The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA), located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina area, is a multimedia contemporary art gallery specializing in contemporary art.
Despite the fact that SECCA does not have a permanent collection, it does host exhibitions of works by artists that have received regional, national, and international renown. Although it was originally established as a private organization, it was transformed into an operating entity of the North Carolina Museum of Art in 2007 and placed under the jurisdiction of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. The event is completely free.
Founded in 1979, SECCA has been accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) since then, making it one of only 300 museums in the United States to hold this distinction.
SECCA was established in 1956 as the Winston-Salem Gallery of Fine Arts in the historic district of Old Salem. The estate of James Gordon Hanes, a member of the regionally notable Hanes family who died in 1972, gave to the museum his Norman Revival home, completed in 1929, and its gardens. As part of the expansion, SECCA developed a new exhibition space, and the organization relocated to its current location in 1977 under its current name. In 1990, the plant underwent another expansion.
A $15,000 arts prize awarded to controversial photographer Andres Serrano garnered national attention in 1989 when 23 U.S. Senators signed a letter opposing SECCA’s involvement with the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts’ involvement with the controversial photographer.
The former U.S. Senators Jesse Helms (R-NC) and Alfonse D’Amato (R-NY) both denounced SECCA in speeches delivered on the Senate floor, taking particular issue with what has become Serrano’s most famous work, Piss Christ, a photograph depicting a crucifix submerged in the artists’ urine. SECCA is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of contemporary art.
SECCA was compelled to transfer ownership of its land and activities to the state after experiencing financial difficulties that began in 2003.
Cora Fisher has been the curator of the non-profit gallery since its inception in 2014. Tomory Dodge, Jennifer West, Stanislav Libensk and Jaroslava Brychtová, Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Clark Whittington, Mark Jenkins, and Lee Walton are among the artists whose work has been shown at the gallery since 2010.
SECCA features three exhibition rooms totaling 8,896 square feet (826.5 square meters) of area, as well as an auditorium with 294 seats. Szostak Design completed a comprehensive refurbishment of the facility, which was completed in 2010.