We are so excited to announce that Richmond Art Center has been selected as one of ten host organizations for the inaugural California Arts Council’s Administrators of Color Fellowship. This fellowship is administered by the School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza.
Richmond Art Center’s fellow is production manager and non-profit administrator Sarah Guerra. She will participate in a nine-month professional development fellowship at Richmond Art Center committed to expanding equity in the arts.
“I’m honored to be part of the inaugural class of CAC fellows,” says Sarah. “It is such an imperative and unique moment in history; our class of arts administrators of color are needed now more than ever.”
Staff at Richmond Art Center look forward to learning from and working with Sarah!
About Sarah Guerra
Sarah Guerra is a queer native Tejana who has dedicated her life to supporting and leveraging the arts as a tool for education and political and social justice. A Bay Area resident since 2001, Sarah is a seasoned program manager that has overseen the creation, implementation, and evolution of commissioning programs and artist residencies focused on uplifting Black and Brown queer and trans people for Brava! For Women in the Arts, Queer Cultural Center, and La Peña Cultural Center. She participated in the Ford Foundation’s inaugural Future Aesthetic cohort and has served as a liaison and conference organizer for the National Performance Network. As the Production Manager for the Queer Cultural Center, Sarah has supported the presentation of eight National Queer Arts Festivals, providing direct support and feedback to artists as well as implementing Festival logistics. She has served as a grant reviewer for San Francisco Arts Commission, Galería de la Raza, and Live Arts Boston; and recently completed the Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy with National Arts Strategies in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice.
About the California Arts Council Administrators of Color Fellowship
The California Arts Council Administrators of Color Fellowship program was initiated by the California Arts Council with the goal of uplifting an inclusive workforce and supporting the vibrancy of organizations that create and preserve the cultural identities of all California communities, reflecting the Arts Council’s commitment to racial equity. The pilot program is made possible by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation and 2018 one-time increased state arts funding. arts.ca.gov/programs/administrators-of-color-fellows
About: My artwork resonates a process of gathering, reflecting, composing, juxtaposing and reassemble. My color palette comes from mélange of re-claimed organic items, things others have thrown away: metal scraps, industrial leavings, abandoned commonplace objects, castoff baubles, junked trinkets, and other discarded odds and ends. My new discovery medium is acrylic pour over found objects.
– Atiba Sylvia Thomas, Assemblage Artist and Teaching Artist
Online Exhibition: February 11 – May 16, 2021 Online Reception: Saturday, March 20, 3pm
Richmond, CA: Art of the African Diaspora, in partnership with Richmond Art Center, supports artists of African descent in the Bay Area through representation, professional development, and building a creative community.
In 2021 Art of the African Diaspora will be a hybrid online/in-person event presented at aotad.org, richmondartcenter.org, and at venues throughout the Bay Area.* Over 110 artists will be featured in an online exhibition highlighting their work, bios and artist statements. The online exhibition will run February 11 through to May 16, 2021. richmondartcenter.org/exhibitions/aotad2021
“Art of the African Diaspora is an exhibition that introduces African Diaspora art to new audiences, but also provides fresh insight into its artists and their Bay Area experiences. We are excited that the 2021 program will be a virtual hybrid which we anticipate will expand our audience,” says Stephen Bruce, artist and Steering Committee Chair that produces Art of the African Diaspora.
In conjunction with the online exhibition, artists will host open studios, artists talks and satellite exhibitions throughout February, March, April and May 2021. These artist-curated events will be both virtual and in-person happenings (covid-permitting), and audiences can find out about them via aotad.org. Satellite exhibition partners include Macy’s, San Francisco; Rhythmix Cultural Works, Alameda; Creative Framing & Gallery, Oakland; and NIAD, Richmond. An special online artist Reception and Guest Speaker Evening are also planned. More information about these events to be released soon.
* No in person events will be held at Richmond Art Center. Individual artist events are subject to City and County health orders and compliance with the social distancing requirements.
