Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art

The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) is a multimedia contemporary art gallery in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1956, it has no permanent collection but presents exhibitions by artists with regional, national, and international recognition. SECCA became an operating entity of the North Carolina Museum of Art under the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources in 2007, and admission is free. The institution has held accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) since 1979, placing it among only 300 museums in the United States to earn this distinction. In 2023, the North Carolina General Assembly renamed SECCA as the North Carolina Museum of Art Winston-Salem.

SECCA began in 1956 as the Winston-Salem Gallery of Fine Arts in Old Salem. The organization gained significant momentum in 1976 when industrialist James G. Hanes donated a 30-acre property, and it truly took off with this bequest. Hanes, who died in 1972, had left his Norman Revival home built in 1929 and its grounds to the gallery. The home was augmented with purpose-built exhibition space, and the institution moved to this new location in 1977 under its current name, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art. The facility expanded again in 1990.

Financial difficulties that began in 2003 forced SECCA to convey its property and operations to the state in 2007. On December 13, 2007, Mark Richard Leach was named as a new director and a new board was constituted. On April 1, 2008, admission became free to broaden public access. In 2009, an extensive renovation project replaced the roof, climate control, and security systems, causing temporary closure. The museum continued arts sponsorship in Winston-Salem during this period and reopened in summer 2010 after the renovation by Szostak Design.

SECCA attracted national political and media attention in 1989 when 23 U.S. Senators signed a letter challenging its involvement, along with the National Endowment for the Arts, with a $15,000 arts prize awarded to photographer Andres Serrano. Former U.S. Senators Jesse Helms (R-NC) and Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY) denounced SECCA on the Senate floor, objecting particularly to Serrano's photograph "Piss Christ," depicting a crucifix submerged in the artist's urine.

The SECCA Foundation was dissolved in 2023, with its assets transferred to the NCMA Foundation, as part of the legislative renaming to the North Carolina Museum of Art Winston-Salem.

SECCA has no permanent collection. Its programming consists of temporary exhibitions featuring works by artists with regional, national, and international recognition. This exhibition-based model allows the institution flexibility in presenting contemporary art across media without maintaining permanent holdings.

Because SECCA maintains no permanent collection, its notable programming resides in its temporary exhibitions and initiatives. Since 2010, exhibitions have included works by Tomory Dodge, Jennifer West, Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová, Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Clark Whittington, Mark Jenkins, and Lee Walton.

The Artist and the Community series, begun in 1994 under director Susan Talbot Labowsky, brought nationally acclaimed artists to Winston-Salem for residencies lasting from two weeks to a year to work with community organizations on local issues. Participating artists included Donald Lipski, Willie Birch, Hope Sandrow, Eleanor Antin, Maya Lin, Mr. Imagination, Inigo Manglano-Ovalle, and Tim Rollins and K.O.S. (Kids of Survival).

This series expanded significantly with the HOME House Project, beginning in 2004. This multi-year international initiative invited artists, designers, and architects to re-envision Habitat for Humanity's basic two-and-three bedroom homes using affordable, energy-efficient, and green sustainable materials and technologies. More than 800 individuals and teams from the United States and 16 countries registered, producing over 400 innovative housing designs. The resulting exhibition traveled to ten venues including the Fredrich Weisman Museum of Art, the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, the El Paso Museum of Art, and the Neighborhood Housing Services of Asheville in conjunction with the Asheville Art Museum and the Green Building Council.

SECCA occupies the former home of James Gordon Hanes, a Norman Revival residence built in 1929, situated on grounds that were expanded to a 30-acre property. The original house was augmented with purpose-built exhibition space for the institution's 1977 move. The facility expanded again in 1990. The complex contains three exhibition rooms with 8,896 square feet (826.5 square meters) of space and a 294-seat auditorium. An extensive renovation by Szostak Design, completed in 2010, replaced the roof, climate control, and security systems.

SECCA is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Admission has been free since April 1, 2008. The institution is owned and operated as an entity of the North Carolina Museum of Art under the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, a status assumed in 2007. Its official website is http://www.secca.org/. In 2023, the North Carolina General Assembly renamed the institution as the North Carolina Museum of Art Winston-Salem, though it continues to operate from its Winston-Salem site.