BAY AREA PAINTER SQUEAK CARNWATH PRESENTS WORK WITH FORMER STUDENT DRU ANDERSON IN RICHMOND ART CENTER FALL 2016 EXHIBITION PROGRAM
From September 13 through November 12, the Richmond Art Center will highlight 14 established and nationally known artists, including Christopher Brown, Squeak Carnwath, Enrique Chagoya, Lia Cook, Allan deSouza, Mildred Howard, James Melchert, Hung Liu, Richard Misrach, Richard Shaw, William T. Wiley, and Wanxin Zhang.
RICHMOND, CA — AUGUST 10, 2016 — In celebration of the Richmond Art Center’s 80th anniversary this year, the Art Center’s major Fall exhibition, Making Our Mark, highlights some very special relationships that have nurtured artists and sustained this creative environment. Examining the teacher – student bonds and connection, Making Our Mark looks closely at the work of the mature, long-established practices of notable Bay Area artists, including the painter Squeak Carnwath and her former student Dru Anderson. In a vastly divergent choice in scale – from Carnwath’s monumental painting, Big Tiny – to the intimate small page of Anderson’s pastel rendering, In Five Years I, the mutual sympathy between the works is palpable. Both artists record the impact of life on their musings, their standing in their worlds, and their emotional commitment to being present, open, and self-revelatory.
“It takes a special generosity of spirit for an artist to be a committed teacher,”says Jan Wurm, Richmond Art Center’s Director of Exhibitions. “Stepping out of one’s studio practice to share one’s insights and understanding of our culture and the times we live in, being open to the particular perspective of a young artist, and guiding their artistic impulses in a supportive way—these aspects demand great skill and energy. It is a very privileged position for a young artist to be the recipient of such considered attention and it is also a sign of a profound sympathy that opens this exchange.”
Left:
Squeak Carnwath Big Tiny Oil and alkyd on canvas over panel, 2012 75 x 65 in. Photo credit: M. Lee Fatherree
Right:
Dru Anderson Five Years I Chalk pastel on paper, 2016 13 x 18 ½ in. Photo credit: Courtesy of the Artist
Carnwath and Anderson will participate in one of the Making Our Mark Artists’ Talks related to the exhibition, where they will discuss their individual practices and how they have experienced the teacher/student relationship and the importance of the guidance and support. This event will take place in the Richmond Art Center’s Main Gallery on Saturday, November 5 at 2 pm and is free to the public. For more information on the event, please visit: https://richmondartcenter.org/event/making-mark-artists-talk-2/
From September 13 through November 12 in three galleries, Marking Our Mark will highlight 14 established and nationally known artists who have supported, and enriched the programs and exhibitions at the Art Center over many years. These artists include Christopher Brown, Squeak Carnwath, Enrique Chagoya, Lia Cook, Allan deSouza, Mildred Howard, James Melchert, Hung Liu, Richard Misrach, Richard Shaw, William T. Wiley, and Wanxin Zhang, artists who reflect various philosophies and media (painting, ceramics, fiber, sculpture, and photography). The opening reception for this exhibition will take place on Saturday, September 10, from 5-7 pm. For more information about this exhibition, please visit: https://richmondartcenter.org/exhibitions/making-our-mark/
To learn more about the Art Center’s 80th Anniversary, including the 80th Anniversary Gala celebration, please visit: https://richmondartcenter.org/making-mark-80th-anniversary/ The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog of artwork and interpretation by the Director of Exhibitions, Jan Wurm. The complete list of artists included in Making Our Mark are Dru Anderson, Megan Atherton, Christopher Brown, Ethan Caflisch, Squeak Carnwath, Enrique Chagoya, Lia Cook, Sofia Córdova, Yvette Deas, Allan deSouza, Nathan Dollarhite, Michael Hall, Scott Hewitt, Mildred Howard, Hung Liu, Nicholas Makanna, Bruce McGaw, James Melchert, Richard Misrach, Kate Nartker, Deborah Oropallo, Shari Paladino, Johanna Poethig, Richard Shaw, Ehren Tool, Mary Hull Webster, William T. Wiley, and Wanxin Zhang.
About the Richmond Art Center:
The Richmond Art Center is the largest visual arts center in the East Bay, delivering exciting arts experiences to young and old alike who reflect the diverse richness of our community. The Art Center features hands-on learning, well-equipped studios, Art in the Community programs and contemporary exhibitions in its galleries.
Every year, the Richmond Art Center serves thousands of students through classes and programs taught by professional artists, both onsite at the Art Center and at sites throughout Richmond. The Art Center’s four galleries mount rotating exhibitions that display the works of emerging and established Bay Area artists. Artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, Jay DeFeo, Wanxin Zhang, Hung Liu, William Wiley and Peter Voulkos have been showcased here.
