Founded in 1941, by Ontario residents, Francis and Helen Line, the CCMA has been in continuous existence for 80 years. This video traces the origins of the organization in the Chaffey Community Art Association (CCAA) and its core collection, the Barbara Line Memorial Collection, through its expansion in the following decades. The survival of the CCAA despite the lack of a permanent home continued until 1981, when the organization shared space in the newly renovated Ontario City Hall, now the Ontario Museum of History and Art. Between 2000 and 2013, the CAA was housed in the Filippi Winery returning to Ontario and its current home where the collection has expanded. The selection of “Artist of the Year,” beginning with Milford Zornes in 2005, has allowed the permanent collection to include contemporary artists of outstanding talent. Narrated by Dr. Wendy Slatkin, this concise history of the CCMA is based on extensive scholarly research conducted for the publication of our book, Portrait of a Community: Selections from the Chaffey Community Museum of Art now on sale at the museum store and on our website.
