The goal for Richmond-artist Rebeca Garcia-Gonzalez’s project was to bring Black, Afro-Latinx and Latinx community members together to create a mural that affirms the Black Lives Matter movement. The idea came from an invitation by members of the Richmond Our Power Coalition. During the project, Richmond community members gathered in Richmond Art Center’s courtyard to paint several mobile murals on canvas, some of them in Spanish, to be displayed where the Latino community congregates.
Rebeca is specially grateful to Richmond artist and collaborator Carmen Melendez Toya, who assisted in all stages of this project.
About the Artist: Rebeca Garcia-Gonzalez is a Richmond, CA painter who grew up in a suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico. After earning a BFA at the University of Puerto Rico, she came to San Francisco in 1985 to pursue a graduate degree in fine art. Rebeca has been painting the Bay Area landscape for a few years. She is also interested in the figure and in portraits of people from groups underrepresented in the canon. She shows her work locally. Her paintings are part of several local, private collections. garcia-gonzalez.com
About the ‘Art Lives Here’ Series: When Richmond Art Center’s facility is temporarily closed due to Covid-19, we worked with artists on these projects online and outside (at a safe social distance!) to find new ways to connect and make meaning with community through art.
This limited edition poster was created by a local Richmond artist from the Liberación Gráfica collective, a group from Richmond composed of artists, educators, and community members that create work to uplift social justice, the Richmond community, and young people’s voices.
As the Black Lives Matter movement has drawn global attention following nationwide demonstrations calling for an end to police and state sanctioned violence on Black lives, artists and activists have been mobilized in finding creative ways to support this work. This 8 color print City of Black and Brown Solidarity was created in response to this ongoing systemic oppression and racial injustice.
Highlighting the City of Richmond as fertile ground for cross cultural solidarity between Black and Brown lives, the image invites the community to reflect on the ways collective power is needed, and the ways we can fortify each other in the journey towards liberation.
Posters are being distributed to local businesses and nonprofits in support of this urgent message.
About the ‘Art Lives Here’ Series: When Richmond Art Center’s facility is temporarily closed due to Covid-19, we worked with artists on these projects online and outside (at a safe social distance!) to find new ways to connect and make meaning with community through art.
Richmond-artist and Teaching Artist at Richmond Art Center Lauren Ari created this interactive project, You Found Me: A Gift For You, as a way to stay connected and in creative dialogue with the Richmond Community.
Each of these 50 ceramic sculptures was hand formed by Ari, individually glazed and fired in her kiln in her home studio. Each fits within the palm of the hand, and can be used decoratively or ritually. However recipients chose to use them, “let it be a reminder that nobody is alone” says Lauren.
Wrapped in bright paper with a tag marked “I am a gift for you!” and an enclosed note, these sculptures were then distributed throughout neighborhoods, community centers, local businesses, bodegas, and parks, placed so that someone walking along could find them.
The note invited participants to correspond via email about the experience of finding the object, how they might be using it, and ways they are moving through this unprecedented time.
These colorfully packaged sculptures offer an opportunity for surprise in a time punctuated by monotony and an invitation for connection in a time of widespread isolation.
About the ‘Art Lives Here’ Series: When Richmond Art Center’s facility is temporarily closed due to Covid-19, we worked with artists on these projects online and outside (at a safe social distance!) to find new ways to connect and make meaning with community through art.
Richmond-artist AGANA spent two days creating her site-specific mural that now adorns the columns flanking RAC’s Barrett Street entrance. After five months of RAC’s facility being closed to the public during shelter-in-place, it was so exciting to have an artist working onsite again. Agana carefully developed her work to harmonize with Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo’s banner nearby, This is life long work.
Artist Statement:
Bringing us home, continuing to keep Richmond beautiful, it is a true honor to be able to paint my first mural as a solo artist in conjunction with masterpieces by other talented Bay Area artists.
This is my 3rd mural project at Richmond Art Center. The first two murals I had previously painted were with cohorts of talented youth artists from RYSE. The first mural is located at the side entrance, the theme is “Keep Richmond Beautiful”. The theme of the second mural temporarily installed located in the courtyard was “Keep Families Together”.
