BlogOpportunities

Following the heartfelt, generous outpouring of support from the Santa Fe community, the CCA board is pleased and grateful to…

Read More

Help CCA’s Legislative Capital Outlay Request

With less than a minute, you can help CCA’s capital outlay request!

Read More

You Have the Power to Impact the Future of CCA

CCA is in the process of requesting essential Capital Outlay funds from New Mexico’s state legislators—and you can help. Dear…

Read More

01.14.2021

One of 2021’s most buzzed-about films finally makes it to CCA this week! Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car, based on the…

Read More

2024 Copyright Center for Contemporary Arts – Santa Fe. All rights reserved.

The Board of Directors for the Center for Contemporary Arts of Santa Fe (CCA) has voted to close the organization after serving the Santa Fe and northern New Mexico community on its forty-fourth year of operation. The decision was reached after careful consideration of options presented during its current strategic planning initiative.

“Closing a cherished, community organization like CCA is one of the most difficult decisions a board can make,” said David Muck, CCA Board Chair. “However, we simply couldn’t secure the level of individual donations required to achieve the high quality of programming and exhibitions envisioned by CCA’s professional staff and board of directors,” he continued.

Many nonprofits in the U.S. were hit hard by Covid and CCA is a good example. The CCA Cinema closed during Covid, and attendance was slow to resume, reflecting national downward trends in moviegoing post-Covid as reported in multiple news outlets, such as IndieWire and others. In 2023, the organization forecast the cinema to perform at only 50% of pre-Covid levels, resulting in monthly losses. Though grants and individual donations to the organization were up significantly in 2022 and 2023, they simply weren’t enough to make up the difference in the annual budget and cover both current and planned exhibitions and operations.

“This tough decision did not come lightly,” said Danyelle Means, CCA Executive Director and Head Curator. “For a nonprofit institution that operates independently of state support, the annual donations needed to sustainably continue operating was not enough, especially in the wake of challenges from pandemic closures and reduced attendance,” Means continued.

CCA did have its share of recent successes: CCA Executive Director Danyelle Means had secured a three-year grant of $100,000 per year from the Ford Foundation, with an option to renew for another three-year period. The organization was also the recipient of a $50,000 inaugural grant from Ruth Arts Foundation, as well as other granting organizations. Self-Determined, a 2022 CCA exhibition, was listed as one of the world’s Top 50 Exhibitions of 2022 by Hyperallergic magazine and CCA’s new monthly Closer Looks cinema series was a hit with film enthusiasts.

The CCA board of directors considered closing the organization in December of 2021, but voted to remain open in 2022 in hopes of a recovery post-Covid. However, despite the hard work of CCA staff and the accomplishments like the ones mentioned above, the shuttered period during which the cinema was closed proved too challenging to overcome. CCA Cinema’s final day of public operations is Thursday, April 6, and all upcoming CCA gallery exhibitions and public programs are cancelled.