Thank you for being part of Richmond Art Center’s creative community. For nearly 85 years Richmond Art Center has been sharing art classes, events and exhibitions in Richmond, CA. But this year has been one of the most challenging times in our history; the Covid-19 pandemic turned our world upside-down, while the uprising for Black lives and racial justice called us to take time for internal reckoning.
We have moved forward with new ways of working, new partnerships and new projects. (See below some highlights for 2020.) But despite our successes Richmond Art Center took a serious financial hit with the temporary closure of our facility, and in October we had to reduce staff by 50%. Economic hardships, fires and smoke, and a stressful election have compounded challenges for our staff, volunteers, students and community. But through all this, it is art and creativity that have allowed us to find ways to come together, to heal, and to imagine.
Your donation, whatever the amount, will support our efforts to sustain our current activities, develop more remote programming, and remain poised to resume all of our programs once we reopen our facility.
In appreciation of your support, and in celebration of our 58th Annual Holiday Arts Festival, WE HAVE THANK YOU GIFTS! CLICK HERE to visit our website to see the cool and creative thank you gifts on offer.
Commission Art Lives Here; paid seven local artists to create new work that responds to the isolation of shelter-in-place and find ways to connect with community
Traditionally a Día de los Muertos altar is an intentional space dedicated to a person or people that have passed away. Use this activity sheet to create your own altar in memory of someone that has passed. You can include anything you want to celebrate them; photos, foods they like, flowers, etc. There is no right or wrong way to use this template to remember a love one!
Recycle your old crayons into crazy color combos. Reimagine your color capabilities!
What you will need:
Crafting space and tray to peel and snap crayon pieces
Broken crayons
Silicone baking mold or mini cupcake pan with paper cups
Old cookie sheet (to protect from spills)
Oven mitt
Oven (permission to use it and/or adult help)
Begin Creating:
Prepare your crafting space by laying down some junky paper or cardboard to protect your work surface from crayon bits. I laid out a piece of parchment paper on a cutting board at my kitchen counter.
Preheat Oven to 275 F degrees. Ask an adult’s permission and help to use the stove. Using the oven requires responsibility, don’t forget to set the timer and turn the stove off when you’re done.
Remove all paper from crayons and sort by color. I like to keep mine in baggies and store what I don’t use for next time.
Fill each cup mold with different colors of broken crayon pieces. If using the baking mold, put it on the old baking sheet. Alternatively, if you’re using the mini cupcake pan with paper cups, it’s fine by itself, without a cookie sheet under it. I try not to overfill my cups, we don’t want to have an overflow of melted crayons! I want you to think creatively about your color combos. You can try matches you find in nature, like colors of your favorite objects and clothing patterns, or new ideas you make up. You can line them up in a cup, try stacking crayon pieces in a certain way, or by color.
Bake in the oven for 7-8 minutes. I used the silicone mold to make my crayons and baked them on an old cookie sheet. I used the same parchment paper from the cutting board on the cookie sheet (after dusting it off over the trash can of all the crayon bits). I wait until they are just-completely melted.
Remove the tray from the oven. Using your oven mitt, remove the tray and place on the stove top to cool for 30 minutes.
Pop them out and get coloring! Don’t forget the clean up 😉
Share your creation with us! Facebook, Instagram or email it to admin@therac.org
Create Self-Portraits in the style of Pablo Picasso!
Category: Mix media painting and drawing
Materials: Common drawing or painting media can be used. We recommend watercolor paint and crayons or oil pastels. You will also need paper, a sketching pencil and an eraser.
Note: Crayon can be used to trace and color select areas as well as add shapes to your background. The crayon will resist the watercolor, like a barrier, allowing you to do different colors on different areas without mixing. But mixing is fun too. Enjoy!
Inspiration for your self-portrait: Look at portraits by Pablo Picasso and discuss what you see! View more of Picasso’s self-portraits here. – What do you notice? – What colors do you see? – What shapes do you see? – How are later works different from his early works? – How does does these works make you feel?
Instructions
Step 1:
In pencil, draw your head, any shape will work. You can use a mirror or draw from your imagination.
Step 2:
Add your facial features, eyes, nose, mouth, etc. Try to use shapes you noticed in your discussion.
Step 3:
Add your hair. What lines can you use to look like hair?
Step 4:
Add color, drawing lines and filling shapes in parts of the face, hair and background.
Share your creation with us! Facebook, Instagram or email it to admin@therac.org
Artists share art-centered practices to ground and refresh during stressful times.
At Richmond Art Center we’ve been thinking a lot about the upcoming 2020 election; how the lead up to it and aftermath are going to be stressful for so many people. To encourage folk to look after themselves during this time we’ve invited artists to share some simple ideas and reflections on the theme of creativity and self-care.
Please enjoy the Creative Self-Care series. Five videos will be released 1 by 1 as we head towards Election Day; accessible here on our website and social media. Follow us on Instagram: @richmondartcenter, Facebook: @richmondartcenter and YouTube and, if you feel inspired, share your own stories of creative self-care! #creativeselfcare #richmondartcenter
Artists share art-centered practices to ground and refresh during stressful times.
At Richmond Art Center we’ve been thinking a lot about the upcoming 2020 election; how the lead up to it and aftermath are going to be stressful for so many people. To encourage folk to look after themselves during this time we’ve invited artists to share some simple ideas and reflections on the theme of creativity and self-care.
Please enjoy the Creative Self-Care series. Five videos will be released 1 by 1 as we head towards Election Day; accessible here on our website and social media. Follow us on Instagram: @richmondartcenter, Facebook: @richmondartcenter and YouTube and, if you feel inspired, share your own stories of creative self-care! #creativeselfcare #richmondartcenter
Artists share art-centered practices to ground and refresh during stressful times.
At Richmond Art Center we’ve been thinking a lot about the upcoming 2020 election; how the lead up to it and aftermath are going to be stressful for so many people. To encourage folk to look after themselves during this time we’ve invited artists to share some simple ideas and reflections on the theme of creativity and self-care.
Please enjoy the Creative Self-Care series. Five videos will be released 1 by 1 as we head towards Election Day; accessible here on our website and social media. Follow us on Instagram: @richmondartcenter, Facebook: @richmondartcenter and YouTube and, if you feel inspired, share your own stories of creative self-care! #creativeselfcare #richmondartcenter
Video 3: Sarah Player Morrison
About the Artist: Sarah Player Morrison is a multidisciplinary artist based in Richmond, CA. She recently completed her MFA at Mills College. She is a graduate fellow at the Headlands Center for the Arts from July 2019 – June 2020. sarahplayermorrison.com
Artists share art-centered practices to ground and refresh during stressful times.
At Richmond Art Center we’ve been thinking a lot about the upcoming 2020 election; how the lead up to it and aftermath are going to be stressful for so many people. To encourage folk to look after themselves during this time we’ve invited artists to share some simple ideas and reflections on the theme of creativity and self-care.
Please enjoy the Creative Self-Care series. Five videos will be released 1 by 1 as we head towards Election Day; accessible here on our website and social media. Follow us on Instagram: @richmondartcenter, Facebook: @richmondartcenter and YouTube and, if you feel inspired, share your own stories of creative self-care! #creativeselfcare #richmondartcenter
