The CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts announces the continuation of the exhibition Americana in the Mary Augustine Gallery (a special vitrine in the shape of the United States) on the San Francisco campus of California College of the Arts. The exhibition, begun in September 2007 and now entering its second year, is organized by Jens Hoffmann (director of the Wattis Institute) and CCA's Graduate Program in Curatorial Practice. It is free and open to the public.

The exhibition takes place in monthly installments, each focusing on one of the 50 American states via artworks, historical artifacts, curiosities, books, and other elements. During the 2008–9 academic year, the following states will be featured (in alphabetical order): Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, and Maryland.

Americana aims to examine the United States as it is today—to open up a critical dialogue between overlooked or little-known elements of each state's history and its current social, cultural, and political realities. It also attempts to make sense of how the country's social and political imperatives condition the production, presentation, and interpretation of art and exhibition making. The sequence of 50 frequently changing exhibitions reflects the varied fabric of the United States, which is multilayered and constantly shifting.

The title Americana refers to a show of the same name curated by the artist collaborative Group Material in 1985 as part of that year's Whitney Biennial. Those artists shared a similar focus, looking not only at art but also at elements of mass culture that they understood as overlooked, forgotten, and outside the mainstream to critically investigate the formation of American identity through exhibitions and museums.

About the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts
The Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts was established in 1998 in San Francisco at California College of the Arts. It serves as a forum for the presentation and discussion of international contemporary art and curatorial practice. Through groundbreaking exhibitions, the Capp Street Project residency program, lectures, symposia, and publications, the Wattis Institute has become one of the leading art institutions in the United States and an active site for contemporary culture in the Bay Area.

About CCA's Graduate Program in Curatorial Practice
The first of its kind on the West Coast, CCA's Graduate Program in Curatorial Practice offers an expanded perspective on curating contemporary art and culture. The program seeks to extend the current European and North American academic focus on traditional museum and gallery exhibitions, exploring the impact of artist-led initiatives and other efforts that take place outside conventional venues. Reflecting San Francisco's geographic location and cultural histories, the program also emphasizes curatorial and art practices in Asia and Latin America.

About California College of the Arts
Founded in 1907, California College of the Arts is noted for the interdisciplinarity and breadth of its programs. It offers studies in 20 undergraduate and seven graduate majors in the areas of fine arts, architecture, design, and writing. The college offers bachelor of architecture, bachelor of arts, bachelor of fine arts, master of architecture, master of arts, master of fine arts, and master of business administration degrees. With campuses in Oakland and San Francisco, CCA currently enrolls more than 1,650 full-time students. Noted alumni include the painters Nathan Oliveira and Raymond Saunders; the ceramicists Robert Arneson, Viola Frey, and Peter Voulkos; the filmmaker Wayne Wang; the conceptual artists David Ireland and Dennis Oppenheim; and the designers Lucille Tenazas and Michael Vanderbyl.

Founding support for CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts programs has been provided by Phyllis C. Wattis and Judy and Bill Timken. Generous support provided by the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, Grants for the Arts / San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, Ann Hatch and Paul Discoe, and the CCA Curator's Forum.