Now celebrating its 80th anniversary, the Richmond Art Center originated in 1936, when local artist Hazel Salmi, who worked for the WPA, traversed the streets of Richmond with a suitcase packed with art supplies, eager to teach art to anyone interested. Today, everything at the Art Center continues to breathe life into Salmi’s original vision: That within every person lives an artist.
Two historic Richmond organizations are celebrating their ongoing, creative connection in this 80th year anniversary of the Richmond Art Center. For the past several years, the Art Center has partnered with Rosie’s Girls, a program designed to help girls build self-esteem, leadership skills, and physical confidence through an exploration of trades and non-traditional activities. The Rosie’s Girls program is part of the Rosie the Riveter Trust.
This summer, six local girls involved in the program learned the power and practicality of involving art in their lives. They participated in a Marketing and Design workshop taught by teaching artist Dawn Gonzales. The girls, primarily from low-income families in Richmond, spent three hours a week for four weeks and learned everything from creative brainstorming and design skills to concept implementation and production.
“We covered new ground such as using graphic design software, message marketing and copywriting to incorporate the girls’ personal experiences into a branded promotional pop-up exhibit,” says Gonzales. “We learned to exercise resourcefulness, plan ahead, embrace our own uniquely creative ideas, and collaborate closely while having a lot of fun. It was an honor to work with these young women, our future leaders.”
One foundation of the RAC’s success is that it believes that art is a critically important tool to for any child’s education, but especially in the K-12 years because of the thinking and creative skills it teaches. Once a child has the ability to think like an artist she can apply those abilities to almost any career she pursues and that’s why the Art Center is enthusiastic about one of its other popular programs – the STEAM camps and classes offered (science, technology, engineering, art, math) through our Art in the Community program. The Art Center has adapted the well known STEM program and added the “A” to it, believing that the arts are vital to an integrated academic learning experience.
The Art Center’s screenprinting teaching artist Joyce Shon has worked with 30 Rosies for the past four summers, as a team with artist Monica Gyulai. Shon explains, “The girls come to us at the beginning of the program to print tee shirts. One side has the Rosie’s Girls logo, to let everyone know that they are part of a team, and the other side has all of their names, expressed in their own hand, to remind them of their individuality. They learn the basics of screen printing, but also how to work together as a team.”
In general, the screenprinting class works with two groups of about fifteen girls. each group for one day. Some girls return for a second year, and Shon remarks, “Something I’ve noted is that they come back the second year with so much confidence and grace, and so willing to recall the skills they learned and help the newcomers. I credit the Rosies program with teaching the girls good values, teamwork and leadership as well as useful physical skills. Seeing that keeps me coming back for each new group of girls. Oh, that and seeing the delight and surprise of pulling that first print.”
Our Studio Education coordinator Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo has a unique relationship to Rosie’s Girls: “It made my day to see two of my favorite Bay Area organizations (Rosie’s Girls Trust and Richmond Art Center) partner together to create such incredible work, that both honors the history of Richmond and looks upon the future. As a Rosie’s Girls Alumna and member of the RAC Education team, this is the kind of partnership and outcome I strive for and am so happy to witness it! It has been a joy to be a part of this project and watch it from start to finish. I look forward to planning future programming with these talented young women and continuing to work with the Rosie the Riveter Trust.”
We want to highlight that on Saturday, August 13th at 10 am, the National Park Service, in coordination with the Rosie the Riveter Trust, City of Richmond, and Richmond Museum Association, will be hosting the second Rosie Rally in the Craneway Pavilion, attempting to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest number of people dressed up as Rosie the Riveter since World War II. The record was set last year with 1,084 people, and the organization hopes to do it again this year with a goal of 5,000 participants. The rally event recognizes and commemorates the important work women – and all workers – did on the Home Front during World War II, and many original Rosies will be there to participate and cheer on the younger generations.
The Rally will be followed by the annual Home Front Festival, which will be held in Marina Bay Park from 12 noon to 4 PM. A “parade of Rosies” will walk along the Bay Trail after the Rally to Marina Bay Park, where there will be music, food, vendors, and fun activities during the afternoon.
Our special Rosie’s Girls Pop-Up exhibit booth that was designed and produced by Dawn Gonzales’ class this summer will be set up at the event, so we encourage you to stop by and say hello.
During this 80th anniversary year, what’s especially notable is that the RAC’s participation with Rosie’s Girls not only adds to the strength and depth of the Art Center’s program offerings; it hearkens back to our founding history. The RAC originated in 1936, when local artist Hazel Salmi, who worked for the WPA, rode her bicycle throughout Richmond, with a suitcase full of art supplies, eager to teach art to anyone interested including the women working at shipyards and factories during the war. This partnership with Rosie’s Girls is a continuation of Salmi’s original vision: That within every person lives an artist.
