Incorporated in 1960, Davis Arts Center was begun by a group of teaching artists offering classes in a series of rented buildings in downtown Davis.  Davis Arts Center moved to its own building at 1919 F Street in Community Park in 1987.  The 10,000-square-foot facility includes studios for clay, weaving, visual art, dance, drama and music as well as the Tsao Gallery.  The facility also offers a wonderful, intimate indoor performance space as well as an outdoor stage.

Annually Davis Arts Center offers more than 1000 classes, monthly exhibitions (a mixture of community-based and professional artists), a Classical Guitar Concert Series and the ever popular, Annual Holiday Sale the first weekend of December.  Visited by between 4000-8000 shoppers, the Annual Holiday Sale features more than 65 artisan vendors, Paint-A-Plate and for our younger shoppers, the Children’s Secret Store.  In 2016, Davis Arts Center took over the administration of the Davis Art Studio Tour.  The self-guided, two-day tour features Davis artists in their studios over an October weekend.  Additionally, all of the tour artists have work featured in the Tsao Gallery, so we recommend visiting the gallery to plan your outing.

Through our programming and classes, students of any age and skill level will find a place for artistic discovery.