Designed by Robert Ratcliff Architects in 1967, the Berkeley Art Center was built by the Rotary Club as a gift to the City of Berkeley, and was instituted as a city program until BAC adopted its private, non-profit status in the late 70s. A beautiful arts and crafts-style structure in Live Oak Park, North Berkeley with an outdoor reception area, BAC has established itself as leading local gallery presenting the work of talented regional artists in diverse media.

Berkeley Art Center hosts a variety of visual art exhibitions and related programs for its membership and the general public. Recent exhibitions have included: Metaphysical Abstraction: Contemporary Approaches to Spiritual Practice; Process & Place: The Transformative Potential of Artist Residencies; and COLLECT, the center's bi-annual fundraiser and art auction featuring the work of nearly 75 local artists. Exhibitions serving members and a wider group of regional artists include the annual juried exhibition, Juried@BAC, now in its 27th year; East Bay Open Studios Preview Exhibition @ Berkeley Art Center in conjunction with Pro Arts, and the center's annual Members’ Showcase, a non-juried exhibition including work in all media from Berkeley Art Center members. Related programs have included the center's widely praised Artist Lecture Series (this past year including Robert Bechtle, Tom Marioni, Kara Maria and Lulu Stanley), artists’ talks and walk-throughs, panel discussions, Visual Thinking Strategies workshops and other educational opportunities appropriate to the exhibitions on view.

Berkeley Art Center’s audience serves and represents the diversity of the city and region in which it operates, and includes the active participation of over 10,000 individuals on an annual basis. As a fully handicapped-accessible facility, Berkeley Art Center is also accessible to a large section of the senior and disabled population. Artists comprise a significant part of BAC’s audience: in 2008, over 250 artist members displayed work in the center’s annual Members Showcase exhibition, from which three were chosen for a small group show, and BAC received 750 artist entries for its Annual National Juried Exhibition. Nearly 600 student artists from Berkeley public schools, K-12, displayed their work in the 2009 Youth Arts Festival. Young people benefit from participation in the Youth Arts Festival and from special, youth-oriented programs, as well as through internship and volunteer opportunities.

Berkeley Art Center works with a wide variety of local organizations and agencies to strengthen its programming and advocate for the arts. Recently, these have included Berkeley Cultural Trust, Berkeley Convention and Visitors Bureau, Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Berkeley Association, Kala Art Institute, Pro Arts, Poetry Flash, the Alameda County Arts Commission, and JFK University’s Museum Studies Department, as well as many others.