THE RICHMOND ART CENTER PRESENTS FALL 2016 EXHIBITION PROGRAM IN CONJUNCTION WITH 80TH ANNIVERSARY: MAKING OUR MARK and MARKING NEW PATHS
In conjunction with its 80th Anniversary, the Richmond Art Center will present two important companion exhibitions that celebrate the legacy of the Art Center as well as look to the future of art and emerging artists in the Bay Area.
RICHMOND, CA — July 22, 2016 — In celebration of its 80th anniversary and continuous service to the Richmond community and the greater Bay Area, the Richmond Art Center is preparing a major 2016 Fall exhibition, Making Our Mark. From September 13 through November 12 in three galleries, the exhibition will highlight 14 established and nationally known artists who have supported, and enriched the programs and exhibitions at the Art Center over the years. Included among these artists who reflect various philosophies and media (painting, ceramics, fiber, sculpture, and photography) are Christopher Brown, Squeak Carnwath, Enrique Chagoya, Lia Cook, Allan deSouza, Mildred Howard, James Melchert, Hung Liu, Richard Misrach, Richard Shaw, William T. Wiley, and Wanxin Zhang. The opening reception for these exhibitions will take place on Saturday, September 10, from 5-7 pm.
Consistent with the Art Center’s history and mission — to give voice to new artists and open the galleries to new visions, the Art Center has requested that each of these invited artists identify a younger artist whom they have taught or mentored, or whose work they believe should be shown and promoted. The works by these 28 artists represent both current and future generations of artistic voices.
The Art Center has given many artists their first major exhibitions, helping establish the careers that have supported these artists to become the core of the Bay Area art community — exhibiting, teaching, mentoring, and lighting a path for emerging artists. For today’s younger artists, Making Our Mark presents one of the first major showings of their work. This exhibition places the work of these fresh voices in a historical context with the Art Center.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog of artwork and interpretation by the Director of Exhibitions, Jan Wurm. The complete list of artists included in Making Our Mark are Dru Anderson, Megan Atherton, Christopher Brown, Ethan Caflisch, Squeak Carnwath, Enrique Chagoya, Lia Cook, Sofia Córdova, Yvette Deas, Allan deSouza, Nathan Dollarhite, Michael Hall, Scott Hewitt, Mildred Howard, Hung Liu, Nicholas Makanna, Bruce McGaw, James Melchert, Richard Misrach, Kate Nartker, Deborah Oropallo, Shari Paladino, Johanna Poethig, Richard Shaw, Ehren Tool, Mary Hull Webster, William T. Wiley, and Wanxin Zhang.
In conjunction with the exhibition Making Our Mark, the Richmond Art Center has also invited Allan deSouza, Professor and Chair of the Department of Art Practice, University of California Berkeley, to guest curate an exhibition, Marking New Paths, in the Community Gallery. The exhibition will include 12 current MFA candidates presenting new works under the self-directed organization of the student cohort.
A number of talks by the artists and art critics regarding the work in the exhibition are planned during the course of the exhibition. The Del Sol String Quartet will also perform in the galleries, interpreting the work through their music and will conduct workshops for elementary, middle, and high school students. Please visit the Richmond Art Center’s website https://richmondartcenter.org/events/ for a full detail of activities and events relating to these exhibitions.
The Fall exhibitions are sponsored by BLICK Art Materials, Mechanics Bank, Jacobs & CO, and Susan and Steven Chamberlin.
About the Richmond Art Center:
The Richmond Art Center is the largest visual arts center in the East Bay, delivering exciting arts experiences to young and old alike who reflect the diverse richness of our community. The Art Center features hands-on learning, well-equipped studios, Art in the Community programs and contemporary exhibitions in its galleries.
Every year, the Richmond Art Center serves thousands of students through classes and programs taught by professional artists, both onsite at the Art Center and at sites throughout Richmond. The Art Center’s four galleries mount rotating exhibitions that display the works of emerging and established Bay Area artists. Artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, Jay DeFeo, Wanxin Zhang, Hung Liu, William Wiley and Peter Voulkos have been showcased here.
The Richmond Art Center originated in 1936, when local artist Hazel Salmi, who worked for the WPA, traversed the streets of Richmond with a suitcase packed with art supplies, eager to teach art to anyone interested. Today, everything at the Art Center continues to breathe life into Salmi’s original vision: That within every person lives an artist.
THE RICHMOND ART CENTER ANNOUNCES THREE COMPANION EXHIBITIONS FOR SUMMER PROGRAMMING
RICHMOND, CA — MAY 19, 2016 — From June 12 – August 26, 2016, the Richmond Art Center features three distinctive exhibitions in its summer programming: Terry St. John: Close Views & Distant Vistas, the Annual Members Exhibition, and the juried show Our Town. In conjunction with the exhibitions, the Art Center will offer several free public programs including a series of artists’ talks. The opening reception for all three exhibitions will take place at the Art Center on Saturday, June 11 from 5 to 7pm.
