Richmond Art Center 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804 richmondartcenter.org/familyday2022
Richmond, CA: Fall Family Day at Richmond Art Center (RAC) will be a special celebration of Día de los Muertos on Saturday, October 15, 12pm-3pm. Kids of all ages and their grown-ups are invited to RAC’s courtyard to celebrate Day of the Dead with art-making, music, and miniature low riders. Admission is free.
Artist Daniel Camacho is leading the festivities with a community ofrenda and paper mache skull workshop. Daniel’s work is currently on view at RAC in the exhibition De Fantasías y Realidades(September 14 – November 17, 2022).
Other activities at Fall Family Day will include a Día de los Muertos presentation by Ernesto Olmos; live printing and coloring with local art collective Liberación Gráfica; community chalk mural with Rebeca García-González; art demonstrations; marigold giveaway; search and find; and local art vendors.
For the ofrenda, Daniel Camacho invites community members to contribute items that honor their loves ones. Daniel says, “Through an ofrenda we commemorate and remember the life and death of our loved ones. It is a celebration that allows us to carry them in our hearts and welcome them back to the world of the living for one night.” Daniel invites the community to contribute a photograph of their loved ones and an object that represents something they loved, for example their favorite drink or snack, or a toy. Items can be bought to Richmond Art Center any time during gallery hours. The altar will be on display in the West Gallery from October 15 through to the end of Día de los Muertos on November 3.
In the calaverita workshop participants will learn to make paper mache skulls for a Día de los Muertos altar. This two day workshop – on Saturday, October 8, 12pm-2pm and Saturday, October 15, 12pm-2pm – is for participants ages six and older (although kids younger than ten should bring an adult to help). Register on RAC’s website to attend both workshops and make a calaverita from scratch. Alternatively, folks are invited to drop into the second session on October 15 at Fall Family Day to decorate a pre-made skull.
Richmond Art Center is located at 2540 Barrett Avenue in Richmond.
Covid-19 Prevention: Mask wearing is required in the galleries and indoor public spaces. Masks may be removed while in the courtyard.
About Richmond Art Center: Richmond Art Center has been sharing art and creating with the community since 1936. Our programs encompass classes, exhibitions and events at our facility in downtown Richmond, as well as off-site activities that bring free, high-quality art making experiences to WCCUSD schools and community partners. richmondartcenter.org
For more information contact:Amy Spencer, amy@richmondartcenter.org
¡Estamos Celebrando! Latinx Heritage Month at Richmond Art Center
Richmond Art Center 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804 Gallery Hours: Wed-Sat 10am-4pm Exhibitions and events are all free
Richmond, CA: Richmond Art Center is proud to celebrate Latinx Heritage Month with activities planned to highlight and explore the creative accomplishments of the Bay Area’s Latino community. ‘National Hispanic Heritage Month’ takes place September 15 to October 15 every year and is a time to recognize the histories, cultures and contributions of Hispanic/Latino/Latinx people living in the U.S..
In Richmond Art Center’s galleries are two exhibitions highlighting Latinx art. Daniel Camacho’s De Fantasías y Realidades presents murals, paper mache sculptures and paintings that fuse elements of Mexican popular culture with the social and political experiences of Camacho’s community. And From the Pueblo, For the Pueblo is an exhibition by print collective Liberación Gráfica and their friends. Liberación Gráfica is a Richmond-based screen print collective whose art practice is rooted in the Chicanx art tradition of revolutionary print workshops. Their work speaks directly to the struggles and resilience of the people of Richmond.
And don’t miss on Saturday, October 15, 12-3pm we are celebrating Día de los Muertos. This special event for families will feature calaveras, art making, live printing and more!
“Latinos contribute so much to the rich diversity of the Bay Area, especially in Richmond,” says José Rivera, Executive Director. “I encourage you to visit Richmond Art Center and also find your own way to celebrate and explore Hispanic Heritage Month.”
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From the Pueblo, For the Pueblo Main Gallery Exhibition Dates: September 14 – November 17, 2022 Opening Reception: Saturday, September 17, 12pm-2pm
Liberación Gráfica is a screen print collective whose practice is rooted in the Chicanx art tradition of revolutionary community print workshops. As artists-in-residence at Richmond Art Center, Liberación Gráfica worked alongside youth and community members to create prints that uplift local voices, and raise awareness of the struggles and resilience of the people of Richmond. These works have been printed live and distributed at events in Richmond including Low Rider Cruise Nights, Juneteenth Festival at Nicholl Park, the United Farm Workers march, and La Pulga Flea Market.
