A network of independent organisations across Australia each known as
Contemporary Art Society was created following the founding of the Contemporary Art Society of Victoria in July 1938. Contemporary Art Society (SA Inc.) (also referred to as the Contemporary Art Society of South Australia) was the third of these, established in 1942 as a breakaway from the
Royal South Australian Society of Arts.
Ivor Francis was a founding member, becoming chairman in 1944.
Dorrit Black was an active member of the society until her death in 1951. Harris had brought the idea of the society from
Melbourne, run by
John Reed. According to an oral history interview with former art teacher Victor Adolfsson, one of the founding members of CAS (when still a student at the time), members retained their membership of the Royal Society of the Arts, which had become "reactionary". Other early members included a solicitor called Donnithorne, and
David Dallwitz. An "all Australian anti-Fascist" art exhibition was held at the
Society of Arts gallery in Adelaide by the older branches of the CAS (
Victoria and
New South Wales) in December 1942, including work by artists from around Australia. Ivor Francis, whose works were included in the exhibition,
The News reported that three of the works exhibited in the exhibition, two of which were landscapes by SA artists
Jacqueline Hick and
Marjorie Gwynne, along with a satirical painting by Victorian artist John Bainbridge, were acquired by the
South Australian National Gallery (now AGSA). The first exhibition held by the CAS Adelaide branch under Max Harris was held in the Society of Arts gallery in October 1943, and included around 200 works from Melbourne and
Sydney. In 1964 the Contemporary Art Society moved into a
bluestone residence in Porter Street, Parkside, which was used for exhibiting its members' work, which, by the time of its closure in 2016, had become the longest-running contemporary art space in the country. with its mission to "promote, develop and support contemporary art practice and critical thinking through South Australian, national and international exhibitions, publications, debate and associated activities". CACSA was a member of
Contemporary Art Organisations of Australia (CAOs) (now apparently defunct). From August 2016 CACSA started talks to merge with the Australian Experimental Art Foundation (AEAF) after two rounds of severe funding cuts to the
Australia Council in the
federal government budgets of 2014/15 and 2015/16.
Arts SA provided funding for the two organisations to cover operational costs for 2017, which enabled planning for the merger, which was named
ACE Open. Liz Nowell, former
CEO of CACSA, became CEO of the new organisation. ==Publications==