In the SOUTH GALLERY—TERRY ST. JOHN: CLOSE VIEWS & DISTANT VISTAS
This exhibition gives the viewer a deep look into the studio life of Bay Area painter Terry St. John. Building figures formed from the air that surrounds them in a space that expands, contracts, and at times, merges with the body, these works present a profound exploration of light and shadow. Maintaining strong ties to Bay Area traditions, St. John has pursued a visual journey investigating his personal view of our world. As represented in his vigorous practice, the paint itself brings forth body or bay, house or hill. The Terry St. John Artist Talk will take place on Saturday, June 18, from noon to 2 pm and is free to the public.
In the MAIN AND WEST GALLERIES: ANNUAL MEMBERS EXHIBITION
The Annual Members Exhibition shares the sights and textures of the diverse work of the Art Center’s members. Four spotlight artists have been invited to exhibit in greater depth: Francesca Borgatta, Susan Spann, John Wehrle, and Erin M. Wheeler. The Members Spotlight talk will take place on Saturday, June 25 from noon to 2 pm and is free to the public.
In the COMMUNITY GALLERY: OUR TOWN
While reflecting on the 80th Anniversary at the Richmond Art Center, the open call for Our Town asked for views, impressions and thoughts on what makes a place unique, what gives a place its identity, what meaning can be drawn from an experience, association, or memory. Gallerist Jack Fischer juried the submissions to conjure a panorama of our town, your town, a better town.
Images (top to bottom):
Terry St. John, Model in Red, oil on canvas, 2014
Rik Ritchey, Refugio Bay Apocalypse V, Acrylic, collage, oil on paper, 2015
John Werle, Trout Chair, For my father, painted wood, found chair, 2013
About the Richmond Art Center: The Richmond Art Center is the largest visual arts center in the East Bay, delivering exciting arts experiences to over 20,000 visitors, students and artists who reflect the diverse richness of our community. The Art Center features hands-on learning, well-equipped studios, traveling Art in the Community programs and contemporary exhibitions in its galleries.
Every year, the Richmond Art Center serves thousands of students through classes and programs taught by professional artists, both onsite at the Art Center and at sites throughout Richmond. The Art Center’s four galleries mount rotating exhibitions that display the works of emerging and established Bay Area artists. Artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, Jay DeFeo, Wanxin Zhang, David Park, Mildred Howard, Hung Liu, Bella Feldman and Peter Voulkos have been showcased here.
The Richmond Art Center originated in 1936, when local artist Hazel Salmi, who worked for the WPA, traversed the streets of Richmond with a suitcase packed with art supplies, eager to teach art to anyone interested. Today, everything at the Art Center continues to breathe life into Salmi’s original vision: That within every person lives an artist.
Please visit the Richmond Art Center’s website https://richmondartcenter.org for a full detail of activities and events relating to these exhibitions.
Contact:
Jessica Parker, Communications/Marketing Director jparker@richmondartcenter.org 510-620-6780
The Richmond Art Center Honored with NobleCause Grant to Foster Volunteerism
RICHMOND, CA–March 24, 2016– The Richmond Art Center is pleased to announce that they have been awarded a $6500 grant through NobleCause, a national grant competition mobilizing volunteers to address the greatest challenges facing their local communities.
These funds will support The Richmond Art Center’s efforts to create a more visible presence of the Richmond Community in their volunteer program, and to make the program, and its benefits, more accessible to the community at large. The center will elect a board of empowered volunteer leaders, a governance team, who will be essential in creating new goals for the volunteer program and in deciding new recruitment and retention strategies. The governance team, with the support of the Art Center’s volunteer coordinator, will implement these new goals and strategies to achieve a volunteer body that is more representative of the Richmond community.
In order to ensure success, each volunteer leader will attend two professional development courses on volunteer management and conduct site visits to volunteer programs that have a successful, diverse volunteer program. The implementation of this governance team will not only help to diversify and increase the center’s volunteer base, but allow volunteers to foster skills such as leadership, public outreach and community development. The governance team will give a voice to the center’s volunteers, and will become a permanent fixture that represents the interests and concerns of all those who volunteer at The Richmond Art Center.
NobleCause is made possible by a donor within the GiveWell Community Foundation and organized by NobleHour.com, a volunteer management tool that promotes a culture of civic engagement and charts meaningful acts of goodness. For more than a decade, NobleHour has been connecting and equipping thousands of schools, non-profit agencies, and organizations to shape well-rounded students and service leaders, build better communities, and measure their collective impact.
