The Mystic Arts Center is vibrant arts hub dedicated to supporting culture and creativity within the communities of Southeastern Connecticut and Southern Rhode Island, as well as visitors and tourists from the region and beyond.

• Gallery Exhibitions - Four galleries (4,000 sq. feet) showcase fifteen annual exhibitions designed to promote emerging and professional local artists through juried, open and invitational exhibitions


• Studio Art Classes - Two spacious art studios hold classes and workshops for all ages in watercolor, sculpture, oil painting, pastels, paper-making, drawing, and a myriad of children's art classes.


• Educational Outreach - The Center offers grant-funded outreach programs supporting and expanding arts instruction in our public schools and childcare agencies. Through a combination of gallery, studio and classroom activities, the program helps children using non-traditional teaching methods to develop "Literacy Through Art."


• Cultural Programming - Through its dedication to excellence and high standards, The Mystic Arts Center serves as the cultural center for the greater Mystic area, providing enrichment and quality of life.


• Permanent Collection - The Center maintains a permanent collection of work by early Society of Mystic artists as an important educational and historical link for the community.


• Elected Artist Membership - Elected Artist Membership is awarded to artists whose work has been received into four of the Center's juried shows within a twenty four month period. The Mystic Arts Center and the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), which holds its annual exhibit at the Center each spring, have entered into a reciprocal agreement. All works juried into the CAFA show are eligible for both a CAFA and Mystic Arts Center juried requirement. There are typically six juried shows within a twenty four month period. Artists interested in elected artist membership can fill out an application, available at the Center, listing the show names, dates and titles of accepted pieces. Elected Artist Membership costs $45 a year. Members are awarded a certificate at the Annual Meeting. Their name is listed in the Annual Report and they are entitled to participate in the Annual Elected Artist Show, the Annual Auction, and Artist Choice Gallery.

History

The Mystic Arts Center began under the leadership of nationally recognized landscape painter, American Tonalist and Impressionist American artist, Charles Harold Davis who, in 1913, came to Mystic followed by some of his peers to settle and paint along the Mystic River. The members of the artist colony organized as the Mystic Art Association in 1913, changed to the Society of Mystic Artists in 1925 and back to the Mystic Art Association in 1925. The Association built and opened the Water Street art gallery in 1931, and accepted its first permanent art collection, donated by the widow of Charles Davis in 1933.

In 1979, the Mystic Art Association, evolved into "an educational non-profit, non-stock corporation..." known for fostering an appreciation of Mystic's early artists and their works. In 2004, the Board of Trustees and membership voted to have the Mystic Art Association, Inc. operate under the trade name of Mystic Arts Center (MAC) to more accurately reflect the organization's mission to serve the community.

MAC celebrates its Centennial in 2013. During this historical year, MAC will build a bridge between its history and evolution over the past 100 years while establishing a path forward to further cement and expand its role in the community over the next 100 years.