*In-person activity dates are subject to change as we see further developments in the Covid-19 pandemic. Mask wearing and signing a Visitor Waiver is a condition of entry to RAC events. We track attendee numbers in the courtyard and galleries to ensure spaces do not get too crowded. Read more about Richmond Art Center’s Covid-19 safety measures HERE.
Top image: Gail Rubin, Tribute to Natalia Arbelaez, 2021. Created in “Handbuilding: Women in Contemporary Ceramics” with Colleen Garland and featured in Works From Home
Folks are invited to come for all or part of the program. Please note, space on the exhibition tour is limited.
SPECIAL GUESTS
Anne Begay, Diné, Co-founder of AIM-Denver Chapter in 1970; Rigo 23, Artist
POETRY / SPOKEN WORD
Tongo Eisen-Martin, San Francisco Poet Laureate; Doggtown Dro, Rapper, poet and artist; Meres-sia Gabriel, Richmond based writer, Panther Cub; Arnoldo García, Chiapas Support Committee; CieraJevae, Richmond Poet Laureate; Sheila McKinney, Richmond Youth Poet Laureate; Flavia Elisa Mora, Poet and Migrant Artivist; Kathy Peltier, Leonard Peltier’s daughter; Brian Tripp, Karuk, visionary artist, poet and esteemed elder
Please RSVP HERE if you would like to attend Gathering in the Spirit of Gwarth-ee-lass.
Like most Indian people, I have several names. In Indian Way, names come to you in the course of your life, not just when you’re born. Some come during childhood ceremonies; others are given on special occasions throughout your life. Each name gives you a new sense of yourself and your own possibilities. And each name gives you something to live up to. It points out the direction you’re supposed to take in this life. One of my names is Tate Wikuwa, which means “Wind Chases the Sun in the Dakota language. That name was my great-grandfather’s. Another name, bestowed on me by my Native Canadian brethren, is Gwarth-ee-lass, meaning “He Leads the People.”
Leonard Peltier, Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance, 1999
BIOS
Anne Begay, Diné
Born in New México and raised traditionally by her grandparents, Anne was sent to boarding schools in Oklahoma and New México. She survived that experience and later attended Haskell Indian Nations University and the University of Nebraska where she joined the Student Senate and majored in History. While there she also studied English and stage acting.
She enlisted in the US Army and joined AIM – American Indian Movement – co-founding the Denver Chapter in 1970. She worked at the Denver AIM office while still in the Army.At the time of her discharge, Wounded Knee Occupation, 1973, was taking place, Anne helped with that effort. She gave birth to her single daughter, Kathy Peltier 1975. She and her daughter Kathy, joined the Longest Walk in 1978. Anne raised Kathy on her own, remaining close to her and the Movement to this day – mainly as a “keyboard warrior.”
Together with Kathy she makes regalia and traditional beaded jewelry that they bring to rallies, speaking events, dances and pow-wows. This supplements Kathy’s travel expenses to see her father who is presently at Coleman Prison in Florida. They have been collaborating with Rigo in the Leonard Peltier Statue Project since 2018.
Doggtown Dro
Rapper, poet, artist. Pan African, Abolitionist and Revolutionary.
Tongo Eisen-Martin
Tongo Eisen-Martin is the current poet laureate of San Francisco. He is the author of Heaven Is All Goodbyes, published as part of City Lights’ Pocket Poet series, and someone’s dead already. Heaven Is All Goodbyes was shortlisted for the Griffin International Poetry Prize, received the California Book Award for Poetry, an American Book Award, and a PEN Oakland Book Award. Eisen-Martin is also an educator and organizer whose work centers on issues of mass incarceration, extrajudicial killings of Black people, and human rights. He has taught at detention centers around the country and at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University, and is the founder of Black Freighter Press. His second book in the City Lights Pocket Poet series, Blood on the Fog, will be released in the fall of 2021.
Arnoldo García
Known as a colibrí, Arnoldo García is a community-based poet, musician and organizer. He is the co-author of XicKorea: poems, words, rants together with Beth Ching and Miriam Ching Louie and editor of Poets against War & Racism | Poetas contra la guerra y el racismo, a chapbook anthology of multinational and multiracial poets. Arnoldo is a member of the Chiapas Support Committee, which supports the Zapatistas and Indigenous land justice movements. Arnoldo is a restorative justice practitioner training youth, adults and new and experienced community activists and organizers to create deliberate relationships across communities rooted in self-determination and deep justice. You can read his work at artofthecommune.wordpress.com.
CieraJevae
CieraJevae is a Richmond Native serving her community as an artist educator, a healer, Poet Laureate, writer, activist, and scholar. She reps her ancestors, & shines light on the lived experiences of the divinity in Black women & girls through poetry and performance. She is the published author of her new collection of poems, Unto Ivy’s Rib, as well as the author of two chapbooks, Testimonies of Richmond, and Incarcerated Words. She obtained her B.A in Sociology, and her MFA in Writing. She currently serves as the Media, Arts, and Culture Manager at the RYSE Center.com For more, go to her website at cierajevae.com.
