William D. Cannon Art Gallery

The 2000-square foot William D. Cannon Art Gallery opened September 25, 1999 and is located in the Carlsbad City Library complex at Dove Lane and El Camino Real in the south of Carlsbad. The main entrance to the gallery is accessible from the complex’s central courtyard. Over 2,000 people per day visit the complex, which in addition to the library and gallery includes the Ruby G. Schulman Auditorium (220 seat multiple-use facility), the Gowland Meeting Room (a multipurpose workshop room), and a children’s Sculpture Garden. The Gallery presents approximately four exhibitions per year. Exhibitions are planned two to three years in advance.

Artistic Vision

The William D. Cannon Art Gallery (CAG) is a focal point for art and culture in the City of Carlsbad and in San Diego’s North County. Through changing exhibitions, school outreach, docent-led gallery tours, hands-on family activities, lectures, and publications, all of which are designed to engage and enrich the individual and the community, the CAG strives to encourage lifelong learning in the arts and to make the visual arts an accessible and integral part of peoples’ lives. In its artistic program, which also includes presentations in the Sculpture Garden located behind the Cultural Arts Office at 2955 Elmwood, the Gallery strives to carry out this mission by presenting exhibitions that emphasize the following criteria:

• National Quality/Regional Focus
• Variety and Balance
• Introduction of New Work to this Region
• Arts Education Opportunities

In addition, the CAG’s exhibition and arts education programs are committed to:

• Accessibility
• Cultural Equity