The goal for Richmond-artist Rebeca Garcia-Gonzalez’s project was to bring Black, Afro-Latinx and Latinx community members together to create a mural that affirms the Black Lives Matter movement. The idea came from an invitation by members of the Richmond Our Power Coalition. During the project, Richmond community members gathered in Richmond Art Center’s courtyard to paint several mobile murals on canvas, some of them in Spanish, to be displayed where the Latino community congregates.
Rebeca is specially grateful to Richmond artist and collaborator Carmen Melendez Toya, who assisted in all stages of this project.
About the Artist: Rebeca Garcia-Gonzalez is a Richmond, CA painter who grew up in a suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico. After earning a BFA at the University of Puerto Rico, she came to San Francisco in 1985 to pursue a graduate degree in fine art. Rebeca has been painting the Bay Area landscape for a few years. She is also interested in the figure and in portraits of people from groups underrepresented in the canon. She shows her work locally. Her paintings are part of several local, private collections. garcia-gonzalez.com
About the ‘Art Lives Here’ Series: When Richmond Art Center’s facility is temporarily closed due to Covid-19, we worked with artists on these projects online and outside (at a safe social distance!) to find new ways to connect and make meaning with community through art.
This limited edition poster was created by a local Richmond artist from the Liberación Gráfica collective, a group from Richmond composed of artists, educators, and community members that create work to uplift social justice, the Richmond community, and young people’s voices.
As the Black Lives Matter movement has drawn global attention following nationwide demonstrations calling for an end to police and state sanctioned violence on Black lives, artists and activists have been mobilized in finding creative ways to support this work. This 8 color print City of Black and Brown Solidarity was created in response to this ongoing systemic oppression and racial injustice.
Highlighting the City of Richmond as fertile ground for cross cultural solidarity between Black and Brown lives, the image invites the community to reflect on the ways collective power is needed, and the ways we can fortify each other in the journey towards liberation.
Posters are being distributed to local businesses and nonprofits in support of this urgent message.
About the ‘Art Lives Here’ Series: When Richmond Art Center’s facility is temporarily closed due to Covid-19, we worked with artists on these projects online and outside (at a safe social distance!) to find new ways to connect and make meaning with community through art.
Richmond-artist and Teaching Artist at Richmond Art Center Lauren Ari created this interactive project, You Found Me: A Gift For You, as a way to stay connected and in creative dialogue with the Richmond Community.
Each of these 50 ceramic sculptures was hand formed by Ari, individually glazed and fired in her kiln in her home studio. Each fits within the palm of the hand, and can be used decoratively or ritually. However recipients chose to use them, “let it be a reminder that nobody is alone” says Lauren.
Wrapped in bright paper with a tag marked “I am a gift for you!” and an enclosed note, these sculptures were then distributed throughout neighborhoods, community centers, local businesses, bodegas, and parks, placed so that someone walking along could find them.
The note invited participants to correspond via email about the experience of finding the object, how they might be using it, and ways they are moving through this unprecedented time.
These colorfully packaged sculptures offer an opportunity for surprise in a time punctuated by monotony and an invitation for connection in a time of widespread isolation.
About the ‘Art Lives Here’ Series: When Richmond Art Center’s facility is temporarily closed due to Covid-19, we worked with artists on these projects online and outside (at a safe social distance!) to find new ways to connect and make meaning with community through art.
Richmond-artist AGANA spent two days creating her site-specific mural that now adorns the columns flanking RAC’s Barrett Street entrance. After five months of RAC’s facility being closed to the public during shelter-in-place, it was so exciting to have an artist working onsite again. Agana carefully developed her work to harmonize with Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo’s banner nearby, This is life long work.
Artist Statement:
Bringing us home, continuing to keep Richmond beautiful, it is a true honor to be able to paint my first mural as a solo artist in conjunction with masterpieces by other talented Bay Area artists.
This is my 3rd mural project at Richmond Art Center. The first two murals I had previously painted were with cohorts of talented youth artists from RYSE. The first mural is located at the side entrance, the theme is “Keep Richmond Beautiful”. The theme of the second mural temporarily installed located in the courtyard was “Keep Families Together”.