From the Pueblo, For the Pueblo is the culminating exhibition from Liberación Gráfica’s residency. Staying true to the concept that there is no liberation without community, Liberación Gráfica has also invited artists in the community to join them in presenting work that opens up conversations around ideas of liberation.
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De Fantasías y Realidades Community Gallery Exhibition Dates: September 14 – November 17, 2022 Opening Reception: Saturday, September 17, 12pm-2pm Calaverita Paper Mache Workshop led by Daniel Camacho: Saturday, October 8 & 15, 12pm-2pm
Daniel Camacho fuses elements of Mexican popular culture with the social and political experiences of his community, blending them together in images that blur lines between reality and fantasy. In particular, Camacho paints the immigrant experience, our political struggles, and the culture that holds us together. These realities are often illustrated through expressive faces with eyes that command a strong gaze towards our shared struggles.
De Fantasías y Realidades brings together a selection of large-scale portable murals, paper mache sculptures and paintings that Daniel Camacho created over the last 25 years.
Fall Family Day on Saturday, October 15, 12pm-3pm will be a special celebration of Día de los Muertos. Kids of all ages and their grown-ups are invited to join us in the courtyard for art-making, dancing, music and more.
This free family event will feature a calaverita paper mache workshop led by artist Daniel Camacho, community altar, art making activities, live printing, art market and music.
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Top image: Daniel Camacho, Mexico te Ilevo adentro, 2004
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About Richmond Art Center
Richmond Art Center has been sharing art and creating with the community since 1936. Our programs encompass classes, exhibitions and events at our facility in downtown Richmond, as well as off-site activities that bring free, high-quality art making experiences to WCCUSD schools and community partners. richmondartcenter.org
Images (clockwise from top left): Daniel Camacho, De Fantasias y Realidades, 2022; Francisco Rojas, Pasando Regalos, Passing Gifts, 2022; Tiffany Conway, Your Soul Knows the Way, 2019; Daniel White, Secrets at Giza, 2022
Fall Exhibitions at Richmond Art Center
September – November 2022 Richmond Art Center 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804 Gallery Hours: Wed-Sat 10am-4pm Exhibitions and events are all free and open to the public
Main Gallery Exhibition Dates: September 14 – November 17, 2022 Opening Reception: Saturday, September 17, 12pm-2pm
Liberación Gráfica is a screen print collective whose practice is rooted in the Chicanx art tradition of revolutionary community print workshops. As artists-in-residence at Richmond Art Center, Liberación Gráfica worked alongside youth and community members to create prints that uplift local voices, and raise awareness of the struggles and resilience of the people of Richmond. These works have been printed live and distributed at events in Richmond including Low Rider Cruise Nights, Juneteenth Festival at Nicholl Park, the United Farm Workers march, and La Pulga Flea Market.
From the Pueblo, For the Pueblo is the culminating exhibition from Liberación Gráfica’s residency. Staying true to the concept that there is no liberation without community, Liberación Gráfica has also invited artists in the community to join them in presenting work that opens up conversations around ideas of liberation.
Community Gallery Exhibition Dates: September 14 – November 17, 2022 Opening Reception: Saturday, September 17, 12pm-2pm Calaverita Paper Mache Workshop led by Daniel Camacho: Saturday, October 8 & 15, 12pm-2pm
Daniel Camacho fuses elements of Mexican popular culture with the social and political experiences of his community, blending them together in images that blur lines between reality and fantasy. In particular, Camacho paints the immigrant experience, our political struggles, and the culture that holds us together. These realities are often illustrated through expressive faces with eyes that command a strong gaze towards our shared struggles.
De Fantasías y Realidades brings together a selection of large-scale portable murals, paper mache sculptures, and paintings that Daniel Camacho created over the last 25 years.
South Gallery Exhibition Dates: September 14 – November 17, 2022 Opening Reception: Saturday, September 17, 12pm-2pm Artist Talk: Saturday, October 1, 12pm-2pm
In honor of the 25th anniversary of Art of the African Diaspora, New Visions assembles a group of four emerging Bay Area artists whose work is on the cutting edge of their disciplines: Kim Champion, Tiffany Conway, Ashara Ekundayo and Bertrell Smith. These four artists employ painting, photography, collage, and vibrant color palettes to engage viewers in the fullness and vibrancy of Black expression. Though the artists work in different mediums and approaches to creating their artworks, New Visions places the works in dialogue with one another to demonstrate the diversity of artwork coming from emerging Black artists in the Bay Area.
