Kingsley Art Club
MISSION:
To promote arts and arts education in the Sacramento region through artist lectures at the Crocker, awards programs for high school and college art students, funding for various arts organizations and support of the Crocker Art Museum and its programs
HISTORY/INFORMATION:
The Kingsley Art Club was organized in 1892 by a group of 15 Sacramento women seeking art education who were interested in supporting arts and culture in the community. The club’s mission has remained the same for the last 125 years but strategies and activities have evolved. Gone (but not forgotten) are the ladies in “good standing” and the “critic” whose job it was to correct mispronunciations or incorrect usage in the members’ discourse. What exists now is a close relationship with the Crocker Art Museum, outreach to many audiences, and the use of social media (this website, Facebook, and Instagram) to spread the word about the Kingsley.
The Kingsley annually presents seven lectures at the Crocker Art Museum featuring Northern California speakers knowledgeable in the arts. Retrospectives of an artist’s career, emerging artists, and developments in the surrounding art communities are the topics of the programs. Bus trips are organized for members to area art exhibitions, artist studios and activities in the visual arts. Occasional small group trips are a “look and lunch” feature for members with a visit to an exhibit at the Crocker or a venue not available to large groups.
Kingsley supports arts education in a local elementary school with volunteer docents and a year-end bus trip to the Crocker to give students an opportunity to experience fine art. Also, annual Kingsley Merit Awards honor outstanding student artists of the area’s six local community colleges. High school students and their teachers are a group that we serve with the museum staff. That event is an art exhibit of work inspired by works at the Crocker and shown in the Education Gallery. The club puts on Evaluation Days to serve the community and raise funds for the museum. Donated funds help support a docent program bringing students from underserved schools for tours and workshops.