Editor’s Note: Over the last year, we highlighted each month a regional park, hoping to introduce our readers to some of the outdoor amenities they might not have realized were out there in Orange County for residents to enjoy. This year, we turn our attention to the arts and entertainment offerings in our communities that you might not know about.
Over the past three decades, the Huntington Beach Art Center has been redefining the boundaries of Southern California’s arts and culture landscape, frequently spotlighting eclectic local artists whose works have been overlooked by mainstream, commercial galleries.
Since 1995, the institution has partnered with local nonprofits such as Homeboy Art Academy, OC Arts & Disability and Tierra Del Sol to curate exhibitions from veterans, people with disabilities and formerly incarcerated and gang-involved youths.
“As a municipal art space, our job is to engage as many parts of the community as possible to increase arts access and participation, whether that’s just participating in an arts workshop for the first time, or seasoned artists critiquing each other’s work,” Dan Faltz, the center’s executive director, said.
The art venue, which operates as a public-private partnership between the city of Huntington Beach and Huntington Beach Art Center Foundation, houses two exhibition spaces: one for hosting community art shows featuring local artists and the other for curated shows based on specific themes, Faltz said.
Visitors can also sign up for a variety of education and event programming, including year-round art classes and workshops for both children and adults.
For its 30th anniversary this fall, the Huntington Beach Art Center curated a landmark, museum-calibre exhibition called “Personal Data: What is a Portrait?” The show, which ran from Sept. 6 to Nov. 8, explored myriad interpretations of contemporary portraiture across various mediums and genres, including abstract sculpture, painting and photography.
The art center has also piloted a “Creative Visions Teen Curators” program that teaches Huntington Beach high school students the basics of curation and inquiry-based museum learning. The students will develop a theme, select the artworks and create a tour script for their own exhibition that will be shown at the museum.
In the new year, Faltz said the art center will host two exhibits as part of “Handwork 2026,” a celebration of American craft marking the nation’s 250th birthday, as well as a show focused on fiber art.
The center’s annual open-call, non-juried exhibition, “Centered on the Center,” features works from hundreds of local, regional and national artists. The public open reception will be held Saturday, Jan. 31.
“We want to highlight local artists, give opportunities to up-and-coming and emerging artists, give opportunities for students to create, and we want to invite well-known and established artists to exhibit here as well,” Faltz said. “We want to share different parts of our community to our visitors and learners.”
Currently on display is an open-call poetry exhibition curated by OC Poet Laureate Gustavo Hernandez. The showcase will run until Feb. 14.
Check it out
What: Huntington Beach Art Center gallery
Currently on display: “Bright as Life: Southern California Poets”
Hours: Open to the public noon to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays; noon to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays; and noon to 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays
Where: 538 Main St., Huntington Beach
Admission: Free
Information: huntingtonbeachartcenter.org