The front entrance mural welcomes you as a portal into the unique experience from galleries to studios that is the heart of RAC.
The under and overlapping colors you see are woven together like water connecting the iconic fish Guillermo with the visually vibrating poetic words of Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo’s banner.
The mural is a call and response connecting the art pieces while playfully speaking to one another on different dimensions of the same building, echoing water is life, agua es vida.
Each stroke of color is symbolic of our symbiotic connection to the elements of water and air literally flowing through our bodies.
We are the reflection of the earth in sliced growing gradients building each other up through our collective struggles from environmental racism to people over profit.
The intention of the close up splashes of paint you see from Guillermo the Fish’s tale are creating currents and waves of resistance against the fossil fuel industry.
Each pillar is a symbol of the vast spectrims of our identities giving us life, holding up our dreams and standing tall in solidarity with the deep roots of artistry, mentoring the seeds of our future.
This mural is a call to action protecting the elements of the earth for future generations adding urgency to create art as your action towards climate justice as a climate warrior.
Upon viewing the mural in person, you will see the seamless strokes wrapping around the edges of the columns differently depending on your point of view.
One may observe from walking through this mural experience that how we approach new art mediums is similar to ways that we approach creating new innovative ideas from different angles and perspectives.
May this mural bring new audiences, mentors and hidden talent through the doors to continue to cultivate our creative confidence in the rich history and herstory that is Richmond, CA.
About the Artist: Of Venezuelan descent and hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, AGANA gives public walls vibrant life with her iconic pictorial imagery, bold aesthetics, bursting colors, textual calligraphic gestures and form. At the intersections of street art, graffiti and fine art practices she communicates common social threads via monumental vision. Rooted in her Latinx identity as part of the larger American experience, AGANA also translates the artistic mural process into fruitful community-building strategies. With a background in graphic design and jewelry metal arts, AGANA received a BAS in Visual Effects from Ex’pression College for Digital Art in 2008 working in the film, animation and video game production industries. Prolific in her production, AGANA creates platforms for successful global art projects found on city buildings across the Americas and worldwide from Switzerland to Senegal. www.djagana.com
About the ‘Art Lives Here’ Series: When Richmond Art Center’s facility is temporarily closed due to Covid-19, we worked with artists on these projects online and outside (at a safe social distance!) to find new ways to connect and make meaning with community through art.
During this period of social isolation digital platforms have become crucial in bridging gaps in social interaction. In my personal experience, the hardest parts of navigating this time have involved missing out on connecting to create tangible artifacts. As a full time teaching artist I spend a lot of time facilitating visual communication and various points of view with artists to create physical pieces of art. That came to abrupt halt when shelter in place was enforced, but the need to create physical records still remains.
There has been a rush to respond to this moment that leaves out some of the nuance and “realness” of it. Many of us have been spending an unprecedented time at home or in our own home bases. For me, this has afforded an opportunity to interact with my space in a new way, investigate what works for me and what doesn’t, cook meals and dive deeper into what physical nourishment means, and connect with my neighbors in new ways, including non verbal communication and eye contact because of face masks. In contrast, when I connect to friends and loved ones online, a lot of the focus is on the bigger moments, things “worthy” of transmitting.
For this project I asked community members to capture some of those deep, powerful, “small” moments to create a physical record of our time apart, and send me the digital photograph. I then printed these pictures as polaroids to create a tangible record of our daily lives during these times of quarantine, shelter in place, and social change. The process of converting these digital images into photos altered them slightly, shifting colors, softening resolution, obliterating details and cropping out certain elements, which mimics the way that history gets passed down. The resulting artifacts tell a story of life in Richmond at this very moment.
