[7] First known as the Adelaide branch of the Contemporary Art Society, its first exhibition was held in the South Australian Society of Arts gallery in October 1943,[8] though an anti-Fascist exhibition had been held in Adelaide by the older branches (Victoria and New South Wales) in January that year.

[5] In 1974, a new organisation named the Australian Experimental Art Foundation (AEAF) was created by members breaking away from CACSA, with the intention of focusing on "more radical, multi-disciplinary and performance work".

The network of "public, independent, non-collecting contemporary art organisations" from around Australia is an advocacy body for Australian small to medium contemporary visual arts bodies, helping to promote the work of living artists.

[13] From August 2016 CACSA started talks to merge with the Australian Experimental Art Foundation (AEAF)[14] 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.