The North Columbia Schoolhouse Cultural Center fulfills the rural San Juan Ridge community's needs for a local place to meet, to share its creativity, and to participate in a wide variety of enriching activities. Located 20 miles north of Nevada City, the Schoolhouse, a graceful example of Western Colonial architecture, was built by the mining community in 1875, and has a long tradition of serving the community as a school and public meeting hall for over a century. In 1979 it was forced to shut down as a school by legislation requiring earthquake-proof construction. It reopened as a community Cultural Center in 1980 after extensive restoration was undertaken by two local architects with the help of local volunteers.

Recognition of the Cultural Center as a model rural arts organization, and presenter of folk, traditional and contemporary arts has been received in the form of grants from the California Arts Council, the Nevada County Arts Council, the L.J. and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation, the S.H. Cowell Foundation, the Rose Leo Memorial Philanthropic Fund, the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest fund and the National Endowment for the Arts. Innovative programming at the Schoolhouse has drawn attention from audiences and artists far beyond the San Juan Ridge.

Below are the memberships available.

Individual Family Supporting Business/Patron Lifetime Member

$35 $50 $75 $150 $500

per year

To become a member or renew your membership, please use the registration form, then send in your payment with credit card from the online ticket page or send in a check using the form on the ticket page on this site.