di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art maintains a permanent collection of works by Northern California artists that was originally collected by Rene di Rosa (1919-2010) and Veronica di Rosa (1934–1991). The collection contains notable works by artists living or working in the San Francisco Bay Area from mid-twentieth century to the early twenty-first century, highlighting a story of experimentation of the artists of the region. It is displayed in part, on a rotating basis, in the galleries at di Rosa.
This page represents a just a portion of di Rosa’s rich permanent collection. Stay tuned as we continue to populate this page with artworks from our collection.
di Rosa strives to be a resource for educators, students and lifelong learners. For research inquiries, please contact curatorial@dirosaart.org.
Cup Form
Sculpture
Multi-colored column encrusted with coffee cups, topped with figure, on square base
404
Lowfire clay with glazes, acrylic paint, fix-all, wood, PVC, plaster, modeling paste, bronze, oil paint
Sculpture
AR404
Fuller Goldeen Gallery
Purchase
Squeak Carnwath
1981
Object
58 in
14 in
13 in
The Incorrect Museum - Ongoing
May 3, 2025 - ongoing, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa
Bay Area Ceramic Sculpture: Collection in Context
March 29 - May 17, 2008, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art Napa
From the Sunny Side
October 02, 1982 - October 31, 1982, Oakland Museum of California
Collections Manager
Katie Kime
Jun 11, 2026
When the artist was the shop master in the ceramics department at CCAC, she mixed a glaze recipe incorrectly and a number of the students' cups came out a greenish "mucus-y" color. Some of the students were disappointed and threw the cups away. Carnwath retrieved the cups and added them to her piece along with some cups she made herself. At the time, Carnwath was exploring the idea of humans as vessels, or containers, of cultural events.