New Visions is organized by Oakland-based artist, educator, and independent curator Demetri Broxton.
West Gallery Exhibition: September 28 – November 17, 2022 Opening Reception and Artist Walk Through: Sat, October 1, 12pm-2pm
Daniel White‘s abstract paintings bring to the foreground geometric forms, lines and color that reveal the intricacies of melanin and its power of connection.
White’s solo exhibition, Melanin: Color, Composition and Connection, invites the viewer to simultaneously look inwards, outwards and towards each other and reflect on the pigments that make up our world. Historically, color has shown to have the power to fragment and create differences between us, yet White’s paintings suggest that melanin has the power to bring us together in our common bonds. Through his abstracted compositions, White encourages us to challenge our perceptions and interpretations of color and in the process find connections that join us together beyond our degrees of melanin.
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About Richmond Art Center
Richmond Art Center has been sharing art and creating with the community since 1936. Our programs encompass classes, exhibitions and events at our facility in downtown Richmond, as well as off-site activities that bring free, high-quality art making experiences to WCCUSD schools and community partners. richmondartcenter.org
For more information contact: Amy Spencer, amy@richmondartcenter.org
Richmond Art Center Announces Artists-in-Residence Liberación Gráfica
Residency to include community screen printing events, summer youth class and a major exhibition
Richmond, CA: Richmond Art Center (RAC) is excited to announce Liberación Gráfica, a community-based art collective, as this year’s Artists-in-Residence. With major funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, Liberación Gráfica will lead two summer art programs that will engage Richmond youth and the greater Richmond community through hands-on screen printing workshops.
Beginning in mid-June Liberación Gráfica will be out in the community bringing screen printing to events and locations throughout Richmond (details and schedule below).
Additionally, Liberación Gráfica will teach a summer youth class at Richmond Art Center focused on screen printing through a social justice lens. Students will be introduced to basic materials and techniques of silkscreen printing, while choosing a theme that is related to community, culture, social justice, and/or societal issues. This six-week class is open to Richmond youth by referral.
The residency will culminate in a fall exhibition in Richmond Art Center’s Main Gallery showcasing work created by Richmond youth, Liberación Gráfica, and other invited community artists. The exhibition will run from September 13 through to November 17, 2022. Public programs tba.
Screen Printing in the Community: This summer Liberación Gráfica will be out in Richmond engaging youth and families at community events and local gathering places with live screen printing demonstrations. The prints will raise awareness to social issues faced in Richmond while reflecting the joy and resilience of the community. The goal of this project is to bring art directly to the people and inspire the community to engage with Richmond and each other through art.
Schedule: Liberación Gráfica at the Richmond Juneteenth Festival Saturday, June 18, 12pm-3pm Nicholls Park, 3230 Macdonald Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804
Liberación Gráfica at Low Rider Sundays Sunday, July 31 12pm-3pm 23rd Street Between Grant Avenue and Rheem Ave
Liberación Gráfica at Richmond Flea Market Sunday, August 21,12pm-3pm 716 W. Gertrude Avenue, Richmond, CA 94801
More dates and locations to be announced. If you are interested in inviting Liberación Gráfica to a community event this summer, please contact Roberto Martinez at roberto@richmondartcenter.org.
About the Artists-in-Residence: Liberación Gráfica is a community based art collective whose mission is to provide opportunities for self and community expression through silkscreen printing. The collective is made up of Richmond-based artists, teachers, and community organizers: Eddy Chacon, Lisette Vera, Daniel Cervantes and Francisco Rojas. Liberación Gráfica was established in 2019 and since has worked towards teaching youth the process of silkscreen printing through a social justice lens with the intention to bridge gaps between communities of color and bring awareness to social injustices faced by the Richmond community.
Images: (top artwork) Daniel Cervantes, Real G’s Grow Food, 2020, Screenprint; (above logo) Eddy Chacon, Liberación Gráfica Logo, 2022; (above photo) Liberación Gráfica printing at Richmond Art Center’s Family Day, May 2022
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About Richmond Art Center
Richmond Art Center has been sharing art and creating with the community since 1936. Our programs encompass classes, exhibitions and events at our facility in downtown Richmond, as well as off-site activities that bring free, high-quality art making experiences to WCCUSD schools and community partners. richmondartcenter.org
Announcing Richmond Art Center’s Summer Exhibitions
June – August 2022 Richmond Art Center 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804 Gallery Hours: Wed-Sat, 10am-4pm Exhibitions and events are all free and open to the public
South Gallery Exhibition Dates: June 22 – August 20, 2022 Reception: Saturday, June 18, 2pm-4pm
Collective Care Is Our Best Protection brings together a group of women artists who are at the forefront in activating public consciousness through muralism and printmaking. Created during the pandemic, the work on display illustrates the healing and protective power that resides in the act of collective care. Included are two large scale portable murals: one painted by Elaine Chu and Marina Perez-Wong from Twin Walls Mural Company; and the other painted by Keena Romano, Leslie Dime Lopez, Vanessa Agana Espinoza Solari and Yazmin Shi Shi Madriz. Complementing the murals is a series of collages and prints by Favianna Rodriguez.