The front entrance mural welcomes you as a portal into the unique experience from galleries to studios that is the heart of RAC.
The under and overlapping colors you see are woven together like water connecting the iconic fish Guillermo with the visually vibrating poetic words of Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo’s banner.
The mural is a call and response connecting the art pieces while playfully speaking to one another on different dimensions of the same building, echoing water is life, agua es vida.
Each stroke of color is symbolic of our symbiotic connection to the elements of water and air literally flowing through our bodies.
We are the reflection of the earth in sliced growing gradients building each other up through our collective struggles from environmental racism to people over profit.
The intention of the close up splashes of paint you see from Guillermo the Fish’s tale are creating currents and waves of resistance against the fossil fuel industry.
Each pillar is a symbol of the vast spectrims of our identities giving us life, holding up our dreams and standing tall in solidarity with the deep roots of artistry, mentoring the seeds of our future.
This mural is a call to action protecting the elements of the earth for future generations adding urgency to create art as your action towards climate justice as a climate warrior.
Upon viewing the mural in person, you will see the seamless strokes wrapping around the edges of the columns differently depending on your point of view.
One may observe from walking through this mural experience that how we approach new art mediums is similar to ways that we approach creating new innovative ideas from different angles and perspectives.
May this mural bring new audiences, mentors and hidden talent through the doors to continue to cultivate our creative confidence in the rich history and herstory that is Richmond, CA.
About the Artist: Of Venezuelan descent and hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, AGANA gives public walls vibrant life with her iconic pictorial imagery, bold aesthetics, bursting colors, textual calligraphic gestures and form. At the intersections of street art, graffiti and fine art practices she communicates common social threads via monumental vision. Rooted in her Latinx identity as part of the larger American experience, AGANA also translates the artistic mural process into fruitful community-building strategies. With a background in graphic design and jewelry metal arts, AGANA received a BAS in Visual Effects from Ex’pression College for Digital Art in 2008 working in the film, animation and video game production industries. Prolific in her production, AGANA creates platforms for successful global art projects found on city buildings across the Americas and worldwide from Switzerland to Senegal. www.djagana.com
About the ‘Art Lives Here’ Series: When Richmond Art Center’s facility is temporarily closed due to Covid-19, we worked with artists on these projects online and outside (at a safe social distance!) to find new ways to connect and make meaning with community through art.
During this period of social isolation digital platforms have become crucial in bridging gaps in social interaction. In my personal experience, the hardest parts of navigating this time have involved missing out on connecting to create tangible artifacts. As a full time teaching artist I spend a lot of time facilitating visual communication and various points of view with artists to create physical pieces of art. That came to abrupt halt when shelter in place was enforced, but the need to create physical records still remains.
There has been a rush to respond to this moment that leaves out some of the nuance and “realness” of it. Many of us have been spending an unprecedented time at home or in our own home bases. For me, this has afforded an opportunity to interact with my space in a new way, investigate what works for me and what doesn’t, cook meals and dive deeper into what physical nourishment means, and connect with my neighbors in new ways, including non verbal communication and eye contact because of face masks. In contrast, when I connect to friends and loved ones online, a lot of the focus is on the bigger moments, things “worthy” of transmitting.
For this project I asked community members to capture some of those deep, powerful, “small” moments to create a physical record of our time apart, and send me the digital photograph. I then printed these pictures as polaroids to create a tangible record of our daily lives during these times of quarantine, shelter in place, and social change. The process of converting these digital images into photos altered them slightly, shifting colors, softening resolution, obliterating details and cropping out certain elements, which mimics the way that history gets passed down. The resulting artifacts tell a story of life in Richmond at this very moment.