In total, the NobleCause competition awarded $1,000,000 in grant, recognizing 100 organizations at the $6500 level, and seven organizations at the $50,000 level. All grant recipients demonstrated a remarkable ability to raise community awareness, foster partnerships, and cultivate leaders who take action.
“We set out to encourage communities throughout the country to tell us their big, sustainable ideas to inspire quality volunteerism, “says Wesley Barnett, managing partner for TreeTop Commons and NobleHour. “By organizing volunteers to address local concerns, NobleCause award recipients are defining social responsibility right in their own communities.”
About the Richmond Art Center: The Richmond Art Center is the largest visual arts center in the East Bay, delivering exciting arts experiences to young and old alike who reflect the diverse richness of our community. The Art Center features hands-on learning, well-equipped studios, traveling Art in the Community programs and contemporary exhibitions in its galleries.
Every year, the Richmond Art Center serves thousands of students through classes and programs taught by professional artists, both onsite at the Art Center and at sites throughout Richmond. The Art Center’s four galleries mount rotating exhibitions that display the works of emerging and established Bay Area artists. Artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, Jay DeFeo, Wanxin Zhang, Hung Liu, Ed Rossbach and Peter Voulkos have been showcased here.
The Richmond Art Center originated in 1936, when local artist Hazel Salmi, who worked for the WPA, traversed the streets of Richmond with a suitcase packed with art supplies, eager to teach art to anyone interested. Today, everything at the Art Center continues to breathe life into Salmi’s original vision: That within every person lives an artist.
Please visit the Richmond Art Center’s websitehttps://richmondartcenter.org for a full detail of activities and events.
THE RICHMOND ART CENTER ANNOUNCES THE WEST CONTRA COSTA UNIFIED SCHOOL (WCCUSD) STUDENT ART SHOW
The Richmond Art Center has hosted this exhibition for more than 50 years, which features the work of over 300 local schoolchildren.
RICHMOND, CA — MARCH 16, 2016 — In collaboration with the West Contra Costa School District (WCCUSD), the Richmond Art Center will present the annual West Contra Costa Unified School District Art Show in its Community Gallery.
The Richmond Art Center has a prosperous and long-standing 51-year partnership with the WCCUSD, and this year there are over 300 works of various media and subject matter on displayrepresenting the creative artistic talents of students from middle and high schools throughout the school district. The Art Center and WCCUSD share an ongoing vision that art education is a crucial component of a thriving and productive society.
There will be a special reception honoring the students and art teachers on Thursday, April 14 from 5-7 pm, which will be free and open to the public.
In addition, numerous art awards will be given out by the Richmond Art Center, the El Sobrante Art Guild, and other community members for the students’ artistic talent and originality.
The West Contra Costa Unified School District has generously sponsored the annual student exhibition.
The student show coincides with the Art Center’s featured exhibitions: David Park: Personal Perspective and The Human Spirit: Contemporary Figuration as an Expression of Humanism focusing on the historical and aesthetic development of Bay Area’s figurative art over the past 60 years.
About the Richmond Art Center: The Richmond Art Center is the largest visual arts center in the East Bay, delivering exciting arts experiences to people of all ages, reflecting the diverse richness of our community. The Art Center features contemporary exhibitions in four galleries hundreds of classes and workshops in its well-equipped six studios, and delivers these same experiences throughout the Community in the schools, community centers and the Richmond Public Library.
This year, the Richmond Art Center serves nearly four thousand students through classes and programs taught by professional artists, both on site at the Art Center and at numerous sites throughout Richmond.
The Richmond Art Center originated in 1936, when local artist Hazel Salmi, who traversed the streets of Richmond with a suitcase packed with art supplies, eager to teach art to anyone interested. Today, the Art Center continues to breathe life into Salmi’s original vision: That within every person lives an artist.
Please visit the Richmond Art Center’s website https://richmondartcenter.org for a full detail of activities and events relating to these exhibitions.
Contact:
Jessica Parker, Communications/Marketing Director jparker@richmondartcenter.org 510-620-6780
To download a PDF of this press release, click here.
THE RICHMOND ART CENTER EXHIBITION FEATURES REFLECTIVE WORKS OF VIOLA FREY AND JUAN CARLOS QUINTANA IN THE HUMAN SPIRIT: CONTEMPORARY FIGURATION AS AN EXPRESSION OF HUMANISM
In conjunction with our 80th anniversary, the Richmond Art Center will present two important companion exhibitions that trace the human figure as vehicle in Bay Area art.
RICHMOND, CA — FEBRUARY 29, 2016 — As the Richmond Art Center reflects on its 80th Anniversary, appreciation for our rich history of artists and exhibitions illuminates current art practices and the shape and form of contemporary visual exploration. These influences on visual language and culture are revealed in the exhibition, The Human Spirit: Contemporary Figuration as an Expression of Humanism.