– Dawline-Jane Oni-Eseleh
Special thanks to our Richmond Art Center community contributors, without whom this project would not have been possible: Alissa Anderson, Alison Ahara-Brown, Amber Avalos, Coleen Haraden-Gorski, Erin McClusky Wheeler, Irene Wibawa, Laura Kamian, Melody Serra, Janet Lipkin, Jocelyn Jones, For The Barrios, Emily Ross, Holly Carter, Shantanice Swain, Chiara Sottile
About the Artist: Dawline-Jane Oni-Eseleh has been a part of the Richmond Art Center community since she began there as a teaching artist in 2016. She in based out of Oakland, CA, where she continues to work as a teaching artist, educational facilitator, illustrator, and exhibiting visual artist with a full time studio practice. www.dawlinejaneart.com
About the ‘Art Lives Here’ Series: When Richmond Art Center’s facility is temporarily closed due to Covid-19, we worked with artists on these projects online and outside (at a safe social distance!) to find new ways to connect and make meaning with community through art.
I started this project at the beginning of quarantine back in March. It was a way of keeping me sane through making and also a way of maintaining community during a time of isolation.
In partnership with Richmond Art Center, I made twenty mango bowls and gave them out to people in our network of teachers, artists and community members. I wish I could give a bowl to everyone I know! Because for me the bowls are an offering of love and care, and an embodiment of joy and human connection. Handmade objects hold power.
– Marisa Burman
About the Artist: Marisa Burman is a ceramic artist and teacher who has been making things out of clay for 15 years. Originally from San Francisco, she is currently living and working in Richmond where she manages the ceramics studio at Richmond Art Center. In her own work she loves using porcelain, and seeks to make colorful and meaningful objects that people can use in their daily lives. Burman enjoys the science behind the ceramic process and the constant surprises that firing clay brings. She also loves the community aspect of ceramic arts — the sharing of knowledge & experience, and the never ending source of learning and challenge. Follow Marisa Burman on Instagram: @marisaburman
About the ‘Art Lives Here’ Series: When Richmond Art Center’s facility is temporarily closed due to Covid-19, we worked with artists on these projects online and outside (at a safe social distance!) to find new ways to connect and make meaning with community through art.
Images: Images of the bowls in use by their new owners
This is life long work (2020) is a newly commissioned artwork by Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo. Reproduced as a 13 x 12 foot banner displayed at the front Barrett Street entrance of Richmond Art Center, the work was created via a collaborative community process.
Branfman-Verissimo says of their work, “The process of gathering the narratives of people and communities that surround me is on equal ground with the artistic craft of telling them.”
For This is life long work, Branfman-Verissimo collaborated with RAC staff and teaching artists through a discussion of community care. Specifically, they asked them, “How does this community enact, support and prioritize care, mutual aid, collective care and collective action?”
About the Artist: Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo is an artist, activist, educator, storyteller & curator who after being based in Oakland, CA for 10 years, now lives and works in Richmond, VA. They got their BFA from California College of the Arts [Oakland, CA] and is currently getting their MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University [Richmond, VA]. Branfman-Verissimo’s work has been included in exhibitions at Deli Gallery [Long Island City, NY], EFA Project Space [New York City, NY], Pt. 2 Gallery [Oakland, CA], Leslie Lohman Museum for Gay & Lesbian Art [New York City, NY], Signal Center for Contemporary Art [Malmo, Sweden] and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts [San Francisco, CA], amongst others and performances at SOMArts Cultural Center [San Francisco, CA], Highways Performance Space [Los Angeles, CA], ACRE Gallery [Chicago, IL] and Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive [Berkeley, CA]. Branfman-Verissimo has been awarded residencies and fellowships at Kala Art Center [Berkeley, CA], ACRE Residency [Steuben, WI], Vermont Studio Center [Johnson, VT] and CENTER [Grand Rapids, MI]. They are the Founder of Nook Gallery, a gallery that was located in their home kitchen from 2015-2020 & will take new forms in the future! www.lukazabranfman-verissimo.com
About the ‘Art Lives Here’ Series: When Richmond Art Center’s facility is temporarily closed due to Covid-19, we worked with artists on these projects online and outside (at a safe social distance!) to find new ways to connect and make meaning with community through art.