West Gallery Exhibition Dates: June 8 – July 23, 2022 Reception: Saturday, June 18, 2pm-4pm Artist Talk: Saturday, July 9, 12pm-1pm
In his solo exhibition, The Eastern Shore, J.B. Broussard presents a selection of bronze sculptures, drawings and paintings that honors the legacy and expressions of freedom of the great 19th century abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass.
This exhibition is part of Art of the African Diaspora: Luminaries, a series of four solo exhibitions that shine a spotlight on the remarkable work of artists who have participated in Art of the African Diaspora but who have maintained an inconspicuous public image throughout their storied artistic careers.
Community Gallery Exhibition Dates: June 1 – August 20, 2022 Reception: Saturday, June 25, 2pm-4pm Collaborative Learning Circle: Saturday, July 30, 1:30pm-3:30pm
Women Weaving Stories is an exhibition of a newly released art zine created by members of Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA) an organization of Latina and Indigenous immigrant women with a dual mission of promoting personal transformation and building community power for social and economic justice. This project was done in partnership with NAKA Dance Theater. The zine was created by Latina and Indigenous immigrant women who came together in a series of collaborative learning circles where art was used as a medium to share stories, learn from each other, and give voice to their lived experiences as immigrant women in the United States. This exhibition is presented in Mam, Spanish and English. Oakland and the larger Bay Area is home to the largest Mam speaking community outside of Guatemala.
Main Gallery Exhibition Dates: June 22 – August 20, 2022 Reception: Saturday, June 18, 2pm-4pm How Emmy Lou Packard Made Her Prints (demo): Sat, July 16, 12pm-2pm Rebel Art: Emmy Lou Packard’s Legacy (panel): Fri, July 29, 6pm-7:30pm Film screening of Rivera In America: Thurs, August 11, 6:30pm-8:30pm Closing Reception Ft Great Tortilla Conspiracy: Sat, August 20, 12pm-2pm
Artist of Conscience explores the life and work of Emmy Lou Packard (1914-1998), a remarkable artist known for her paintings, prints and murals, as well as her activism. Packard’s linoleum prints celebrated ordinary people — their work, their history and their environment. Through artworks, photos and ephemera, the exhibition is be organized around key periods of Packard’s life. Packard was mentored by Diego Rivera and became his principal assistant on the mural he painted on Treasure Island for the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1940 (currently on view at SFMOMA). During WWII Packard worked at Kaiser shipyard’s newspaper, Fore ‘n’ Aft, in Richmond. Later in life, Packard mentored a generation of mostly female and Chicana artists in the Bay Area. She also led the movement to save the Mendocino headlands from development.
This exhibition is curated by Robbin Légère Henderson and Rick Tejada-Flores.
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Images (clockwise from top left): Twin Walls Mural Company, Protectors of the Sacred, Power: A Prayer for Buffalo Nation, 2020; Image: J.B. Broussard, The General, 2021; Emmy Lou Packard, Artichoke Picker (detail), circa 1955; J. Ramirez Pablo, Untitled, 2021
About Richmond Art Center
Richmond Art Center has been sharing art and creating with the community since 1936. Our programs encompass classes, exhibitions and events at our facility in downtown Richmond, as well as off-site activities that bring free, high-quality art making experiences to WCCUSD schools and community partners. richmondartcenter.org
For more information contact: Roberto Martinez, Curator, roberto@richmondartcenter.org
Richmond Art Center 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804 Gallery Hours: Wed-Sat, 10am-4pm
Richmond, CA: Richmond Art Center announces Artist of Conscience, an exhibition exploring the life and work of Emmy Lou Packard (1914-1998), a remarkable artist known for her paintings, prints and murals, as well as her activism.
Presenting artwork, photos and ephemera, and organized around key periods of Packard’s life, Artist of Conscience will tell the story of this remarkable, though over-looked, artist.
