Palo Alto Art Center, Public art center in Palo Alto, California, US

The Palo Alto Art Center is an arts facility in California housing multiple gallery spaces, studios, and classrooms for visual arts education. The building contains exhibition areas alongside working spaces for various artistic techniques.

The building opened in 1953 as Palo Alto's City Hall, designed by architect Leslie Nichols. In 1971 it became the Palo Alto Community Cultural Center, with Hayward Ellis King serving as consultant curator in 1972. Renovations from 2010 to 2012 added classrooms and a children's wing. Karen Kienzle has directed the center since 2009.

The center opened in 1971 as the Palo Alto Community Cultural Center and later took the name Palo Alto Art Center. Its Cultural Kaleidoscope program pairs students from the Palo Alto Unified and Ravenswood City school districts for art activities, and school groups visit through Project Look. Friday Night at the Art Center, Family Days, The Great Glass Pumpkin Patch and the Clay and Glass Festival are recurring public events.

The center offers various courses and programs designed for different age groups and skill levels. It helps to check ahead for what programs are available when you plan to visit.

The center's 2016 acquisition of the printshop and studio equipment of local collector and press owner Paula Kirkeby followed her death that year. Earlier, in 2016, Patrick Dougherty's woven willow installation Whiplash stood on the Embarcadero Road lawn, built with volunteers and a $15,000 crowdfunding campaign, and was removed in June 2020.