Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art facts for kids
The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) is a cool place in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where you can see modern art. It's like a special gallery that shows art using many different types of media, like videos, photos, and sculptures.
SECCA doesn't have its own permanent collection of art. Instead, it always features new exhibitions from artists who are famous in the region, across the country, and even around the world! Even though it started as a private place, it became part of the North Carolina Museum of Art in 2007. This means it's now run by the state of North Carolina, and the best part is, it's free to visit!
Since 1979, SECCA has been officially recognized by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). This is a big deal because only about 300 museums in the whole United States have earned this special honor.
In 2023, the North Carolina government decided to change SECCA's name to the North Carolina Museum of Art Winston-Salem. The group that used to run SECCA privately also joined forces with the NCMA Foundation.
Exploring SECCA's History
SECCA first opened its doors in 1956. Back then, it was called the Winston-Salem Gallery of Fine Arts and was located in Old Salem. A local family, the Hanes family, was very important to the gallery. James Gordon Hanes, who passed away in 1972, left his beautiful old house and its land to the gallery. This house was built in 1929 and looked like an old castle.
In 1977, the gallery moved to this new location and changed its name to SECCA. They added special rooms just for art shows. Then, in 1990, the building got even bigger!
In 1989, SECCA was part of a big discussion that made news across the country. This happened because of an art prize given to a photographer named Andres Serrano. Some people, including 23 U.S. Senators, questioned why SECCA and the National Endowment for the Arts (which helps fund art) were involved. Two Senators, Jesse Helms and Alfonse D'Amato, spoke in the Senate about their concerns. They were especially upset about one of Serrano's famous photographs, which many people found controversial. This event led to a lot of debate about art and what kind of art should receive public funding.
Around 2003, SECCA faced some money problems. Because of this, the state of North Carolina took over running the gallery and owning its property.
As of 2014, the person in charge of choosing the art for the gallery is Cora Fisher. Since 2010, SECCA has shown amazing works by artists like Tomory Dodge, Jennifer West, Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová, Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Clark Whittington, Mark Jenkins, and Lee Walton.
What You'll Find at SECCA
SECCA has three main rooms where they display art. These rooms together have about 8,896 square feet (826.5 m2) of space, which is a lot of room for amazing art! There's also a large auditorium with 294 seats, perfect for talks or performances. The whole building was updated and reopened in 2010 after a big renovation.