Packard was mentored by Diego Rivera and became his principal assistant on the mural he painted on Treasure Island for the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1940 (currently on view at SFMOMA). During WWII Packard worked at Kaiser shipyard’s newspaper in Richmond, Fore ‘n’ Aft, creating images that urged ending racial segregation and supported voting rights. After that, she turned to printmaking, creating portraits of workers, explorations of the joys of childhood, the beauty of nature and the importance of history. One of her signature images distributed around the world, Peace is a Human Right, shows three children, Asian, Black and White, seated around a sunflower. The message is framed in human terms — children are not political; they are just children. Later in life, Packard inspired and mentored a generation of mostly female and Chicana artists in the Bay Area. She also led the movement to save the Mendocino headlands from development.
This exhibition is curated by Robbin Légère Henderson and Rick Tejada-Flores.
Emmy Lou Packard: Artist of Conscience will be presented at the same time as SFMOMA’s exhibition Diego Rivera’s America (opening July 16, 2022), offering audiences the opportunity to learn about Packard’s mentor and understand her oeuvre within a broader artistic movement focused on social change and justice. Richmond Art Center is working in partnership with SFMOMA on a collaborative public program (to be announced).
The exhibition at Richmond Art Center is supported by funding from California Humanities and The Jay DeFeo Foundation. Collectors and organizations generously loaning work include Mendocino Art Center, and Emmy Lou Packard’s son Donald Cairns and granddaughter Shannon Cairns.
Exhibition and Public Programs Schedule
Exhibition and events are free to attend. All programs will take place at Richmond Art Center.
Emmy Lou Packard: Artist of Conscience Curated by Robbin Légère Henderson and Rick Tejada-Flores Exhibition Dates: June 22 – August 20, 2022
Open Reception Event Date: Saturday, June 18, 2pm-4pm
How Emmy Lou Packard Made Her Prints Demonstration of Packard’s press by master printer Art Hazelwood Event Date: Saturday, July 16, 12pm-2pm
Rebel Art: Emmy Lou Packard’s Legacy Artist panel moderated by art historian, curator and writer Terezita Romo Event Date: Friday, July 29, 6pm-7:30pm
Screening of Rivera In America (featuring interviews with Emmy Lou Packard) Film by Rick Tejada-Flores Event Date: Thursday, August 11, 6:30pm-8:30pm
Closing Reception with The Great Tortilla Conspiracy Featuring edible art inspired by Emmy Lou Packard Event Date: Saturday, August 20, 12pm-2pm
About the Curators
Rick Tejada-Flores is a documentary filmmaker whose works have explored art and politics, including profiles of Diego Rivera, Jasper Johns, Jose Clemente Orozco and Cesar Chavez. They have been shown on PBS, Sundance Channel, History en Español, and Channel 4 UK, and at the National Museum of American History and British Museum. Tejada-Flores printed for Packard in Mendocino, and remained a friend for the rest of her life.
Robbin Légère Henderson organized exhibitions focusing on art and politics as director and curator of Berkeley Art Center for 20 years. A graduate of U.C. Berkeley, Henderson has served as curator at Intersection for the Arts and was a co-founder of Southern Exposure Gallery. For 10 years she has freelanced as a curator and speaker on her illustrated history of a woman labor organizer in the 20th century.
About Richmond Art Center
Richmond Art Center has been sharing art and creating with the community since 1936. Our programs encompass classes, exhibitions and events at our facility in downtown Richmond, as well as off-site activities that bring free, high-quality art making experiences to WCCUSD schools and community partners. richmondartcenter.org
For more information contact: Amy Spencer, amy@richmondartcenter.org
Images: (top) Emmy Lou Packard, Artichoke Picker, circa 1955; (above left) Emmy Lou Packard, Peace is a Human Right, 1949; (above right) Diego River, Detail of Emmy Lou Packard in the Panamerican Unity mural, 1941
Diamela Cutiño, JB Broussard, Donna Gatson, Daniel W. White
Exhibition Dates: April 6 – May 21, 2022: Diamela Cutiño June 8 – July 23, 2022: JB Broussard August 3 – September 17, 2022: Donna Gatson September 28 – November 12, 2022: Daniel W. White
Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm Location: Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804
Richmond, CA: Richmond Art Center announces Luminaries, an exhibition series presented as part of the 25th Anniversary of Art of the African Diaspora, and an integral part of the year-long series of programs and exhibitions that commemorate this achievement.
Luminaries presents four solo exhibitions that shine a spotlight on the remarkable work of four artists who have participated in Art of the African Diaspora but who have maintained an inconspicuous public image throughout their storied artistic careers. The four artists featured are: Diamela Cutiño, JB Broussard, Donna Gatson and Daniel W. White. Each solo exhibition will have a unique curatorial focus and will provide a space for the artists to present newly commissioned work.