– Dawline-Jane Oni-Eseleh
Special thanks to our Richmond Art Center community contributors, without whom this project would not have been possible: Alissa Anderson, Alison Ahara-Brown, Amber Avalos, Coleen Haraden-Gorski, Erin McClusky Wheeler, Irene Wibawa, Laura Kamian, Melody Serra, Janet Lipkin, Jocelyn Jones, For The Barrios, Emily Ross, Holly Carter, Shantanice Swain, Chiara Sottile
About the Artist: Dawline-Jane Oni-Eseleh has been a part of the Richmond Art Center community since she began there as a teaching artist in 2016. She in based out of Oakland, CA, where she continues to work as a teaching artist, educational facilitator, illustrator, and exhibiting visual artist with a full time studio practice. www.dawlinejaneart.com
About the ‘Art Lives Here’ Series: When Richmond Art Center’s facility is temporarily closed due to Covid-19, we worked with artists on these projects online and outside (at a safe social distance!) to find new ways to connect and make meaning with community through art.
I started this project at the beginning of quarantine back in March. It was a way of keeping me sane through making and also a way of maintaining community during a time of isolation.
In partnership with Richmond Art Center, I made twenty mango bowls and gave them out to people in our network of teachers, artists and community members. I wish I could give a bowl to everyone I know! Because for me the bowls are an offering of love and care, and an embodiment of joy and human connection. Handmade objects hold power.
– Marisa Burman
About the Artist: Marisa Burman is a ceramic artist and teacher who has been making things out of clay for 15 years. Originally from San Francisco, she is currently living and working in Richmond where she manages the ceramics studio at Richmond Art Center. In her own work she loves using porcelain, and seeks to make colorful and meaningful objects that people can use in their daily lives. Burman enjoys the science behind the ceramic process and the constant surprises that firing clay brings. She also loves the community aspect of ceramic arts — the sharing of knowledge & experience, and the never ending source of learning and challenge. Follow Marisa Burman on Instagram: @marisaburman
About the ‘Art Lives Here’ Series: When Richmond Art Center’s facility is temporarily closed due to Covid-19, we worked with artists on these projects online and outside (at a safe social distance!) to find new ways to connect and make meaning with community through art.
Images: Images of the bowls in use by their new owners
This is life long work (2020) is a newly commissioned artwork by Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo. Reproduced as a 13 x 12 foot banner displayed at the front Barrett Street entrance of Richmond Art Center, the work was created via a collaborative community process.
Branfman-Verissimo says of their work, “The process of gathering the narratives of people and communities that surround me is on equal ground with the artistic craft of telling them.”
For This is life long work, Branfman-Verissimo collaborated with RAC staff and teaching artists through a discussion of community care. Specifically, they asked them, “How does this community enact, support and prioritize care, mutual aid, collective care and collective action?”
About the Artist: Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo is an artist, activist, educator, storyteller & curator who after being based in Oakland, CA for 10 years, now lives and works in Richmond, VA. They got their BFA from California College of the Arts [Oakland, CA] and is currently getting their MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University [Richmond, VA]. Branfman-Verissimo’s work has been included in exhibitions at Deli Gallery [Long Island City, NY], EFA Project Space [New York City, NY], Pt. 2 Gallery [Oakland, CA], Leslie Lohman Museum for Gay & Lesbian Art [New York City, NY], Signal Center for Contemporary Art [Malmo, Sweden] and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts [San Francisco, CA], amongst others and performances at SOMArts Cultural Center [San Francisco, CA], Highways Performance Space [Los Angeles, CA], ACRE Gallery [Chicago, IL] and Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive [Berkeley, CA]. Branfman-Verissimo has been awarded residencies and fellowships at Kala Art Center [Berkeley, CA], ACRE Residency [Steuben, WI], Vermont Studio Center [Johnson, VT] and CENTER [Grand Rapids, MI]. They are the Founder of Nook Gallery, a gallery that was located in their home kitchen from 2015-2020 & will take new forms in the future! www.lukazabranfman-verissimo.com
About the ‘Art Lives Here’ Series: When Richmond Art Center’s facility is temporarily closed due to Covid-19, we worked with artists on these projects online and outside (at a safe social distance!) to find new ways to connect and make meaning with community through art.
