di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art is a non-profit contemporary art center in Napa, California that also maintains a collection of art by Northern California artists including Robert Arneson, Bruce Conner, Jay DeFeo, and William T. Wiley. di Rosa's mission is to be a catalyst for transformative experiences with contemporary art of Northern California. The foundation that runs the center announced in July 2019 that they would sell most of the current collection of 1,600 works, but keep several hundred. The sales will increase the foundation's endowment, and help provide "dynamic and compelling exhibitions, integrated education programs, strategic partnerships, all with an eye towards experimentation, supporting artists, and commissioning new work," according to Executive Director Robert Sain.
History
The institution is housed on the property ofRene di Rosa, who, with his wife Veronica, collected artwork for over 40 years from Northern California and transformed their home and property into spaces for housing and displaying their collection. di Rosa and his site was an active space for the development of site-specific, conceptual, and experimental artwork in the 1960s and 1970s as mentioned by artists Dennis Oppenheim, Paul Kos, and David Best. In 1997, Rene di Rosa opened the property up to visitors and in 2000 incorporated the 217 acres, dubbed di Rosa Preserve, into a public trust. In 2002, Rene di Rosa stepped down and the institution was run by its first executive director. In 2007, director Nancy Kelly produced Smitten, a documentary about Rene di Rosa and his collection. The film aired on PBS in July 2007.
Collection
di Rosa maintains a holding of artworks collected by Rene di Rosa in their permanent collection, a selection of which are on view on the grounds and in the Residence Gallery. Following the planned sale of the majority of its collection, the center will focus on the works of William Allan, Robert Arneson, David Best, Nayland Blake, Joan Brown, Bruce Conner, Judy Dater, Jay DeFeo, Viola Frey, Robert Hudson, David Ireland, Paul Kos, Jim Melchert, Peter Saul, and William T. Wiley.
Exhibitions and programming
di Rosa's curatorial staff organizes rotating exhibitions of work from the collection and work by emerging and established Bay Area artists. Notable exhibitions include The True Artists is an Amazing Luminous Fountain, a traveling exhibition of work from the collection curated by Jack Rasmussen and Equilibrium: A Paul Kos Survey an solo exhibition of the artist's site-specific conceptual work curated by Amy Owen. di Rosa also organizes programming and educational programs related to their exhibitions.