The exhibitions will be presented in Richmond Art Center’s West Gallery throughout the year on the following schedule: Nadie es ilegal en tierra robada: Photography by Diamela Cutiño, April 6 – May 21, 2022; The Eastern Shore: Work by JB Broussard, June 8 – July 23, 2022; Assemblages by Donna Gatson, August 3 – September 17, 2022; and Paintings by Daniel W. White, September 28 – November 12, 2022. Each exhibition will have its own reception and public program (t.b.a.).
Luminaries is generously funded by the East Bay Fund for Artists at the East Bay Community Foundation.
Top Images (clockwise from top left): Artwork by Diamela Cutiño, JB Broussard, Daniel W. White, and Donna Gatson
About the Artists:
Diamela Cutiño is a photographic storyteller born and raised in Havana, Cuba. Cutiño is most known for her work documenting Black existence. Cutiño’s most recent body of work documents Indigenous culture and the emotional and spiritual undertones of freedom movements.
JB Broussard is the second generation of his family to be born in Oakland. He began drawing at age of seven, took art classes during secondary school, and years later attended U.C. Berkeley as an Art major where he focused primarily on sculpture. After graduating from U.C. Berkeley he settled into a career in education. Now retired Broussard spends his time engaged in art projects. As a teenager he was exposed to the work of Charles White. Broussard describes the experience of viewing White’s work as “an awakening.” White’s dignified images of Black people had a lasting impact on him.
Donna Gatson is primarily a self-taught artist. She was born and raised on the Monterey Peninsula, with deep ties to the South and Southwest. Using mediums including watercolor, graphite pencil, metal and found objects, her work ranges from Black Country Folk Art, to a style she refers to as Afro/Deco Cubism. Gatson is one of the few African American jewelry silversmiths in the country. She was taught traditional Native silversmithing by renowned Hopi silversmith Gerald Lomaventema on the Hopi reservation. Gatson uses traditional techniques to create her own Afro, Asian, and Anasazi influenced designs in silver and copper jewelry.
Daniel W. White grew up in Kansas City, Missouri where he attended Kansas City Art Institute but did not finish his degree. He was determined to complete his education and enrolled in San Francisco Art Institute some 20 years later, earning a Bachelor of Fine Art degree in 2001, majoring in painting. White’s work runs the gamut from super realistic fine art portraits, abstract paintings, photography and writing. His current work is influenced by Josef Albers and Mark Rothko. Jacob Lawrence, J. M. W. Turner, as well as Henry Ossawa Tanner are among his favorite artists.
About Art of the African Diaspora: Established in 1996, Art of the African Diaspora is the longest running event of its kind in the Bay Area. Annually it supports hundreds of artists of African descent through representation (exhibitions and open studio opportunities), professional development, and building a creative community. In 1996 artists Jan Hart-Schuyers and Rae Louise Hayward established the event as The Art of Living Black at Richmond Art Center. After the deaths of Hart-Schuyers and Hayward, organizing efforts were carried on for many years by members of their families. Today, with a new name to reflect a new era, Art of the African Diaspora is organized by a steering committee of participating artists. www.aotad.org
About Richmond Art Center: Richmond Art Center has been sharing art and creating with the community since 1936. Our programs encompass classes, exhibitions and events at our facility in downtown Richmond, as well as off-site activities that bring free, high-quality art making experiences to WCCUSD schools and community partners. richmondartcenter.org
For more information contact: Roberto Martinez, Curator, roberto@richmondartcenter.org
Saturday, May 14, 12pm-3pm | FREE Richmond Art Center (courtyard), 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond Event webpage: richmondartcenter.org/familyday2022
Richmond, CA: Kids of all ages and their grown-ups are invited to Richmond Art Center’s Spring Family Day on Saturday, May 14, 12pm-3pm. This free, family event is an opportunity to celebrate the gifts of spring through art-making, dancing, and music.
Activities will include making clay flowers, live printing by Liberación Gráfica, succulent art planters, flower photo booth, and bomba dancing by Quenepas. Visitors will have an opportunity to work with Fencelines to contribute to a public art project, as well as meet the folk from Richmond Our Power Coalition to learn about organizing work around the environment and housing happening in Richmond.
Richmond Art Center is located at 2540 Barrett Avenue in Richmond.
Covid-19 Prevention: Mask wearing is a condition of entry to RAC’s galleries, studios and public indoor spaces. Vaccinations are strongly encouraged. Masks may be removed in our courtyard.
