documentary

UNZIPPED: An Autopsy of American Inequality

DateMay 7 @ 6:00 pm

Part of the SAR 2024 Creative Thought Forum Playing in the CCA Cinema Film screening and Q&A with Director Colin…

Stranger at the Gate

DateApril 28 @ 11:00 am

Short film + conversation presented by Global Santa Fe Playing in the CCA Cinema A U.S. Marine with P.T.S.D. plots…

Four Winters

DateMay 5 @ 3:30 pm

Part of the Santa Fe Jewish Film Festival – a screening in commemoration of Yom HaShoah Playing in the…

One Hand Don’t Clap

DateApril 19

Playing in the CCA Studio April 19-25: Playing daily at 11:00am, 3:30pm, 8:00pm (no screenings Monday and Tuesday) Originally released…

Crumb

DateApril 13 @ 10:45 am

Playing in the CCA Studio May 10-16 30th anniversary of this acclaimed documentary – an intimate portrait of controversial underground…

Film is Dead. Long Live Film!

DateApril 26 @ 1:15 pm

Playing in the CCA Studio April 26-May 2: Playing daily at 1:15pm, 8:00pm (no screenings Monday and Tuesday) Film is…

Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill

DateApril 12 @ 11:00 am

Playing in the CCA Cinema April 12-18: Playing daily at 11:00am, 6:00pm (no screenings Monday and Tuesday) An intimate portrait…

A Decent Home

DateApril 13 @ 4:00 pm

Playing in the CCA Cinema Sponsored by the Santa Fe International Film Festival, Chainbreaker Collective, and City of Santa Fe…

One Hand Don’t Clap

DateApril 19 @ 3:30 pm

Playing in the CCA Studio April 19-25: Playing daily at 11:00am, 3:30pm, 8:00pm (no screenings Monday and Tuesday) Originally released…

Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella

DateApril 7 @ 3:00 pm

Playing in the CCA Cinema Part of the Santa Fe Jewish Film Festival The late Ruth Bader Ginsberg once said:…

American Factory

DateMarch 31 @ 6:00 pm

Special Event in the CCA Cinema with co-director Steven Bognar Cultures collide. Hope survives. When a Chinese billionaire re-opens a…

Fantastic Fungi Remastered

DateMarch 29 @ 1:15 pm

Playing in the CCA Cinema April 5-6: Playing daily at 11:00am, 3:15pm, 5:15pmApril 7: Playing at 10:45am, 12:30pm, 5:15pm (no…

2024 Copyright Center for Contemporary Arts – Santa Fe. All rights reserved.

The Board of Directors for the Center for Contemporary Arts of Santa Fe (CCA) has voted to close the organization after serving the Santa Fe and northern New Mexico community on its forty-fourth year of operation. The decision was reached after careful consideration of options presented during its current strategic planning initiative.

“Closing a cherished, community organization like CCA is one of the most difficult decisions a board can make,” said David Muck, CCA Board Chair. “However, we simply couldn’t secure the level of individual donations required to achieve the high quality of programming and exhibitions envisioned by CCA’s professional staff and board of directors,” he continued.

Many nonprofits in the U.S. were hit hard by Covid and CCA is a good example. The CCA Cinema closed during Covid, and attendance was slow to resume, reflecting national downward trends in moviegoing post-Covid as reported in multiple news outlets, such as IndieWire and others. In 2023, the organization forecast the cinema to perform at only 50% of pre-Covid levels, resulting in monthly losses. Though grants and individual donations to the organization were up significantly in 2022 and 2023, they simply weren’t enough to make up the difference in the annual budget and cover both current and planned exhibitions and operations.

“This tough decision did not come lightly,” said Danyelle Means, CCA Executive Director and Head Curator. “For a nonprofit institution that operates independently of state support, the annual donations needed to sustainably continue operating was not enough, especially in the wake of challenges from pandemic closures and reduced attendance,” Means continued.

CCA did have its share of recent successes: CCA Executive Director Danyelle Means had secured a three-year grant of $100,000 per year from the Ford Foundation, with an option to renew for another three-year period. The organization was also the recipient of a $50,000 inaugural grant from Ruth Arts Foundation, as well as other granting organizations. Self-Determined, a 2022 CCA exhibition, was listed as one of the world’s Top 50 Exhibitions of 2022 by Hyperallergic magazine and CCA’s new monthly Closer Looks cinema series was a hit with film enthusiasts.

The CCA board of directors considered closing the organization in December of 2021, but voted to remain open in 2022 in hopes of a recovery post-Covid. However, despite the hard work of CCA staff and the accomplishments like the ones mentioned above, the shuttered period during which the cinema was closed proved too challenging to overcome. CCA Cinema’s final day of public operations is Thursday, April 6, and all upcoming CCA gallery exhibitions and public programs are cancelled.