Editor’s Note: This is part of a monthly feature on arts and culture offerings in Orange County, which is rich with indoor and outdoor, often inexpensive or even free, options that you might not know about.
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The city of Brea makes sure visitors driving around town know it supports the arts with an extensive public art collection, but people may not know its appreciation for contemporary art — particularly the creative expressions of up-and-coming artists — can also be discovered within the city’s own gallery.
“Rain Catcher,” center, by Ruth Santee of Stockton, is part of the “Made in California” exhibit at the Brea Gallery in Brea on Friday, May 1, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Art pieces on display at the “Made in California” exhibit at the Brea Gallery in Brea on Friday, May 1, 2026. Pictured, from left, are “Feminine Reflection by Abigail Vargas of Winters, “A Quiet Power,” by Kaleeka Bond of Menifee, and “Jose,” by Jose Sanchez of Los Angeles. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Artwork from California artists on display at the “Made in California” exhibit at the Brea Gallery in Brea on Friday, May 1, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The “Made in California” exhibit at the Brea Gallery in Brea on Friday, May 1, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Visitors view art at the “Made in California” exhibit at the Brea Gallery in Brea on Friday, May 1, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The art piece, “Not too sweet,” center, by Doris Rivera of Chino Hills, is made from foam and wool and is on display at the “Made in California” exhibit at the Brea Gallery in Brea on Friday, May 1, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
“Phagocytosis,” center, a mixed-media piece by San Bernardino artist Amanda Santos, is on display at the “Made in California” exhibit at the Brea Gallery in Brea on Friday, May 1, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Visitors view “My Saint Sebastian” by Jose Soria at the “Made in California” exhibit at the Brea Gallery in Brea on Friday, May 1, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Artist Jori Jori, of Grass Valley, created this mixed-media soft sculpture titled “The Spirit of the River,” center, on display at the “Made in California” exhibit at the Brea Gallery in Brea on Friday, May 1, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The “Made in California” exhibit is currently at the Brea Gallery in Brea on Friday, May 1, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Brea Gallery, a 6,500-square-foot art space, opened in the Brea Civic and Cultural Center in 1980.
Just steps from the Brea Mall, the Brea Gallery focuses on contemporary work by living artists and mounts four exhibitions a year, gallery director Katie Chidester said.
“We mix it up,” Chidester said. “Sometimes we bring in a guest curator; sometimes it’s curated in-house by me and the staff — just depending.”
Currently, the gallery’s signature exhibition, running year after year since its early days, is open: “Made in California.”
The 41st “Made in California” exhibition, which features the work of nearly 100 artists, will run through June 28.
“It just keeps getting bigger every year, which is really exciting,” Chidester said. “We had 5,000 submissions.”
The juried exhibition features multiple media and is not organized around a single theme, Chidester said.
All artists submitting work live in California, and their art has been created within the last three years.
“So, it’s a little bit of everything,” Chidester said. “We’re trying to get a sense of what’s the pulse. We’re really interested in what artists are doing right now, what’s contemporary, what’s present.”
The gallery’s next exhibition, opening July 31, will be “America 350,” showcasing artists’ reflections of what America will look like in 100 years, forecasting the impacts of technology such as AI and augmented reality.
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The fall exhibition, “What Fearful Shadows,” will seek to reimagine “iconic elements of early American horror — The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the Salem Witch Trials, and the works of Edgar Allan Poe — through the lens of modern culture.”
“What Fearful Shadows” is scheduled to open Oct. 10.
“We keep calling it the spooky show,” Chidester said.
The gallery regularly hosts artist-in-residence weekends and occasionally holds workshops and classes, Chidester said.
“We get a ton of kids all the time,” she added. “It’s nice that we’re right here next to the library. We get a lot of foot traffic.”
“There is some really good art in there,” said Michael Trino, a member of the city’s cultural arts commission. “It’s the curation. You can tell the difference.”
The five-member city commission is directly involved with the cultural arts center, giving guidance on culturally oriented programming.
And on the way to the Civic Center and Brea Gallery, visitors can tour the nearly 200 pieces of public art beautifying the city’s landscape, ranging from sculptures of individuals who reflect the town’s history to abstract pieces forged from metal that convey an artist’s thoughts. Brea’s Art in Public Places program recently celebrated 50 years — it requires a piece of public art with new developments of $1.5 million or more.
Also playing a significant role in the Brea Cultural Arts Center is the 199-seat Curtis Theatre.
The intimate setting puts the audience in close contact with the stage for curated live theater, musicals, and youth theater.
Check it out
What: Brea Gallery
Where: 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea; it is on the plaza level of the Brea Civic and Cultural Center at the corner of Birch Street and Randolph Avenue.
Hours: Noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays
Admission: $3 general admission
Information: To learn more about the Brea Gallery, Curtis Theater, get a map of the public art pieces and more, go to cityofbrea.gov/195/Brea-Arts.
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