On June 16, 2020, the California Department of Public Health issued new, stricter guidance mandating that face coverings be worn state-wide in most public settings to slow the spread of Covid-19.
Photographer Ezly Torres’ most recent work uses the mask as a prop for performing characters inspired by the beauty and technique of classical paintings. At a moment when the face mask has become an emblem of the Covid-19 pandemic – signaling protection, community care, and also deepening political division – Torres’ self-portraits are a reminder that covering one’s face is a singular act. Her work asks us to consider the personal story lines that run beside the brutal collective narrative; as we all bear witness to California setting daily records for new Covid-19 infections.
El 16 de junio del 2020, el Departamento de Salud Pública de California emitió una nueva, y más estricta, guía que exige el uso de cubrebocas en todo el estado en la mayoría de los entornos públicos para reducir la propagación del Covid-19.
El trabajo más reciente de la fotógrafa Ezly Torres, utiliza la mascarilla como accesorio para personajes interpretativos inspirados en la belleza y la técnica de las pinturas clásicas. En un momento en la cual cubre-bocas se ha convertido en un emblema de la pandemia de Covid-19 (señala protección, cuidado comunitaria y también la profundización de la división política), los autorretratos de Torres son un recordatorio que cubriéndose la cara es un acto singular. Su trabajo nos pide que consideremos las historias personales que corren al lado de la brutal narrativa colectiva; mientras todos damos testimonio que California establece récords diarios de nuevos casos de Covid-19.
ABOUT THE ARTIST / BIOGRAFÍA DEL ARTISTA
Ezly Torres is a Vallejo-based artist. Her interest in photography began as a child and in her early 20s she took digital photography courses with a local society in Nogales in Sonora, Mexico. Since moving to Vallejo in 2016, Torres has developed her practice centered around portraits that reference historical paintings to explore the construction of identity and possibilities for representation. Follow Torres on Instagram at @ilce_t_art
Ezly Torres es una artista con sede en Vallejo. Su interés en la fotografía comenzó cuando era niña y, cuando tenía poco más de 20 años, tomó cursos de fotografía digital con una sociedad local en Nogales, Sonora, México. Desde que se mudó a Vallejo en 2017, Torres ha desarrollado su práctica centrada en retratos que hacen referencia a pinturas históricas para explorar la construcción de la identidad y las posibilidades de representación. Sigue a Torres en Instagram en @ilce_t_art
ABOUT THE ONLINE PROJECT SPACE / ACERCA DEL “ONLINE PROJECT SPACE”
RAC’s new initiative – the Online Project Space – was created in response to the multitude of ideas and new forms of expression we see artists tackling as they shelter-in-place due to Covid-19. The Online Project Space highlights new creative projects that represent how artists are adapting, responding and imagining during this period of self-isolation.
La nueva iniciativa de RAC – el Online Project Space (Espacio de proyecto en línea)– fue creada en respuesta a la multitud de ideas y nuevas formas de expresión que vemos a los artistas abordar mientras se refugian en lugar debido a COVID-19. El Online Project Space destaca nuevos proyectos creativos que representan cómo los artistas se están adaptando, respondiendo e imaginando durante este período de aislamiento.
Every year Richmond Art Center awards three artists with a Spotlight Award to have their work featured in our galleries. These artists in 2020 are Laura Kamian McDermott, Steven Morales and Leslie Plato Smith. While the exhibition of their work is currently on hold due to COVID-19, presented here are three videos that offer an opportunity to meet our Spotlight Artists virtually, see them at work in their studios during shelter-in-place and learn a little about their creative processes.
