Performing Arts Center

The Performing Arts Center’s main auditorium was completed in 1937 with Works Progress Administration funds. Noted San Francisco artist Ralph Stackpole arrived at the campus in the summer of 1937 to begin work on his fresco, a mural created by painting directly on freshly laid lime plaster using water and pigment. The Stackpole fresco showcased the New Deal’s Public Works Administration’s auditorium, depicting Sacramento Junior College staff enacting the frustrations and hardships of the Great Depression. The artist recruited campus staff to pose for the figures that included a teacher talking to students about spherical trigonometry, valley farming and local government. Various activities illustrate partnerships with farming, industry, commerce and the arts.

In addition to the main auditorium, the Performing Arts Center hosts the recording studio, regular classrooms, a small auditorium and several theater style classrooms.