Thank you to Richmond Rotary Club for sponsoring this event.
About the Program and Participants:
Bomba by Quenepas: Bomba music and dance originated over 400 years ago in the sugar cane plantations of Puerto Rico where enslaved Africans played, sang, and danced to survive and to resist colonial oppression. Quenepas is a vibrant Puerto Rican Bomba music and dance youth ensemble that had its inception in 2008 at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley. Quenepas youth have been studying and performing under the direction of Hector Lugo and Shefali Shah for over 15 years and many of the youth have been involved in the practice of Bomba through observing and participating in community jams and performances with their families. Contact: bombaaguacero@gmail.com, 510-681-1036
Live Printing by Liberación Gráfica: Liberación Gráfica is a collective of young printmakers from Richmond whose members create work to uplift social justice, the Richmond community, and young voices. As educators the collective has developed a curriculum that helps young people engage in printmaking through exploring historical political posters and creating their own posters on topics they feel connected to. The collective has held multiple live screen printing workshops around the community at events, high schools, and local organizations like RYSE, Urban Tilth, APEN and Richmond Art Center.
Workshop by Fencelines: Join the Fencelines team for an art-making workshop to paint messages and stories about environmental justice onto colorful fence slats. Fencelines is a participatory art project that responds to the Chevron petroleum refinery. The project’s team are artists, designers and community organizers, who have collaborated for years on projects for urban environmental and infrastructural transformation here in Richmond.
Richmond Our Power Coalition: Special guests Richmond Our Power Coalition will have an information table set-up for folks to learn more about the work ROPC does in organizing around issues of the environment and housing here in Richmond.
Succulent Art Planters: Take home a spring succulent in an artful planter made by students at Richmond Art Center. These weird and wonderful creations can be yours for a small donation.
Amazing Clay Flowers: Join teaching artist Lauren Ari to sculpt and decorate clay flowers using air dry clay. Lauren Ari is a Richmond-based artist and educator.
Family Photo Booth: Rally your friends and family, strike a pose, and take home a special polaroid photo to remember Spring Family Day forever!
Pottery Demo with a Kick Wheel: Artist Colleen Garland will demonstrate the fun of throwing pottery on a kick wheel. Colleen grew up in Richmond and works as a potter and ceramics teacher at Richmond Art Center.
Gallery Search and Find: Have fun exploring Dewey Crumpler’s Crossings exhibition in the main gallery with a unique search and find activity. Find Pikachu, Miss Piggy and their friends to win prizes!
About Richmond Art Center: Richmond Art Center has been sharing art and creating with the community since 1936. Our programs encompass classes, exhibitions and events at our facility in downtown Richmond, as well as off-site activities that bring free, high-quality art making experiences to WCCUSD schools and community partners. richmondartcenter.org
For more information contact: Amy Spencer, amy@richmondartcenter.org
Images: Former Family Day fun at Richmond Art Center
Invention and prophecy in Dewey Crumpler’s shipping containers
Exhibition: April 6 – June 4, 2022 Reception: Saturday, April 2, 2pm-4pm Artist’s Talk: Saturday, April 30, 1pm
Gallery Hours: Thursday-Saturday, 10am-2pm Location: Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804
Richmond, CA: Richmond Art Center announces Dewey Crumpler: Crossings, the first survey of Dewey Crumpler’s shipping container series work to be exhibited in the Bay Area. The exhibition will include over 120 works that ask us to consider the history, lived legacy and future impact of the global shipping industry.
Dewey Crumpler: Crossings will present work from sketches to large scale paintings that show twenty-five years of investigation into the beauty and power of ribbed, metal cargo boxes. Growing up in the Bayview, Crumpler became interested in ports, especially the massive forms of shipping containers. As a young artist he often sketched plein air along the waterfront. Since the late 1990s, he has been developing his studies into paintings of containers that move between abstraction and representation. More recently Crumpler has added sequins, collage, gold leaf and pop cultural references to his work, suggesting the bling and flash of commodification, as well as spiritual awakening.
In Crumpler’s work shipping containers are dense metaphors; encompassing stories of mass migration, transformation and voyages destined to be repeated. They trace transatlantic trade routes that emerged in the 15th century and are still used today. They also show industry that has irrevocably shaped port cities like San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond. Through connecting historical and contemporary systems, time in Crumpler’s work becomes a loop of rebirth and decline pressed forward through the crossing of water. Crumpler explains, “At the heart of these works is memory.”