Jagged Skylines of Car Keys
Laura Kamian McDermott is a textile artist who uses labor-intensive techniques to make work that insists on the value of creative labor in an era that shows little respect for such a pursuit. Inherent in her work is the belief in the power of the handmade to address social ills, support mental and community health, and bring out some of humanity’s more positive traits. Through her woven, knitted, and embroidered techniques – meticulously studied and executed – she produces high-quality textiles. McDermott studied Painting at Reed College and Textiles at San Francisco State University. She was born in Oakland and currently resides in Richmond. www.lrkmcd.cominstagram.com/laurakamianmcdermott
Separation 2020
Separation 2020 is the title of the work Steven Morales has been developing since shelter-in-place started. Morales’ says of this time of quarantine, “What permanent changes will evolve from this long, temporary period of separation is what we will be experiencing for years to come. Will this year mark the beginning of a new and profound way of living or will we go back to the way things were before?” Richmond-based Morales is a practicing architect whose creative interests also include photography and collage. Many of his collage works incorporate construction materials such as joint compound, wood and sheetrock along with paper and occasionally house paint. www.studiosmdesign.com
Black, White and Pink
Educated at UC Santa Barbara, Tulane, and UC Berkeley, Leslie Plato Smith spent much of her career as Associate Vice-Chancellor of Governmental Relations for City College of San Francisco. Highlights from her career include receiving a national award for bringing together 60 different art departments to create 125 life size statues to visually show how budget cuts negatively impact students and to fight for public education, and exhibiting at the European Cultural Centre’s Venice Biennale exhibition. Plato Smith’s grandfather was born on the Choctaw Reservation and her orphaned grandmother was born to immigrant parents from Denmark and Sweden. Migration, immigration and resettlement are key themes that resonate through Oakland-based Plato Smith’s creative practice and professional work. leslieplatosmith.com
ABOUT THE ONLINE PROJECT SPACE
RAC’s new initiative – the Online Project Space – was created in response to the multitude of ideas and new forms of creative expression we see artists tackling as they shelter-in-place due to COVID-19. The Online Project Space will highlight new artist projects that represent how artists are adapting, responding and imagining during this period of self-isolation.
PORTRAIT OF A NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE TIME OF COVID-19
During the COVID-19 pandemic photographers around the world – many using mobile phones – are sharing quarantine images online; documenting how life has changed while also creating a global sense of togetherness during this difficult time.
Normally a textile artist, during COVID-19 Richmond-artist Colleen Haraden-Gorski has adopted Hipstamatic’s TinType iPhone App as a new medium. Through technology that is accessible, immediate and shareable she photographs her Richmond Annex neighbors and friends as a way of checking up on them while keeping a safe social distance. The body of work that has emerged using the black and white filter captures a sense of instantaneous pause and rewind, asking us to consider “now” as a moment in history, already removed from the noise and color of life as we knew it.
Over fifty photographs are featured here in this slideshow and more will be added over the course of the online project.
IMAGES
ABOUT THE ARTIST
A local Richmond artist, Colleen Haraden-Gorski’s textile art practice focuses on place and shapes – maps, environment, historical ecology, water, hazards, and social justice issues around these themes. Her background and career in the earth sciences has included geomorphology and paleoseismology, geographic information systems (GIS), water resources, climate change impacts, and historical ecology – these emphases rely greatly on observation and visual representation. Her textile art work explores the intersection where history and geography collide. Through the lens of geomorphology – the study of the origin and evolution of topographic features and their responses to change – be it rivers, faults, or humans – she uses both current and historic maps to visualize pre-urbanism and future conditions, such as climate change impacts. Haraden-Gorski’s contribution to RAC’s exhibition Right Here, Right Now explored the impacts of sea-level rise in Richmond. She created a textile piece to inform the community of the higher risk we face from sea level rise, in particular, overlaying areas of sea-level rise layers with areas of social vulnerability, communities with limited means to prepare and respond to hazards like flooding. Currently, Haraden-Gorski is developing a series of work around climate change, sea-level rise, and the melting polar ice caps. Follow this ongoing project on Instagram at @colleen_haraden_studio and @chlojomama.
ABOUT THE ONLINE PROJECT SPACE
RAC’s new initiative – the Online Project Space – was created in response to the multitude of ideas and new forms of creative expression we see artists tackling as they shelter-in-place due to COVID-19. The Online Project Space will highlight new artist projects that represent how artists are adapting, responding and imagining during this period of self-isolation.