Sheila McKinney
Sheila McKinney (she/her) is a 16 year old poet attending Pinole Valley High School. She serves on the Debate team, the African American Student Union, as well as WISE (Women in STEM Education). She is the first Youth Poet Laureate of Richmond, CA. She started writing and performing in 2020-2021, and already has co-facilitated a series of poetry workshops locally and nationally. Sheila uses poetry as a form of activism and as a tool for moving the world into a more just and loving place. Working with youth and learning from her peers has been one of the highlights of her experience as Richmond’s Youth Poet Laureate and a RYSE member.
Flavia Elisa Mora
Flavia Elisa Mora is a queer, Mexican migrant artivist, raised in La Mission, San Francisco. Amongst her interdisciplinary art practice, her main two focuses are muralismo and poesía.
Flavia is a published writer, she has performed poetry throughout the Bay Area, and is one of the lead artists for the mural, “Alto al Fuego en la Misión” located on 24th and Capp. Her passions for both muralismo and spoken word poetry collide through her understanding that both forms are vessels for preserving history, intergenerational healing tools, and expressions of the soul.
Flavia’s prioritization of her own healing ties with her belief that revolution starts from the heart. She hopes that through her art, she can help create space for inspiration and positive change in her community.
Kathy Peltier, Dine’h/Navajo
Ya’ at’e’e’h, hello my name is Kathy Peltier. My parents are Anne Begay and Leonard Peltier. I’m an enrolled member of the Dine’h/Navajo Nation. I’m also Lakota and Turtle Mountain Ojibwe. I currently reside in Southern California.
Kathy Peltier is a dancer, beadwork artist and world traveler. She started dancing when she was two years old, and has attended powwows all over the US as a traditional dancer. Kathy’s travels also include touring with Red Sun Rising to Australia as part of a dance troupe. To book Kathy for travel you can contact her via her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/kathy.peltier.12 or on Instagram @wazi_kat.
DJ Petrelli
DJ Petrelli is a revolutionary artist living in San Francisco.
Rigo 23
Rigo 23 has exhibited his work internationally for over 30 years placing murals, paintings, sculptures, and tile work in public situations where viewers are encouraged to examine their relationship to their community, their role as unwitting advocates of public policy, and their place on a planet occupied by many other living things.
Rigo’s projects have included inter-communal collaborations with Native Tribes in North and South America; long-term partnerships with political prisoners; and alliances with underrepresented and disenfranchised individuals and communities. @rigo23studio@peltierstatue
In-person classes are back! Online classes continue!
Our Fall Program Catalog is here. Register today for in-person and online classes starting weekly October through November. And read about the exciting exhibitions and events happening at Richmond Art Center this fall.
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! After being closed for over a year and a half due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I’m happy it is during Hispanic Heritage Month that Richmond Art Center has finally reopened to the public. Explore our Fall Program 2021 Catalog to see what exhibitions we have on view (pages 6-7) and listings for upcoming in-person and online classes (pages 8-20). As always, we continue to offer classes taught in Spanish, bilingual classes, and intergenerational classes.
National Hispanic Heritage Month runs September 15 through October 15 and is an important opportunity to honor and celebrate Hispanic/Latino/Latinx people living in the U.S.. It is also a time to learn about the stories of oppression, prejudice and injustice that often go overlooked. The Bay Area, and Richmond especially, has a culturally diverse Latino community, and I encourage you to find your own way to celebrate and explore Hispanic Heritage Month.
I’m excited to announce that on Saturday, October 23, 12-3pm we are celebrating Día de los Muertos at RAC. We’ll have alebrije-making, bomba dancing, and more. This free family event is not to be missed!
Hope to see you at RAC soon. Hasta pronto!
José Rivera
Executive Director
¡Saludos Amigos del RAC!
¡Feliz Mes Nacional de la Herencia Hispana! Después de estar cerrado durante más de un año y medio debido a la pandemia del Covid-19, estoy muy feliz de haber podido reabrir al público durante este mes. Explora nuestro catálogo de otoño 2021 para ver qué exposiciones ofrecemos (páginas 6 y 7) y para ver los listados de las próximas clases presenciales y en línea (páginas 8 a la 20). Como siempre, continuamos ofreciendo clases en español, clases bilingües y clases intergeneracionales.