Participating Artists: a. d. floyd, Abi Mustapha, Ajuan Mance, Akeem Raheem, Akili Simba, Alix J Magloire, Andrea McCoy Harvey, Antt’Smalls aka AnttonioDesigns, Arthur Norcome, Ashara Ekundayo, Beautiful Beads by Lan, bertrell smith, Bill A. Dallas, Brianna Mills, Carla Golder, Carrie Lee McClish, Charles Curtis Blackwell, Chasya Thierry, Christian Vassell, Chuck Harlins, Claude Lockhart Clark, Damon Powell – Artist & Theologian, Darryl Thompson, De’Ana Brownfield, Deatra Colbert, Derrick Bell, Diamela, Doitshā Jones, Dolores R Gray, Donna Gatson, Donna Meke’da Bradley, Dre’An Cox, Dulama, Elishes Cavness, Elmarise Owens, Escape Artist, Ester M. Armstrong, Fan Lee Warren, Floyd Brown, Freddie Crome Lambright, III, Gene Dominique, Genesse McGaugh, Gregory Worsham, Hilda Robinson, iam4muze, Idris Hassan, Irene Bee Kain, J of Coeurs De Papier, J. B. Broussard, JaeMe Bereal, James Gayles, James Knox, Janay Futch, Janet Barnes, Jasmine, Jason Byrd, Jason Powell-Smith, Jennifer Inez Ward, Jessica Keener, Jimi Evins, Jonathan Taylor, Joseph Robinson, Julee Richardson, Julie Atkinson, KaliMa Amilak, Karen Smith, karin turner – karinsArt, Keisha White, Kelvin Curry, Kimberley Champion, Kimberly Johnson, L Holley, Latisha Baker, Lorraine Bonner, Maalak, Marguerite, Mark Sublett, Marva Reed, Mia Mya Dawson, Michelle Tompkins, Naomi Floyd, Olubori Babaoye, Ora Clay, Orin Carpenter, Orlonda Uffre, Pam Jackson, Patricia Patterson, Patricia Perry, Raven Harper, Raymond L. Haywood, Renata, Rodney Bell, Ron Calime, Shanju, Shantae Robinson, Shante’ Young, Shawna Kinard, Stephanie Thames, Stephen Bruce, Suzane Beaubrun, Sylvia Thomas, TaSin Sabir, The Art of Justice, TheArthur Wright, Tiffany Conway, Tomye, Val Kai, Valerie Brown-Troutt, Vaughn F. Filmore, VirgiNia Jourdan Fine Art, Wanda Sabir, Xan Blood Walker, Yasmin Sayyed, Yolanda Holley, Yolanda Patton ThaSun, Zoë Boston, and Zwanda
About Art of the African Diaspora: Art of the African Diaspora is the longest running event of its kind in the Bay Area. It originated from a salon for African American artists known as Colors of Black that was organized in 1990 by artist and professor Marie Johnson Calloway. In 1997 artists Jan Hart-Schuyers and Rae Louise Hayward founded The Art of Living Black at Richmond Art Center, and many of the artists from Colors of Black participated in the inaugural exhibition. Hart-Schuyers and Hayward developed The Art of Living Black to present the work of emerging and established African American artists, introduce them to new audiences, and build a creative community of artists and art lovers. Over the next twenty-five years Richmond Art Center’s commitment in presenting the exhibition ensured the increased visibility for African American artists in the Bay Area that Hart-Schuyers and Hayward wanted. Tragically Hart-Schuyers passed away in 1998 and Hayward died in 2008. However, their organizing efforts were carried on for many years by their husbands Henri Schuyers and Steven Hopkins, and Steven’s sister Melba Lazenby, who passed away in 2013. Since 2018, the event has been produced by a Steering Committee of artists dedicated to the vision of Hart-Schuyers and Hayward. In 2020 the event changed its name to Art of the African Diaspora to reflect a new era moving forward. aotad.org
About Richmond Art Center: Richmond Art Center has been sharing art and creating with community since 1936. Our programs encompass classes, exhibitions and events at our facility, as well as off-site activities that bring free, high-quality art making experiences to WCCUSD schools, community centers, and Richmond Public Library. richmondartcenter.org
Images: Artworks by Fan Lee Warren (top), Val kai (above left), and Tiffany Conway (above right)
For more information contact: Stephen Bruce, Steering Committee Chair, Art of the African Diaspora stephenbstudios@yahoo.com, 916-446-3271
About: In Alabama, as a young child, I observed my mother making quilts for our beds on a quilting frame made with two-by- fours. I watched her stretch the balls of cotton that we grew on the farm into a batting layer, and wash and soften flour sacks for backing fabric. The pieced top of the quilt was recycled from clothes we had outgrown.
Some years ago my daughter took me to a series of classes at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco (MOAD), which was taught by master quilter, Marion Coleman. This allowed me to continue the quilting tradition. Since those first quilts, I have done dozens of quilting projects. My quilts have been exhibited over two dozen times, with one being featured in the New York Times Art Section along with other quilts from the African American Quilting Guild of Oakland (AAQGO).
I am reminded of the utility of quilts when I think of my mother. But quilts are also beautiful art, and a great vehicles for storytelling. I enjoy the process of quilt making. We have moved from coverings for beds to public and private art depicting who we are.
Quilting not only allows me to create beautiful art, working with different colors and textures, but also to use the beauty of the quilting medium to draw the viewer into thinking about serious issues facing our world.
VALERIE BROWN-TROUTT Something wonderful happened to me during the summer of 1999. I claimed and discovered my artist: Me! I went to several second hand shops and bought old canvas and found thrown away framed pictures and took them apart, covered them with gesso and started a studio on my patio. I got lost for hours in the dialogue of mixing color, creation, making meaning through images and mediation. Turning old ugly things into something new is so much fun and inexpensive. Messing up, changing my mind and starting all over again satisfied by creative energy Art in a variety of forms has always been my passion. I love paintings, poems, theater, jazz, singers, poetry, actors and actresses, photography, great movie pictures, sculpture, rhetoric, comedy, nature, etc. My art, often whimsically, intentionally creates what I have missed in my art loving experience, me! For example, I was born into a world that never showed me a lovely black, fat angel, so I painted me some. I am nurtured by and long to see things that look like me, especially my people (whom I love) and my ancestors. This is where it started.
