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
Join us Friday, June 25, 3:30-5pm for an afternoon showcase of Richmond arts!
In collaboration between Richmond organizations NIAD, East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, Richmond Art Center, and RYSE, we bring you “Out of the Mouths of Beings”, hosted by Richmond’s own Youth Poet Laureate, Sheila McKinney!
This special online event will feature spoken word, dance, music, visual arts, and movement; building community, love, and togetherness in the virtual space.
Kick off the summer right and enjoy the abundance of creativity Richmond has to offer!
Richmond Art Center celebrates Pride with this special online event. Join PerSia as she reads A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss. This event is for kids and their families.
About PerSia: With a pedigree from weekly performances at the late, iconic Esta Noche, PerSia’s trajectory has gone on to include art curation, stand-up, television, and maybe a quinceañera or two, in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and México. Currently she is a regular performer in the nationally acclaimed “Drag Queen Story Hour” as well as an educator in residence at the Children’s After School Arts (CASA) program in the San Francisco Unified School District profiled on KQED Arts and National Public Radio.
About Drag Queen Story Hour: Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH) is just what it sounds like—drag queens reading stories to children in libraries, schools, and bookstores. DQSH captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models. In spaces like this, kids are able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions and imagine a world where people can present as they wish, where dress up is real.
“People can stand on the feet and have their photo taken, or they can sit next to them; it’s up to them. It’s an opportunity to show support, and also to experience a moment of communion.” – Rigo 23
Dear Friends,
We invite you to a special event in Richmond Art Center’s courtyard this Saturday to have your photograph taken with the feet from artist Rigo 23’s statue of Native American activist and political prisoner, Leonard Peltier.
Stand on the feet of the statue in support of Peltier, political prisoners, and all Indigenous peoples facing persecution.
Stand In Solidarity With Leonard Peltier Saturday, April 24, 1pm-3pm Richmond Art Center 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond (enter via Barrett Ave)
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 at the event to meet participants. Kathy and Anne will also have some of their handmade jewelry and beaded work available for purchase, as they prepare to go visit Leonard very soon.
Participants will be photographed by artist Río Yañez, and all photographs will become part of the project’s archive. A selection of Yañez’s photographs taken during the event will be exhibited with Rigo’s Leonard Peltier statue at Richmond Art Center later this year.
Hope to see you this Saturday!!
In community, Richmond Art Center
Important Event Info:
Wear a mask and be prepared to practice social distancing
No appointments, folks will be photographed in the order they arrive. We apologize in advance if we don’t have time to photograph everyone!!
Enter Richmond Art Center via Barrett Avenue, we will direct you to the courtyard via the West Gallery.
Please note, the inside spaces of Richmond Art Center’s facility remain closed. No access to the galleries, studios or restrooms is available at this time.
About the Work: Rigo 23’s 12-foot-high likeness of Leonard Peltier, a Native activist incarcerated since 1977, is based on a small hand painted self-portrait that Peltier created in prison. Rigo 23 began work on this statue in 2016 and before it was first installed at American University, Rigo took its feet to sites of Native significance across the U.S., including Alcatraz Island, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. He then invited supporters to stand and be photographed on the feet of Peltier in solidarity. Since 2016 the statue of Leonard Peltier has toured all over America (most recently to SFAI) and hundreds of photos of people with its feet have been taken. Later this year Rigo 23’s statue will be exhibited at Richmond Art Center accompanied by a selection of these photos.
About 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. His 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. Rigo’s first solo exhibition Time and Time Again: A tribute to Geronimo Ji-Jaga Pratt was presented at Richmond Art Center in 1996.
Free online guided drawing session with Lauren Ari!
With special guest Richmond Art Center’s executive director José Rivera!
Friday, March 5, 12:30-1:30pm
Join Richmond artist Lauren Ari this Friday, March 5 at 12:30pm for a free lunchtime session of guided drawing and relaxation. And meet Richmond Art Center’s new(ish) executive director José Rivera! All ages and levels of experience welcome. Simply bring plain white paper and a pen/pencil.
Learn how easy it is to set up your own ceramics space
Marisa Burman, Richmond Art Center’s ceramics studio manager, will discuss and demonstrate how best to set-up a space for working with clay in your home. Whether it is a corner of your garage, a spare bedroom, or your dining room table, learn about basic tools/equipment you might want, as well as safety considerations, so that you can create a usable space that is tailored to your needs. Marisa will also demonstrate some creative ways to use household items as clay tools.
Keep your clay spirit alive until we can meet again! This free, drop-in workshop is accessible for all experience levels.
Setting up a Space for Clay at Home Time: Feb 7, 2021 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