El Mes Nacional de la Herencia Hispana se lleva a cabo del 15 de septiembre al 15 de octubre y es una oportunidad importante para honrar y celebrar a las personas hispanas / latinas / latinx que viven en los EE. UU. También es un momento para aprender sobre las historias de opresión, prejuicio e injusticia que a menudo se pasan por alto . El Área de la Bahía, y Richmond especialmente, tienen una comunidad latina culturalmente diversa, y los animo a encontrar su propia manera de celebrar y explorar el Mes de la Herencia Hispana.
Me complace anunciar que el sábado 23 de octubre, de 12 a 3 pm, celebraremos el Día de los Muertos en el RAC. Tendremos elaboración de alebrije, baile de bomba y más. ¡Este evento familiar gratuito no se lo deben perder!
Leonard Peltier’s 77th Birthday and Reception for Rigo 23’s Time and Again
Sunday, September 12, 3pm-6pm
Richmond Art Center’s Courtyard, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804
Please join us at Richmond Art Center on Sunday, September 12 from 3pm to 6pm for a special reception to honor Leonard Peltier’s 77th birthday – the 45th he spends behind bars. Congratulations Leonard on another year of Dignified Resistance.
We will also be celebrating the opening of Rigo’s 23’s exhibition Time and Again.
Special guests Kathy Peltier, Leonard Peltier’s daughter, and Anne Begay – co-founder of American Indian Movement’s Denver chapter and Kathy’s mother – will be in attendance. As well as AIM West Executive Director Tony Gonzales and José Cuéllar (a.k.a, Dr. Loco), who will perform a flute solo.
COVID-19 Prevention protocols: This event will be held outdoors in Richmond Art Center’s courtyard. To prevent the spread of COVID-19 we are requesting all guests RSVP. Temperature checks, mask wearing, and signing a Visitor Waiver will be a condition of entry. Learn more about what RAC is doing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 HERE.
Image: Kathy Peltier stands on the feet from Rigo 23’s statue of Leonard Peltier. Photo by Rio Yañez
ISSUE 27 Fall Class Registration Open | Stay Focused | Mark Your Calendars | New Classes This Fall In Memoriam
Fall Class Registration Open
In-Person Classes Return to RAC!* Online Classes Continue
We’re reopening Richmond Art Center for in-person classes this fall. And if COVID-19 keeps us at home we have an awesome line-up of online activities planed too.
Image: Kate Godfrey created this work, Night Passage (2021), in Marisa Burman’s “Ceramics Seminar”
Livestream on Youtube: Saturday, August 28, 2pm-3pm PST
Over six weeks this summer local youth artists worked with Fred Alvarado at RAC to create a collaborative mural focused on community and the environment. Join us online this Saturday as we celebrate the launch of our Barrett Avenue mural and hear from the artists about their experiences creating it.
Image: Every day we must struggle to stay focused on saving this beautiful planet, 2021
Fall exhibitions run September 9 through November 19, 2021. CLICK HERE to see our new gallery hours. And CLICK HERE to learn about our COVID-19 safety measures.
Time and Again Rigo 23’s statue of Native activist Leonard Peltier comes to Richmond Art Center More info…
Works from Home: Richmond Art Center Student Showcase Work from our online classes celebrating our students’ achievements More info…
Opossum Magic Pragmatic beginnings and unexpected moments in the work of Laura Kamian McDermott, Steven Morales and Leslie Plato Smith More info…
Summer Rites Looking out through the lens of Richmond Youth Photographers More info…
We must struggle to stay focused on saving this beautiful planet A collaborative mural by Richmond Youth More info…
In Memoriam
❤️ Hung Liu (1948 – 2021)
Remembering Hung Liu; incredible artist, vibrant person, and supporter of the arts.
Image: Hung Liu (center) at Richmond Center in 2016 with curator Jan Wurm (left) and artist Michael Hall (right) for the exhibition Making Our Mark.
Have something to share? Please email us at admin@richmondartcenter.org
ARTIST INFO SESSION I: Sunday, September 12, 3:00PM-4:30PM (click HERE to register for this zoom event)
ARTIST INFO SESSION II: Saturday, October 23, 12:00PM-1:30PM (click HERE to register for this zoom event)
2022 PROGRAM*
Exhibition at Richmond Art Center: January 18 – March 19, 2022 Open Studios: Feb 26-27, Mar 5-6, Mar 12-13, 2022 Satellite Exhibitions: Throughout January, February and March Artistic Achievement Awardee Talk: Saturday, January 22, 12:30-1:30pm Reception: Saturday, January 22, 2-4pm Closing Party: Saturday, March 19, 2-4pm
*We are planning an in-person event in 2022. However, all events are subject to change based on COVID-19 safety guidelines.
Be Part of the 25th Anniversary of the Bay Area Black Artists Exhibition at Richmond Art Center
Art Of The African Diaspora is a non-juried group exhibition featuring work by artists of African descent. The showcase exhibition is held at Richmond Art Center and is accompanied by self-guided open studio tours and satellite exhibitions throughout the Bay Area. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ART OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA
Questions?
