In 1868, Judge Edwin B. Crocker purchased the property and existing buildings on the corner of Third and O Streets. He then commissioned local architect Seth Babson (1830-1908) to renovate the home into a grander, Italianate mansion. In addition, Crocker asked Babson to design an elaborate gallery building adjacent to the mansion to display the family’s growing art collection.

The expansion more than tripled the Museum’s size, enhancing its ability to serve Sacramento and the region’s many visitors. For the first time in the Museum’s history, there are dedicated gallery spaces for all collecting areas. The expansion also enabled the dedication of the historic building’s entire first floor as the Museum’s Education Center, including four studios, space for student and community exhibitions, an expanded Gerald Hansen Library, the Art Education Resource Room, and Tot Land.

The Crocker`s mission is to promote an awareness of and enthusiasm for human experience through art.

We measure our success by our ability to enrich the intellectual and cultural life of the communities we serve. We strive to create and sustain a culture of learning in which works of art are perceived both as object of visual delight and as symbols of human thought.

in short, the Crocker brings people together and connects them in unexpected ways with art, ideas, each other, and the world around them.