SHEPARD Garden and arts Center

Located adjacent to the beautiful rose gardens of McKinley Park, the Shepard Garden and Arts Center provides a meeting place for clubs whose main focus is in horticulture, flower arranging, conservation, history, antiques and the arts, including painting, photography, ceramics, metal work, weaving, and other related arts and crafts.  The facility, owned by the City of Sacramento Recreation and Parks Department, is operated under the guidance of its Board of Directors and supported by the “Friends of the Center,” comprised of  neighborhood property owners and concerned citizens who raise funds for specific projects related to the Center. 

Please use the links below to help you navigate this page

Board of Directors

Financial Statement / Report

 Contact treasurer at:  edzard34@yahoo.com

Meeting Minutes

Contact Recording Secretary at:   Gwindwyer@Juno.com

Friends of the Center

The Friends of the Shepard Garden and Art Center (The Friends) is an incorporated, non-profit corporation that was formed to provide voluntary public assistance to the Shepard Garden and Arts Center and to act as a community outreach vehicle for the Center’s arts and horticultural education program, and to support its social and recreational functions.   Membership is extended to any interested person, group, or organization that has an interest in contributing to the objectives of The Friends and the Shepard Garden and Arts Center which it supports.  Members pay annual dues and participate in fund raising events throughout the year; monies derived from these activities are used to fund special projects at the Center which improve and support the activities of the Center’s member clubs.  

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Make a donation:

Please contact our treasurer at edzard34@yahoo.com. Thank you for supporting SG&AC.

History

Built in 1958 by the City of Sacramento and designed by Raymond R. Franceschi the SGA&C, originally named the Sacramento Garden and Arts Center, is an outstanding example of mid-twentieth century architecture. The Center, nestled in the McKinley Park Annex, was later re-named in honor of Iva Gard Shepard, a leader in the garden community and a Sacramento Bee garden columnist who served as the Center’s Board president for many years.

Most notable of its exterior features is the dramatic roof line that combines an A-line form with that of a “butterfly” style appendage that extends over the patio.  This in dramatic contrast to its surrounding neighbors which are noted for the popular styles of architecture from the 1920s, 30s and 40s.  The Center as was common in the last 1950s, utilizes stone and wood with flair and exuberance. One of its more notable features on the interior is the massive two-sided fireplace made of flagstone and terrazzo, with a glass mosaic on one side and a huge copper vent on the other.  The broad hearth serves as seating, making this feature the heart of the building.

Over the years the Center was been home to a large number of flower, gardening, and creative arts groups, some of which have met there since the Center was opened.  For more than fifty years the Center has opened its doors to any and all who have as their goal the advancement all things related to gardening and creative endeavors.