CHICO — This week I got to thinking about the history of The Museum of Northern California Art, or as it is affectionately nicknamed, monca. The Museum of Northern California Art officially opened in 2017, creating a beautiful space on The Esplanade. I love going to monca.
The exhibits are great and the staff is always so nice and helpful. Pat Macias, the executive director, said monca is located in a classical revival building designed by Chester Cole in 1926. Butte County owned and built it as a Veterans Memorial Hall in 1927.
Monca received its non-profit status in 2011. Between 2012 and 2016, staff created eight pop-up museums in downtown vacant stores. Macias said the landlord was nice enough to let staff inform the public about what monca was all about before it officially opened.
“We went to schools,” Macias said. “Our driving docents went to classrooms to share a project around a permanent collection.” Macias said monca has a small school bus that she purchased at a yard sale.
The seats were taken out and it is used to transport artwork. “It’s a marketing tool,” Macias said about the bus. “We used to park it at the Saturday farmers market to let people know who we are.
” She said monca is advertised in different ways, but one of the best ways to get information is to sign up for the museum newsletter. To do this, visit . To donate to the museum, visit the website or come in in person or mail a check.
Monca will celebrate its seventh year birthday Sa.