This exhibition was originally scheduled for spring 2020, but was postponed for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In this short time the world has seen financial crisis, climate disruption, global pandemic, and wars with no historical parallel, and Crumpler’s shipping containers have become even more prophetic; predicting the collapse of globalism and events that continue to shape the first decades of the 21st century.
Dewey Crumpler: Crossings will be on view in Richmond Art Center’s Main Gallery from April 6 through to June 4, 2022. An exhibition reception will be held on Saturday, April 2, 2pm-4pm, and an Artist’s Talk will be held on Saturday, April 30 starting at 1pm. Exhibition and events are free and open to the public. A print publication featuring a new essay by Thea Quiray Tagle will accompany the exhibition. Dewey Crumpler: Crossings is organized with assistance from Marguerite Thompson Browne.
About the Artist: Dewey Crumpler is an Associate Professor of painting at San Francisco Art Institute. His current work examines issues of globalization and cultural co-modification through the integration of digital imagery, video and traditional painting techniques. Crumpler’s works are in the permanent collections of the California African American Museum, Triton Museum of Art Los Angeles and Oakland Museum Of California. Crumpler has received the Flintridge Foundation Award, National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, as well as The Fleishhacker Foundation Fellowship Eureka Award. Collapse was Crumpler’s most recent exhibition at Seattle University’s Hedreen Gallery. He is represented by Jenkins Johnson Gallery. deweycrumpler.com
About Richmond Art Center: Richmond Art Center has been sharing art and creating with the community since 1936. Our programs encompass classes, exhibitions and events at our facility in downtown Richmond, as well as off-site activities that bring free, high-quality art making experiences to WCCUSD schools and community partners. richmondartcenter.org
Get creative and give creative this holiday season
Online and In-Person Activities | November & December 2021 Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA Event webpage: richmondartcenter.org/haf
Richmond, CA: Richmond Art Center invites creative gift-makers, holiday shoppers and art lovers to experience the 59th Annual Holiday Arts Festival!
In 2021 we’re getting into the holiday spirit over two months – November and December – with both in-person and online activities that celebrate the joy of making, discovering, and gifting arts and crafts.* With the Arts & Crafts Hub, Ceramics Sale, and free gift-making workshop series, the Holiday Arts Festival has something for everyone to get creative and give creative this holiday season.
Visit richmondartcenter.org/haf to view the workshop schedule, artist listings, and ceramic sale hours.
Online Arts & Crafts Hub
Online Artist Listings November 4 – December 31, 2021
The Arts & Crafts Hub is an online space for Bay Area artists and makers to share and/or sell their work during the holiday season. It is a retail space for holiday arts and crafts shopping, but it is more than that too! Local artists and makers share recent work, holiday specials, project links, posters for change, messages for peace, and more in this interactive catalog of Richmond Art Center’s creative community.
The Hub launches November 4! Interested artists should CLICK HERE to join.
Ceramics Sale
In-Person Ceramics Store at Richmond Art Center Thursdays and Saturdays, 10am-2pm, November 4 – November 20, 2021 Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA
Our popular Ceramics Sale is back in-person this year with an opportunity to shop local and handmade for your holiday gifts! Stop by Richmond Art Center anytime during gallery hours from November 4 through to November 20 and purchase beautiful and usable ceramics. All items are made by our students, teachers and friends. The Ceramics Sale will be set up in our galleries and new pieces will be added weekly.
All sales benefit Richmond Art Center.
Make a Gift That Brings Joy
Free Workshops Online and In-Person Workshop announcements and registration links coming soon!
Is there anything more special than receiving a holiday gift that is handmade by the person giving it to you? This free workshop series is designed for folks who need a nudge towards starting their holiday craft gift projects.
Covid-19 Prevention: Mask wearing and signing a Visitor Waiver is a condition of entry to Richmond Art Center. We track attendee numbers to ensure spaces do not get too crowded. See RAC’s website for more information about what we are doing to prevent the spread of Covid-19: richmondartcenter.org/about/covid
* In-person activities are subject to change based on Covid-19 developments. Please check Richmond Art Center’s website before planning your visit to RAC. Due to the ongoing uncertainties of the Covid-19 pandemic the annual in-person vendor fair will not be happening this year.
For more information contact: Amy Spencer amy@richmondartcenter.org
About Richmond Art Center: Richmond Art Center has been sharing art and creating with the community since 1936. Our programs encompass classes, exhibitions and events at our facility in downtown Richmond, as well as off-site activities that bring free, high-quality art making experiences to WCCUSD schools and community partners. richmondartcenter.org