Public Art at Richmond Art Center

Andrée Singer Thompson

Guillermo the Golden Trout, 1997 (repainted in 2008)

Fabricated with William Wareham

800 pounds of recycled metal, 50 feet long

This artwork embodies Andrée Singer Thompson’s ongoing concern with healing and survival. The artist chose California’s state fish – the golden trout – as a symbol of hope, since at the time it had just been declassified as endangered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Guillermo the Golden Trout was installed at Richmond Art Center in 1997 as part of Thompson’s Making Waves interactive EcoArt installation. Messages of hope from the community are inscribed on the back of the fish’s scales. The eye is made of a metal lampshade.

Emily Jo Benjamin, Kaitlyn Bordas, Denise Campos, Vincent Castellanos, Stephanie Garcia, Yahir Garcia, Anwar Mateo Mixcoatl-Diaz, Leslie Poblano, Skyler Rouse, Lizzeth Torres, Iris Wiley Sittler

Every day we must struggle to stay focused on saving this beautiful planet, 2021

Banner mural at Barrett Avenue Entrance

This mural designed and painted by youth participating in the S.P.O.T.S (Supporting People’s Outlooks, Talents and Speech) summer program at Richmond Art Center. Students in the class brainstormed and collaborated on creating this piece that focuses on the changing climate, possible causes, and creative strategies to bettering ourselves and the environment. Each participant contributed images that reflect a polarizing question of our day, When will we prioritize our earth over man’s advancement?  

“Every day we must struggle to stay focused on saving this beautiful planet,” is a quote by activist, artist, and healer Jorge Guillermo Perez Molina. Teaching artists working with youth on this project were Fred Alvarado and Keena Azania Romano.

John Roeder

Village and Folk Art Sculptures, 20th century

Painted concrete with metal

John Roeder (1877-1964) was born in Luxembourg and raised on a farm. He immigrated to America in 1909 with his wife and children, moving to Richmond, California in the mid-1920s. He worked as a gardener for Richmond Union High School from 1928 to 1947.

A self-taught artist, Roeder first exhibited his sculptures at Richmond Art Center in 1961 in the Sculpture Court group exhibition. He presented his work again at Richmond Art Center in a solo exhibition called John Roeder: Morning Prayer of a Gardener in the Main Gallery later the same year. After his death in 1964, a large collection of Roeder’s sculptures were installed in Richmond Art Center’s courtyard garden.

Image: Imogen Cunningham’s photograph of Roeder with his sculpture at Richmond Art Center in 1961

Rebeca García-González

We Found Joy In Art-Making / Encontramos La Felicidad Haciendo Arte, 2021

Mural at 25th Street Entrance

Local artist Rebeca García-González created this mural to show “Richmond residents of all ages making art, and enjoying art made by others.” The mural illustrates the Center’s studio and community art education programs, as well as visitors taking part in an art tour and interacting with artworks from some of the Center’s most popular exhibitions. 

García-González was assisted in painting this mural by Richmond youth Leslie Poblano and Denise Campos. The project was made possible with generous support from Blue Shield California. Special thanks to John Wehrle for his assistance.

JoeSam

Hide ‘n’ Seek – Girl 1.1 “Barbara”, 1995

Painted aluminum, Wall relief at 25th Street Entrance

Youth from RYSE Center working with lead artist AGANA

Keep Richmond Beautiful, 2016

Acrylic and aerosol paint, Mural on loading ramp at 25th Street Entrance

Artists’ Statement:

This is art by us, Richmond youth from RYSE in partnership with Richmond Art Center. Founded in healing and growth, our mural dedicated to keeping Richmond beautiful cultivates self-love and communal healing, and challenges viewers to do the same. To break clean from stereotypes of teen culture, we visualize love, creativity, transformation and self-actualization through art and healthy relationships. To flip expectation we claim our creative power, we paint our own realities of what we want to see and maintain in our city. Our tools are acrylic and aerosol paint on walls. Our struggle is shaped in visual voices of young people. In our philosophy of restorative social justice, we articulate vision for the world around us: for youth rights, freedom of speech, Black Lives Matter, and Farmworker solidarity.

In healing from day to day, we cut, we carve, we stamp, we paint, we print, and we promote artistic tools for coping with and healing from the violence of our community. 

This mural’s inspiration came from youth that were involved with a program called RAW Talent, that started in Making Waves Academy in Richmond. The mural showcases members from RAW Talent (Donté Clark and Nyabingha “Nya” Zianni), and includes titles of music productions/performances that happened in the community.

AGANA

Entrada Sagrada, 2020

Acrylic and aerosol paint, Mural on pillars at Barrett Avenue Entrance

AGANA spent two days in September 2020 creating this site-specific mural that adorns the columns flanking the Barrett Street entrance. At the time Richmond Art Center’s facility had been closed for many months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and this artwork was envisioned as part of a series of projects to work with artists online and outside (at a safe social distance) to find new ways to connect and make meaning with community through art during shelter-in-place.

Luis Camarena, Maat Ou, Miranda Guzman, Yahir Garcia, Sonia Galindo, Andrea Vasquez, Mariella Gutierrez, Andrew Chico, Azahria Addison, Leslie Poblano

Who Decides? S.P.O.T.S. The Game, 2022

Mural at Barrett Avenue Entrance (West Gallery)

Teaching Artists: Keena Romano, Fredericko Alvarado

Who Decides? S.P.O.T.S. The Game is an interactive mural that asks audiences to play. The game is made up of different decisions and actions that must be taken. Players are welcome to choose from 10 different characters and follow prompts. More info…