I continue today to address the absence of images that I think are important to the stories of my life and culture. I create to preserve and share with others especially my grandchildren what life is for me presently and while growing up in the 50’s and 60’s. Many of these images celebrate the core values of my spirituality and codes of the communities of my origins which makes life meaningful for me.
About: Painting has always held a special place in my heart. Art reflects, radiates and reveals God’s omnipresence here on earth. It can stimulate the wonderment of ones mind to not only see its visual beauty, but to feel the essence of the wind. I live to paint another day!
About: From early childhood until now Bill A. Dallas has been connected with music and painting – especially the beauty of jazz, and how it reflects his style of painting, which he calls artmatism.
The significance of all music plays an important part in his art world, which goes far beyond just images and colors. He finds that music has a crucial role in how he approaches artmatism painting.
He’s created a unique harmony of rhythm that is entirely original, rhythmic, and with a full orchestration of movement and color. Painting is truly one of the perfect instruments to illustrate the real depth and complexities of the central absorbing moments of life’s mystery. The term “artmatism” can imply a metaphor for music, particularly jazz music – being fascinated by painting’s emotional power, each painting expresses itself through color, shape and space. It allows the viewer to engage with a freedom of imagination, interpretations and emotional responses.
His strokes come from a vivid and complex world of emotions and memories from his past. Dallas brings to life in his art the true colors, sounds and beauty of the music in his unheard of, but seen in his paintings. He’s making a physical and powerful connection between color and sound. If one can open that delicate mind we all procreate at times, one can feel the resemblance transported on canvas, the multiple colors of exhilarating sounds of great music!
As a young ambitious artist and very curious about learning he decided to pursue an art degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in the department of Art Practice.
It was a privilege to be embraced by such great art professors as Loran, Hartmann, Voulkos, Melchert, Bischoff, Kasten and Robert Hudson.
About: Latisha Baker Artworks is a handmade creative art business based in Oakland, CA. Latisha is self-taught and started as a hobbyist over 25 years ago making jewelry and home accessories with found materials consisting of a variety of wood and natural materials. She continues to develop art practice as a wearable art jewelry designer and visual artist.
The primary medium is a primitive technique called pyrography (firewriting), also known as, wood burning or pyroetching. She uses a variety of recycled and purchased wood, including birch, cherry and walnut to create her artwork.
She is inspired by people’s stories, movement and human anatomy. She juxtaposes the human form with life events and experiences. The complexity of her work can vary, but there is a common theme of reconciliation through recovery, healing and transformation.
About: Anthony “AnttonioDesigns” Smalls aka TheCounselorandCreator, outside the art world I’ve enjoyed working as a counselor for adolescents and adults. Helping others is something I have always been passionate about. With art being my passion outside of work it may be hard sometimes to find a day to paint when you’re working a 9-5. Being able to use art as my outlet helps me with my everyday life because I can just be in my own thoughts and create something unique.
AnttonioDesigns (The Counselor and Creator) started in 2017 while I was off work with torn Achilles tendon for 3 months. Not falling into a mental trap and figuring out how I would spend my next three months I decided I would get back into one of my favorite pastime as a kid which was creating art designs and inspirational quotes. I had to be productive and use my time creatively so that the 90 days I had at home was utilized and beneficial for me. During that time, I was also able to finish up my last few months of school earning my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology where I would start working back in Contra Costa County. AnttonioDesigns the counselor and creator was born out of the love of helping others become a better version of themselves through using art expressively and to help zen your mind from those other things in life that may distract you.
I chose my art piece “New Millennium Controversy” to be displayed at Art of the African Diaspora because this creation was a part of my COVID creations. This art piece also shines lite on the controversies that are taking place such as COVID-19, police brutality, racism, human and sex trafficking to date. Prince album was released in the 80’s but as we see in 2021 things haven’t changed much. I want to celebrate PEACE, LOVE & UNITY.
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About: “Digital Soul Artist Maalak (Melvin Atkins)” … was born 5th of 7 children in rural Louisiana where art covered the landscape! Plowed fields-Gardens-Animals-Cotton -Changing Seasons & Wild Flowers- Birds-Brightly Colored Trees & Mammas Flower Yard-Ladies Quilting. Paper was scarce so we drew in the sand. My art inspiration came at seeing a young woman striding slow motion, as if on air down the avenues in Oakland California! She was “The Gift!” Home I Drew What Looked Like Kindergarten Scratch… But IT Was My Birth As An Artist (1985). Hope U Like… My works have shown at Marin County Civic Center – WestAmerica Bank – Be Still – MC Art Gallery – Churches, Homes And Countless T-shirts!
More info: High Quality Prints 12 x 18 – on glossy card stock paper – Guaranteed against fading (5+years)! Larger prints can be ordered! Cost: $45 (includes shipping inside U.S.)………….. To purchase Contact:: DIGITAL SOUL ARTIST – 965 Drake Ave – Marin City-Sausalito, Ca 94965 -Melatks@Aol.Com —- CASH APP: $Maalak Atkins or Paypal.Me/Maalak Atks