In particular, the autobiographical work of Joan Brown and Viola Frey stand as beacons to the younger artist striking out on a personal path peripheral to the mainstream and in pursuit of identity and place in the world. The challenges of treading new interior territory have been met by new voices including Lava Thomas in her portrayals of her Grandmother or her close friend and mentor, Mildred Howard, in which hair provides a vocabulary for identity. Similarly, Juan Carlos Quintana faces desolation and mortality with repetition and aggregation in a shared intensity of focus.
The Human Spirit: Contemporary Figuration as an Expression of Humanism runs from March 19 – May 22, 2016, and will focus on the historical and aesthetic development of Bay Area figurative art over the past 60 years. In conjunction with the exhibition, the Art Center will offer enlightening public programs including performance, video, music, and a series of talks.
The Spring exhibitions are sponsored by Artists’ Legacy Foundation, Blick Art Materials, Susan and Steven Chamberlin, James Curtis III, Richard Diebenkorn Foundation, Nina and Claude Gruen, Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson Charitable Foundation, Jacobs & CO., Oliver and Company, and Zellerbach Family Foundation.
About the Richmond Art Center: The Richmond Art Center is the largest visual arts center in the East Bay, delivering exciting arts experiences to young and old alike who reflect the diverse richness of our community. The Art Center features hands-on learning, well-equipped studios, traveling Art in the Community programs and contemporary exhibitions in its galleries.
Every year, the Richmond Art Center serves thousands of students through classes and programs taught by professional artists, both onsite at the Art Center and at sites throughout Richmond. The Art Center’s four galleries mount rotating exhibitions that display the works of emerging and established Bay Area artists. Artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, Jay DeFeo, Wanxin Zhang, Hung Liu, Ed Rossbach and Peter Voulkos have been showcased here.
The Richmond Art Center originated in 1936, when local artist Hazel Salmi, who worked for the WPA, traversed the streets of Richmond with a suitcase packed with art supplies, eager to teach art to anyone interested. Today, everything at the Art Center continues to breathe life into Salmi’s original vision: That within every person lives an artist.
Please visit the Richmond Art Center’s website https://richmondartcenter.org for a full detail of activities and events relating to these exhibitions.
Contact:
Jessica Parker, Communications/Marketing Director jparker@richmondartcenter.org 510-620-6780
DAVID PARK: PERSONAL PERSPECTIVES and THE HUMAN SPIRIT: CONTEMPORARY FIGURATION AS AN EXPRESSION OF HUMANISM
In conjunction with our 80th anniversary, the Richmond Art Center will present two important companion exhibitions that trace the human figure as vehicle in Bay Area art.
RICHMOND, CA — JANUARY 29, 2016 — From March 19 – May 22, 2016, dual exhibitions David Park: Personal Perspectives and The Human Spirit: Contemporary Figuration as an Expression of Humanism will focus on the historical and aesthetic development of Bay Area figurative art over the past 60 years. In conjunction with the exhibitions, the Art Center will offer enlightening public programs including performance, video, music, and a series of talks.
Jan Wurm, Exhibitions Director at the Richmond Art Center explains, “These complimentary and concurrent exhibitions establish a bridge from David Park as the catalyst for the development of Bay Area Figurative Art to the activities of contemporary artists who move between painting, drawing, sculpture, and photography to explore issues of figuration, identity, and humanistic perspectives.”
David Park: Personal Perspectives contains 37 works on paper in various media executed from the 1930s through 1960, the last year of Park’s life. Drawn from the artist’s estate and private collections, this exhibition includes works shown for the first time. Presented in the intimate South Gallery at the Richmond Art Center, visitors will have an unique opportunity to study his space, compositions, and very personal narratives.
David Park produced a late body of work extraordinary for its focus and direction. In a sharp shift from abstraction to figuration. Park’s move stands out as a re-orientation of radical proportion. Yet it is as a teacher and mentor that Park presides as the cornerstone of an entire art movement and perspective, which came to be known as Bay Area Figurative Art in the 1950s.
During those years, the Richmond Art Center mounted a series of pivotal exhibitions and workshops highlighting the figurative Bay Area artists through a series of exhibitions and programs. These programs provided a platform for several emerging artists to launch their careers. The Richmond Art Center was an important venue for David Park, Richard Diebenkorn, Elmer Bischoff, and other emerging artists active in their time.
Park set the stage and inspired his cohorts and the generations since to follow the singular and diverse impulses evident in figurative art explored in the drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, and performance represented in the Art Center’s companion exhibition, The Human Spirit.
