California Arts Council’s 50th Anniversary Celebration: A Night of Legacy, Tribute, Art, and Creative Joy

SACRAMENTO, CA - On Monday, April 20, 2026, the California Arts Council will open the doors to an extraordinary night five decades in the making. The California Arts Council's 50th Anniversary Celebration will bring artists, cultural leaders, public officials, supporters, and communities together at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium for a milestone evening of tribute, recognition, and celebration-honoring the visionaries who helped shape the agency, remembering artistic leaders whose legacies still resonate, recognizing a remarkable class of 2026 awardees, and celebrating the power of the arts to move, connect, and inspire.

This will not be a quiet look back. It will be a vibrant celebration of California's creative spirit-past, present, and future.

The evening will honor the California Arts Council's founding members-Peter Coyote, Suzanne Jackson, William Allaudin Mathieu, Gary Snyder, Luis Valdez, and an in memoriam tribute to Ruth Asawa, Karney Hodge, Alexander Mackendrick, and Noah Purifoy-whose vision helped establish an agency that has spent 50 years championing arts and culture as a public good across the state.

The celebration will also spotlight the California Arts Council's distinguished 2026 awardees: David Geffen, Mildred Howard, Barbara Kruger, Magic Theatre, Cheech Marin, Charles Ray, Sage Romero, San Jose Taiko, Josie Talamantez, and Luis Valdez (El Teatro Campesino). Together, they reflect the originality, range, and cultural force of California's arts landscape.

Adding excitement to the night will be performances by BANDALOOP and the Sacramento Pop Choir. BANDALOOP, internationally known for its site-responsive vertical dance, turns architecture into a stage and public space into a moment of awe. Sacramento Pop Choir, the inventive intergenerational ensemble co-founded by Heather Waid and Emily Perez, brings humor, surprise, and infectious energy through bold choral takes on beloved pop songs.

The evening begins at 6:00 p.m. with an opening performance and reception featuring BANDALOOP, followed by the ceremony at 6:30 p.m. The program includes remarks from Executive Director Danielle Brazell and Council Chair Roxanne Messina Captor, a Land and Peoples Acknowledgement presented by Wilton Rancheria, recognition of the founders, presentation of the Arts Awards by California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick and donors, and a closing performance by Sacramento Pop Choir.

As the California Arts Council marks 50 Years of Creative Impact, this anniversary celebration promises a memorable night of reflection, recognition, and joy-honoring the legacy that built the agency, the artists and leaders shaping the present, and the creative future still unfolding across California.

Event Details:
California Arts Council 50th Anniversary Celebration
Monday, April 20, 2026
Sacramento Memorial Auditorium
1515 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814

Media is welcome. We kindly ask you to RSVP at [email protected].

About the California Arts Council

The California Arts Council is a state agency committed to strengthening arts, culture, and creative expression as tools to cultivate a better California for all. Through grants, initiatives, and services, CAC supports local arts infrastructure statewide and envisions a California where all people flourish with universal access to and participation in the arts.

About the California Arts Council's 50th Anniversary

In 2026, the California Arts Council celebrates 50 years of creative impact. Established to encourage artistic awareness and participation, the CAC has spent five decades advancing artistic excellence, inclusion, and creativity as essential pillars of California's identity. The 50th Anniversary is a year-long milestone dedicated to honoring the agency's legacy and charting a strategic vision for the next 50 years of arts advocacy and innovation.

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Members of the California Arts Council include: Roxanne Messina Captor, Chair; Nicola Miner, Vice Chair; Roque Barros; Caleb Duarte; Vicki Estrada; Leah Goodwin; Roy Hirabayashi; Alex Israel; Dorka Keehn; Phil Mercado; Rick Stein. Learn more at https://www.arts.ca.gov.

The California Arts Council is committed to increasing the accessibility of its online content. For language and accessibility assistance, visit https://arts.ca.gov/about/about-us/language-communications-assistance. To read this announcement in Spanish, please use the website's Google Translate tool by clicking the "Translate" link in the upper righthand corner of this page.

El Consejo de las Artes de California se compromete a aumentar la accesibilidad de sus contenidos en línea. Para obtener ayuda con el idioma y la accesibilidad, visite https://arts.ca.gov/about/about-us/language-communications-assistance. Para leer este anuncio en español, utilice la herramienta Google Translate del sitio web haciendo clic en el enlace "Traducir" situado en la esquina superior derecha de esta página.