CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art
The Wattis is a contemporary art space that critically engages with audiences, artists, and ideas.
About
Discover art discourses of today
Michelle Lopez, Single Line/Ropehenge, 2025. Nylon, steel, fiberglass, resin, enamel, 88 1/2 x 72 1/2 x 110 in. Co-commissioned by the Wattis and Tufts University Art Galleries.
Mission and Approach
CCA established the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts in 1998 as a public forum for discussing and presenting leading-edge art and culture. The Wattis works with artists in two distinct ways: as an exhibition space and research institute. We organize exhibitions, artist residencies, public programs, performances, and publications.
Located on CCA's expanded campus, the Wattis is a resource for students and faculty members in multidisciplinary programs at CCA, including the Fine Arts and Visual and Critical Studies graduate programs.
The Wattis centers the artist's perspective and supports artists who take risks and experiment with new ideas. It provides a public forum to established, emerging, and under-recognized artists who challenge our understanding of the art of our current moment. Our exhibitions and programs are free and open to all.
Programs
On view and on our mind
What can we learn from artists today?
The Exhibition Program consists of new productions of commissioned work and exhibitions of specific bodies of existing work by artists from around the world.
The Research Program commits an entire year to a single artist's work. It uses it as a lens to reflect on our contemporary moment more broadly via reading groups, public events, and publications.
SoiL Thornton, pink, blue, white, 2024. Archival inkjet print, Phosphorescent Green (glow in the dark) acrylic (which has the ability to absorb and store natural and artificial light. When the light source is removed (i.e., when the lights are turned off or the painted object is taken into a dark area), a bright, greenish glow is emitted for up to 15 minutes. The glow steadily diminishes as the stored light energy is released, and acrylic Gel Topcoats w/UVLS (thick acrylic gel mediums containing Ultra Violet Light Filters and Stabilizers (UVLS) to protect materials from fading and deterioration caused by exposure to UV radiation) on canvas. 114 x 56 inches (290 x 142 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Maxwell Graham, New York.
Exhibition: 8 Hours of Rest: SoiL Thornton
January 20 – March 7, 2026
Opening Reception: January 20, 2025, 5-7 pm
SoiL Thornton presents new and existing works, continuing their ongoing exploration of rest. This is the second of three exhibitions: 8 Hours of Work, 8 Hours of Rest, 8 Hours of What You Will dedicated to the theme of LABOR.
The front entrance of the Wattis is obstructed by an inflatable sculpture, with its depth and height matching the exhibition curator, and changing the flow of how visitors typically enter the gallery. By inviting us through the back door, Thornton sets the stage for the viewer to engage in alternative possibilities. Meaning is never fixed and always rooted in context and interpretation. Through the artist’s use of materials and language, visitors can reflect and expand on notions of value, decay, residue, death, and calmness. Like a dream, or a slip of the tongue, Thornton’s works invoke subconscious thoughts, and allow a space and state of rest that is intimate, political, and full of potential.
Labor is on our mind: 8 Hours of Work, 8 Hours of Rest, 8 Hours of What You Will is organized by Daisy Nam, Director and Chief Curator, and Diego Villalobos, Associate Curator. Exhibition design by Robin Beard. Special thanks to Wattis team members: Armaan Mumtaz, Addy Rabinovitch, and MacKenzie Stevens.
This research season is generously supported by Mary and Harold Zlot, Teiger Foundation, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, and Bloomberg Connects; the Wattis Leadership Circle: Jonathan Gans, Abigail Turin, and Katie and Matt Paige; and the Curators’ Forum. Phyllis C. Wattis was the generous founding patron.
Adelita Husni-Bey, Prosthesis–Agricolture, 2017. Indian ink and acrylic on paper. 28 x 22 in. (71 x 55.5 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Galleria Laveronica, Modica, Italy.
Research: LABOR is on our mind.
8 Hours of Work, 8 Hours of Rest, 8 Hours of What You Will
Through April 18, 2026
This year, we focus on the theme of LABOR, using the nineteenth-century workers’ slogan “8 hours of work, 8 hours of rest, and 8 hours of what you will” as a framework and title. The Bay Area has been at the forefront of labor movements, while simultaneously creating industries that have reshaped the workforce not only in this city but across the nation and globally.
We will exhibit archival materials from the San Francisco State University Labor Archives, including the California Labor School, as well as present works by Tania Candiani, Stephanie Comilang, Aria Dean, Harun Farocki, Chantal Peñalosa Fong, Adelita Husni-Bey, Josh Kline, Hansel Mieth and Otto Hagel, Liz Magic Laser, Luigi Nono, Pedro Reyes, Allan Sekula, Kenneth Tam, SoiL Thornton, Jeremy Touissant-Baptiste, Rodrigo Valenzuela, and Lindsey White, among others.
Labor is on our mind: 8 Hours of Work, 8 Hours of Rest, 8 Hours of What You Will is organized by Daisy Nam, Diego Villalobos, and Jeanne Gerrity with assistance from Zipporah Hinds.
Visit
Free and open to all
Address
The Wattis is located on CCA's campus at 145 Hooper Street in San Francisco.
Check in at the main entrance and take the exterior stairs to the Wattis on the second level.
Hours and admission
The Wattis Institute is open to the public Wednesday–Saturday, 12–6 pm. Please note that will need to sign in with an ID to access our campus and the Wattis.
Parking and public transportation
Limited parking with a four-hour time limit is available along streets adjacent to the CCA campus.
CCA is accessible by BART with Muni bus connections at Civic Center or 16th Street station or by Muni with nearby stops for the 19, 22, and 55 bus lines.
The Wattis is ADA-accessible through an elevator inside the Simpson Family Makers Building. Take a right inside the lobby and follow the corridor to the Wattis elevator.
Library
Explore our living archive
Ester Partegàs and Stephen Lichty in Conversation
This online collection includes artist interviews plus video and audio documentation of all past lectures, performances, and events. There are also essays about exhibitions, plus reviews, reading lists, and interviews to read.