The exhibition The Human Spirit: Contemporary Figuration as an Expression of Humanism bridges the Art Center’s historical role in presenting formative exhibitions of the Bay Area Figurative artists in the 1950s, The Human Spirit will extend our consideration of legacy to the work of over 20 contemporary Bay Area artists who have expanded the figurative art tradition through paintings, sculpture, photography, video, and performance. This survey will include the work of Elmer Bischoff, Joan Brown, Terry St. John, Christopher Brown, Charles Garabedian, Viola Frey, and Enrique Chagoya. Following a highly personal path with exuberant use of materials and iconography, these artists have forged visual language built on vocabularies including folk, medieval, aboriginal, and outsider art.
Pursuing other modes of autobiography, social commentary, and cultural reflection, the sculpture, film, video, and performance of Lava Thomas, Kota Ezawa, Farley Gwazda, and Allan deSouza draw the painted dialogue into other media. From the intimacy of the photography of Judy Dater, Katy Grannan, and Richard Misrach, to the beading and capturing of images in the memorial hangings of Taraneh Hemami, the myriad manifestations of the human visage and the human spirit for survival extend this exhibition beyond the personal or the domestic. In a time of social, economic, and environmental instability, the art employing the human figure to illuminate the struggles and spirit of contemporary life is of greater power and significance than it has been in nearly a century.
Throughout the duration of the exhibitions, the Richmond Art Center will present a series of public programs. This program includes a discussion with Helen Park Bigelow, daughter of the artist, a plein air workshop exploring gouache and watercolor while referencing David Park, and a session for contemporary artists to draw from the model while referencing David Park’s approach to the figure. A roundtable discussion with artists exhibited in The Human Spirit will establish contemporary concerns and visual approaches in the fluid movement across diverse media.
The Spring exhibitions are sponsored by Artists’ Legacy Foundation,Blick Art Materials, Susan and Steven Chamberlin, James Curtis III, Richard Diebenkorn Foundation, Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson Charitable Foundation, Jacobs & CO., Oliver and Company, and Zellerbach Family Foundation.
The Richmond Art Center is the largest visual arts center in the East Bay, delivering exciting arts experiences to young and old alike who reflect the diverse richness of our community. The Art Center features hands-on learning, well-equipped studios, traveling Art in the Community programs and contemporary exhibitions in its galleries.
Every year, the Richmond Art Center serves thousands of students through classes and programs taught by professional artists, both onsite at the Art Center and at sites throughout Richmond. The Art Center’s four galleries mount rotating exhibitions that display the works of emerging and established Bay Area artists. Artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, Jay DeFeo, Wanxin Zhang, Hung Liu, Ed Rossbach and Peter Voulkos have been showcased here.
The Richmond Art Center originated in 1936, when local artist Hazel Salmi, who worked for the WPA, traversed the streets of Richmond with a suitcase packed with art supplies, eager to teach art to anyone interested. Today, everything at the Art Center continues to breathe life into Salmi’s original vision: That within every person lives an artist.
Please visit the Richmond Art Center’s website https://richmondartcenter.org for a full detail of activities and events relating to these exhibitions.
Contact:
Jessica Parker, Communications/Marketing Director jparker@richmondartcenter.org 510-620-6780
Doors Open Saturday, December 5 at 11 a.m. Shop for unique, handmade ceramics, arts and crafts gifts and fine art while supporting the oldest, largest visual arts center in the East Bay.
RICHMOND, CA — Mon., Nov. 9, 2015—On Saturday, December 5, 2015, the largest community event and fundraiser for the Richmond Art Center returns for its 53rd year, offering visitors a chance to buy unique holiday gifts from local arts and crafts vendors, enjoy holiday food and beverages, and participate in auctions, raffles, and creative art-making activities for the whole family. The Festival’s gift sale runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and its live auction of fine art and unique life experiences will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.at the Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond.
The Holiday Arts Festival kicks off with a free, daytime family-friendly event. Attendees can enjoy shopping for handmade arts and crafts from a diverse selection of local vendors, as well as the Art Center’s famous ceramics sale that features hundreds of plates, mugs and objects made by artists in the Center’s ceramics studio. Guests and their families are encouraged to participate in holiday art-making activities, and a pop-up café will be serving delicious food and warm beverages to hungry festival goers. Live music will be provided by the Primavera Latin Jazz Band.
“The Holiday Arts Festival gives the instructors in our Studio program—as well as students in our ceramics studio—the opportunity to present their wares,” says Erin Wheeler, Studio Education Director. “And through their work, you can see demonstrated first hand what the Art Center’s Studio Education program makes possible.”
