18th Annual 50|50 Show: 2,500+ Small Artworks (Pacifica)

sanchez art center

The 2026 50|50 Show Opens Sept 11 — 12               

Artistic vision, bold imagination and staying power are all necessary for the participating California artists who undertook an intense journey this summer to create 50 small artworks over 50 days for the SF Bay Area’s favorite art extravaganza:  The 50|50 Show!   Featuring over 50 talented California artists and an astonishing +2,500 original artworks, this year will again be a destination for art lovers.  Each artist was challenged to create the 50 small works — all in a 6” x 6” format.  The result?  The galleries are transformed into a vibrant mosaic of styles, themes, and mediums.

Sept 13- Oct 4 open to the public, free admission.

$39.19 for Sept 11-12 ticketed benefit fundraiser,

Mark your calendars!  The only chance to see all +2,500 artworks in their entirety is during the Opening Benefit Fundraiser on Fri, Sept 11 and Sat, Sept 12.  It’s an exciting immersive experience that celebrates both artistic process and connection.  So whether you’re a longtime supporter or a first-time visitor, come and see why the 50|50 Show is considered the most wonderful time of the year for art!  Tickets are available now on Eventbrite.com — and they regularly sell out!  Each ticket lets you choose your preferred date and timed entry interval.  Be sure to grab your tickets now.

The opening benefit fundraiser also offers live music, time to speak with artists about their work, beverages for a small donation, lite snacks, and the opportunity to purchase your favorite pieces.  The astounding array of original art, along with the affordability of the small format, makes the 50|50 Show the most highly anticipated exhibition of the year!   (Note:  All works stay on the wall during the opening, and can either be picked up or shipped to buyers for a small fee as of Sept 15.)  Tickets are limited and none will be available at the door, so get yours early on Eventbrite.com.

Selected by juror Cynthia Lou, Twisted Track, and Sparrow Gallery, the 2026 50|50 Show showcases an incredible range of voices, styles, and visions.   Lou commented on the diversity and quality of the submissions.  Her selections reflect her love of color and texture.  She additionally noted that, “selected submissions blended traditional mediums (such as oil, watercolor, photography, etc) with other mediums (textile/fiber, collage, cyanotype), creating pieces that are both experimental and expressive.”

Recollections of traditions, ancestry, and emotion are mixed with a sense of place and the respect and joy of the natural environment and its inhabitants. From the sea floor to the birds in the trees and surrounds, California and the coastal environments are celebrated.  Yosemite in Violet and Gold, painted in oil by Leslie Landers shares a natural respite, while we find the colorful joy in Yen Yi Chung’s Geometric Forest, also painted in oil.  Olivia Meurk offers a Bay Area Urban Arboretum, in watercolor, gouache and colored pencil.  Miyuki Togi, presents Foragers & Foliage: Racoons and Flora of Northern California in glazed stoneware,  and Saikat Choudhury offers a Peak Into the World of Wilderness, in scratchboard.

Through visual storytelling, Lalima Srivastava recognizes her heritage through Nature’s Tapestry in Fusion Folk Art of India, created with watercolor, acrylic and ink; and memory of her ancestors guided Aileen Lum to create Mandala of the Dreamers: Indigo, Crystal and Rainbow Children, using watercolor collage along with linocut on marbled and Hosho papers.  3-D works out of ceramic have a strong presence in the show, sharing the diversity available with the material such as Musings on Peace and Joy, by Kanchan Armstrong; Margo Scarpulla offers Alternate Visions;  Anne Lewis has used the medium to create “To All My Relations:  50 Love Letters”, and Tamara Danoyan has Ecoprinted Porcelain Buttons Referencing Vintage Button Cards.  Andrea Ciak’s What Next and Taylor Vaughn’s There is Still No Planet B, show the diversity of glass, with wood being the medium for Craig Barton’s No Man Steps in the Same River Twice.            

Can’t make the opening?  Don’t worry!  After the opening fundraiser, Sanchez Art Center will welcome visitors at no charge on Sunday, Sept 13, 1–5 pm, and thereafter galleries are open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 1–5 pm, through Oct 4. Beginning on Sunday, Sept 13, art buyers get to immediately take purchases home with them. Art enthusiasts often visit multiple times to take it all in, and return again and again.

Proceeds from the annual 50|50 Show support Sanchez Art Center’s programs that, for nearly 30 years, have created community through art. Special thanks to exhibition sponsors: Art Guild of Pacifica and Shelldance Orchid Garden.

Since its colorful beginnings in 2009, the 50|50 Show has showcased more than 54,100 original works by over 1083 artists — offering collectors and casual art lovers alike a unique opportunity to discover accessible, affordable art.  It’s an exciting immersive experience that celebrates both artistic process and community connection.  So whether you’re a longtime supporter or a first-time visitor, come and see why the 50|50 Show is considered the most wonderful time of the year for art!

Don’t miss this inspiring celebration of art and artists! Order your ticket to the Opening  Fundraiser at Eventbrite.com. Sanchez Art Center is located at 1220 Linda Mar Blvd in Pacifica, about a mile east of Highway 1. After the opening fundraiser, gallery hours are Fri, Sat, Sun, 1 – 5 pm or by prior appointment during the week.  For more information: info@SanchezArtCenter.org, SanchezArtCenter.org.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.