For registration and exhibition questions contact: Richmond Art Center at 510.620.6772 or admin@richmondartcenter.org
Eligibility: Participation is open to all artists of African descent, who are 16 years or older, and who reside/work within the nine counties of the Bay Area (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma).
Richmond Art Center Exhibition Artwork Requirements:
Media: All media considered
Artwork size:
Wall-hanging artwork may not exceed 40 inches high and 40 inches wide (including the frame)
3D artwork may not exceed 40 inches in any dimension
Artwork number: One artwork entry per artist
New and original work: Artwork submissions must be original work created since 2018 that have not previously been exhibited at Richmond Art Center.
Registration Fee: $65
Each registered artist receives:
Opportunity to exhibit 1 artwork at Richmond Art Center (Available until exhibition full. There is space for maximum 120 artists in the exhibition at Richmond Art Center. Once we reach capacity artists can still register to participate in satellite exhibitions, open studios and the online listings.)
Artist listing in the Art Of The African Diaspora guide
Artist listing in the online artist gallery
Opportunity to participate in open studios/satellite exhibitions (Artists without a space for open studios/satellite exhibitions can request to be offered a space. Artists who do not wish to participate in open studios/satellite exhibitions may choose to opt out at the time of registration (the fee remains the same)).
Artist Ads:Optional. Artists can upgrade their Art Of The African Diaspora guide listing by purchasing a discounted ad (view the 2020 Art Of The African Diaspora Guide for ad examples):
1/4 page ad $50
1/2 page ad $80
Full page ad $150
TERMS
Fees: Entry fees are non-refundable.
Photography and Image Use: Richmond Art Center and Art Of The African Diaspora reserves the right to use images of submitted artwork, and to photograph the artist, artwork and exhibition for publicity, documentation, and fundraising purposes.
Exhibition at Richmond Art Center:
Delivery of Artwork: Artwork must be delivered to Richmond Art Center during scheduled drop off dates: Friday, Jan 7, 2022, 11am-4pm and Sat, Jan 8, 2022, 11am-4pm. Artists who cannot drop off their artwork during these times should arrange for someone else to deliver it for them.
Sales: For any artwork sales at Richmond Art Center: RAC’s commission on a sale is 30%; artist retains 70%.
Pick Up: All unsold artworks must be picked up on the scheduled days: Saturday, Mar 19, 2022, 4-6pm & Monday, Mar 21, 2022, 11am-4pm
Open Studios Participants: If an artist or venue hosts other artists, each artist must be a registered participant of Art Of The African Diaspora.
ARE YOU READY TO BEGIN YOUR REGISTRATION?
Please note, gallery capacity for the Art of the African Diaspora exhibition at Richmond Art Center is 120 artists. Once we reach capacity, registration will remain open for artists to participate in satellite exhibitions, open studios, and the catalog and online listings. If the exhibition is full a Steering Committee member will be in touch with you to let you know.
ISSUE 26 Abstraction as Land Care | RAC News | Special Event this Thursday | Last Call | Drawing: The Grounding
Abstraction as Land Care
This Land Is Me
New Online Exhibition: July 28 – September 7, 2021
This exhibition highlights the work of three artists – Saif Senussi Azzuz, Kim Champion, and Emily Van Engel – who use abstraction to express ideas related to land care. Employing approaches that range from personal to cultural to imagined, selected works show how abstraction can be a powerful tool for exploring how we can situate ourselves within the land; a vital first step towards restoring and protecting it.
Top Images (l-r): Details for work by Saif Senussi Azzuz, Emily Van Engel, and Kim Champion
Roberto Martinez is a curator and cultural organizer with over a decade of experience developing community-centered exhibitions and programs. At Richmond Art Center he is committed to organizing from the bottom-up and to nurturing collaboration with local communities, in order to co-create exhibitions that are relevant and uplift the voices and experiences of the Richmond community.
Thursday, September 9 is the day our galleries reopen. In-person classes will start rolling out the following week. Stay tuned as we’ll announce our fall exhibition schedule and class schedule later this month!!
*Subject to Covid-19 rates of infection and local health and safety guidelines.
Online Artists’ Talk: Thursday, August 5, 7-8pm PST
Join us this Thursday, August 5 at 7pm as photographer Robin D. López (Shots from Richmond) speaks with three artists about their recent mural projects in Richmond: Deonta Allen, Rebeca Garcia-González, and David Solnit.
Image: Climate Strike Mural. Richmond, CA, 2021. Lead Artist: David Solnit. Photo by Shots from Richmond
Top and bottom banner images: Details of Kim Champion’s drawing Pink eye purple hull peas (2020). This work is part of the new online exhibition This Land Is Me.
Have something to share? Please email us at admin@richmondartcenter.org