Many Hands, One World – Quilts from the Refinery Corridor Healing Walks
Exhibition: January 24 – March 16, 2024
Reception: Saturday, January 27, 2024, 2pm-4pm | More info…
Stories and Reflections on the Refinery Healing Walks: Saturday, March 2, 11am (reception), 12pm (artist talk) | More info…
Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804
Led by Indigenous women in prayer, over one thousand people walked hundreds of miles over four years, connecting one fossil-fuel impacted community to another along the northeast San Francisco Bay. The term “Refinery Corridor” was born from these walks between April 2014 and July 2017, which began with WesPac (defeated by community organizing) in Pittsburg, Shell and Tesoro Refineries in Martinez, Valero Refinery in Benicia, Conoco Phillips 66 Refinery in Rodeo, and Chevron Refinery in Richmond.
At the end of each walk, participants were invited to share their hopes and dreams about the safe, sustainable future they imagined. The quilts in this exhibition are the result of the walkers envisioning a healthier world. This is the first ever showing of the quilts since the first square was made 10 years ago.
Special Event: On Saturday, March 2, a special event to share stories and reflections from the Refinery Healing Walks will be held. A reception will begin at 11am, followed by a panel discussion at 12pm. This event is free and all are welcome.
About the Organizers: Idle No More SF Bay is a multi-generational, Native-women-led grassroots, all volunteer organization dedicated to climate change activism. Founded in 2013, our mission is to creatively do everything we can to ensure the future for the coming generations by addressing environmental harms caused by extreme energy. We focus on what we are for: clean air, water and soil, safe jobs and a sustainable future for the generations beyond. Rooted in Native traditions, we bring an indigenous perspective and leadership to climate justice work. We pray, conduct teach-ins, coordinate local non-violent direct actions, encourage people to envision the future they want to help create, and collaborate with others working for a just transition away from fossil fuels to ensure a future for the generations to come.
Exhibition: January 24, 2024 – March 16, 2024
Reception: Saturday, January 27, 2024, 2pm-4pm | More info…
Point Molate Artist Talk and butohBuddies Performance: Saturday, February 24, 1pm | More info…
Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804
Located on the San Pablo Peninsula, Point Molate is a diverse ecosystem known as an osprey recovery site and for its rare eelgrass beds, coastal prairie, and coastal bluff native plants. It is located next to California’s third largest oil refinery in Richmond. Communities that border the facility experience higher health impacts and advocates seek equitable access along with preservation. Artists Rebeca García-González, Irene Wibawa, Tony Tamayo, and the butohBuddies performance group (Ruth Ichinaga, Kiyono Kishi, Lipton Mah, Nina Moore, and Irene Wibawa) present new artworks inspired by Point Molate.
Special Event: On February 24 at 1pm, the butohBuddies will share a performance inspired by Point Molate. Following the performance, curator Jenny E. Balisle will facilitate a conversation with the Point Molate artists.
The exhibition is organized by ARTSCCC (Arts Contra Costa County). ARTSCCC is a grassroots service and advocacy arts organization in Contra Costa County.
Top image: Irene Wibawa, The Residents (detail), 2023
Exhibition at Richmond Art Center: January 24 – March 16, 2024 Reception: Saturday, January 27, 2pm-4pm | More info… Artistic Achievement Awardee Talk: Saturday, January 27, 12pm-1:30pm | More info… Featured Speakers: Richard Mayhew & Foad Satterfield: Saturday, February 10, 12pm-1:30pm | More info… Closing Party: Saturday, March 16, 2pm-4pm | More info…
Open Studios: Feb 24-25, Mar 2-3, Mar 9-10, 2024 Satellite Exhibitions: Throughout January, February, March and April
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804
Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm
Now in its 27th year, Art of the African Diaspora continues to express and celebrate the creative achievements of artists of African descent. This year, over 150 artists showcase their work at Richmond Art Center, as well as in open studios and satellite exhibitions at different venues around the Bay Area.
Artistic Achievement Award Winners from 2023 and featured artists in the exhibition are John Broussard, Valerie Brown-Troutt, and Stacy Mootoo. The exhibition also includes a special tribute to Hilda Robinson.
2024 Artistic Achievement Award Winners: Deborah Butler, Kim Champion, and Carrie Lee McClish
CLICK HERE to donate to Art of the African Diaspora. 100% of your donation goes towards Art of the African Diaspora event costs and is managed by the Steering Committee who produces the program.
