Who we are | Board of Trustees | What we do | Expanding our programs
to serve our community | The Arts in Vallejo | How you can participate

VCAF Mission Statement:
To facilitate and advocate Vallejo community participation in the Arts, including the promotion of the rich history of the Arts in Vallejo, the development of educational programs and support for Vallejo Arts organizations, and the celebration of our unique cultural diversity through the expressions of Art.

Who we are

The Vallejo Community Arts Foundation (VCAF) was founded as a California Public Benefit Corporation in 1991. The primary objectives and purposes of VCAF are to promote and enhance public awareness, appreciation, and participation in community arts programs; to hold fund-raising campaigns, social events, and community programs to promote arts and cultural facilities; to receive monies from the City of Vallejo for allocation to cultural and arts programs; to be responsible for the overall management and funding of designated community arts facilities; and to raise and disburse funds for community arts programs and facilities.

In fulfilling these objectives and purposes, VCAF provides grants to various arts groups in Vallejo, showcases its permanent collection at the Fetterly Gallery, presents art exhibitions at satellite sites throughout Vallejo through its Floating Fetterly program, hosts public forums and exhibition receptions, provides a summer arts program for children, is the lease-holder of the Empress Theatre, and manages the Fetterly Playhouse which is an active performing and visual arts center that provides low-cost performance, classroom, visual art, and office space for numerous community organizations and theatre groups.

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Board of Trustees

Gail Manning, President

Rich Geist, Vice President

Secretary, Ramona Sampayan

Jesusa Joson - Fusade, Treasurer

Parliamentarian (currently vacant)

Karen Burgin, Mel Gomez, Judy Schilling

City Council Liaison - Michael Wilson

Adrienne Waterman, Executive Director

Site Manager, Kitty Aga

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What we do

VCAF curates four to six annual exhibitions, and has done so since 1995. We have an outstanding record of high quality exhibitions that feature local, national and international artists. The Fetterly Gallery was named "Best Art Gallery in Solano County" in 2004 and 2006 by the Times-Herald reader's poll. VCAF has established a Floating Fetterly Gallery curatorial committee that includes professionals from the community to make recommendations and evaluation of the exhibitions.

The Arts Foundation is committed to arts education for children and adults and produces programs to support this commitment. We have continued to improve our Summer Arts Camp for children, ages 7-14, increasing its length to six weeks, and deepening its curriculum. This has been met with great appreciation and success from the community. The courses are taught by local professional artists, with arts assistants to ensure one on one attention to the children. Such classes as cartooning, photography, printmaking, theatre performance, making musical instruments from found objects, architecture and painting are included in the program. We offer the Summer Arts Camp at the very low fee of $25 per week, and also offer scholarships to make sure low-income children from our community can attend.

The Arts Foundation’s permanent art collection is housed at the Fetterly Gallery, and focuses on works on paper, with notable works by Raymond Saunders, William Wolff, Kate Delos, Enrique Chagoya, and Betye Saar. The complete catalogue of the collection may be viewed on this website.

VCAF hosts two resident theatre groups that perform at the Fetterly Playhouse, The Vallejo Music Theatre and Darkroom Productions (dramas, one act plays). VCAF hosts community events such as Kwanzaa produced by Askari's Place, Candidates Forum (for mayoral and city council candidates) focusing on the arts in Vallejo, Artist's nights that extend the exhibitions into dialogue and presentations. Special events for the Vallejo Symphony, Music Theatre, local choral groups, and children's theatre groups also take place at the Playhouse. VCAF subsidizes and encourages arts groups to use the theatre as a venue for the community.
Until the City of Vallejo’s budget crisis in 2007, the Arts Foundation administered a re-grant program for the City of Vallejo which provided small grants to local arts organizations in Vallejo. In 2006 VCAF granted over $18,000 in funds to sixteen different groups, representing all art disciplines. Evaluation of each recipient by a committee comprised of representatives from VCAF and the Vallejo Arts and Cultural Commission is a significant component of the program. We hope to reinstate the program in 2009-10.

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Expanding our programs to serve our community

The Vallejo Community Arts Foundation (VCAF) is the lease-holder and operations manager of the historic Empress Theatre, a performance and mixed-use nonprofit space. The Empress Theatre is key to the revitalization of historic downtown Vallejo and a cornerstone to the overall downtown/waterfront development master plan. VCAF is working with the City of Vallejo and Triad Communities, LLP in a public-private partnership to develop the Empress Theatre.

The Empress fills the existing need for a venue in Vallejo that will serve as a performing arts center and movie house. The primary goal of the Downtown Master Plan is to incorporate mixed land uses which are pedestrian-friendly and allow the downtown and the waterfront to evolve into the social, cultural, recreational and entertainment hub of the City of Vallejo.

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The Arts in Vallejo