Following the free daytime event, the Art Center will host an exciting live auction from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. that showcases exceptional works of fine art by internationally recognized California artists, including Hung Liu, Richard Shaw, Judy Dater, Claire Falkenstein, and Enrique Chagoya. Other life experience live auction items include two tickets to see the Golden State Warriors versus the Miami Heat at the Oracle Arena, and a day of sailing the Bay for two couples or a family of four, to mention a few. Live music performance by the Primavera Latin Jazz Band, wine and hors d’oeuvres are part of the evening’s live auction. Tickets are $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers and can be purchased online: http://bit.ly/1Hr68dn
“We are excited to celebrate the holidays and our outstanding community of local artists,” says Ric Ambrose, Executive Director. “We hope that visitors to our arts festival will be impressed by the dedicated individuals who make the Richmond Art Center special.”
All proceeds from the event benefit the Richmond Art Center.
Featured Artists at the Holiday Arts Festival Live/Silent Auctions include:
Richard Ambrose
Clayton Bailey
Enrique Chagoya
Judy Dater
Gene Erickson
Claire Falkenstein
Katie Hawkinson
Raymond Holbert
John Hundt
Diana Krevsky
Carol Ladewig
Hung Liu
Malcolm Lubliner
Kara Maria
Louise McGinley
Clayton Pinkerton
Juan Carlos Quintana
Terry St. John
Nancy Selvin
Richard Shaw
Joe Slusky
Livia Stein
Pam Stefl-Toki
Inez Storer
John Toki
John Wehrle
Heather Wilcoxin
Jan Wurm
About the Richmond Art Center
The Richmond Art Center is the largest visual arts center in the East Bay, delivering exciting arts experiences to young and old alike who reflect the diverse richness of the surrounding community. The Center delivers hands-on learning, well-equipped studios, traveling Art in the Community programs and contemporary exhibitions in its galleries. Learn more at www.richmondartcenter.org.
Press Contact
Jessica Parker
Communications Director, Richmond Art Center
(510) 620-6772
jparker@richmondartcenter.org
DONATED by PAULSON BOTT PRESS
Hung Liu, Shan – Mountain 2012
Color aquatint etching with gold leaf
Somerset white paper Image size 36″ x 26″ Paper size 47″ x 36″
Edition of 40
Student Artists Invited to Enter the Mobile Fab Lab Design Challenge
West Contra Costa Unified School District students can see their Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) designs permanently displayed on the new Mobile Fab Lab
RICHMOND, CA October 13, 2015 –Chevron, the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) and the Richmond Art Center today launched the Mobile Fab Lab Design Challenge – an opportunity for local students to design the “wrap” that will be applied to the exterior surface of the Mobile Fab Lab trailer.
The Mobile Fab Lab, which will travel to schools throughout the district, is a small-scale digital workshop equipped with computer-controlled tools, such as 3D printers, laser-cutters, routing machines, 3D scanners, 3D milling machines and programming tools. Made possible as part of a $1 million grant from Chevron to the Fab Foundation, the Mobile Fab Lab will provide hand-on learning to spark the interest in STEM and prepare students for jobs that will require basic STEM literacy over the next five years.
“We’re excited to sponsor the Mobile Fab Lab Design Challenge” said Andrea Bailey community engagement manager of the Chevron Richmond Refinery. “It’s a great opportunity for kids to integrate STEM into art.”
Students from grades K -12 are invited to design a colorful image depicting STEM related ideas. No artistic ability is required. Winning images will be permanently displayed on the outside of the Mobile Lab and multiple entries from every grade level will be chosen and merged into one design.
“This is wonderful opportunity for all students from K – 12 to display their artistic talents for the entire community to see” said Philip Gonsalves, senior director for curriculum and instruction for Mathematics, Science, and STEM in the West Contra Costa Unified School District. “I look forward to seeing the students’ interpretation of STEM through their designs.”
Chevron and the WCCUSD are partnering with the Richmond Art Center and one of its teaching artists, Alex Wang, to create a design that incorporates all of the winning submissions.
“We are thrilled to partner with Chevron and the WCCUSD to help bring the Mobile Fab Lab to life through the students designs” said Richmond Ambrose, executive director of the Richmond Art Center. “With the support of the Richmond Art Center, the students’ designs are sure to be creative and inspiring.”
The Richmond Art Center will offer free workshops to help assist students in submitting a design:
• Thursday, October 15 : Lupine Hills Elementary School, Multipurpose Room, 6:00pm-7:30pm
• Tuesday, October 20: Coronado Elementary School, Multipurpose Room, 6:00pm-7:30pm
• Thursday, October 22: Richmond High School, Library, 6:00pm-7:30pm
• Thursday, November 5: Helms Middle School, Multipurpose Room, 6:30pm-8:00pm
• Saturday, November 14: Kennedy High School, Rooms 401 and 402, 10:00am to 11:30am
The deadline for submission is November 20, 2015, 5:00pm. Contact Drew Kravin at akravin@wccusd.net for additional information and for the submission form.
Our special Rosie’s Girls 
The Richmond Art Center Honored with NobleCause Grant to Foster Volunteerism
