Spring Family Day, Saturday, April 29, 12pm-3pm
Teaching Artist Eli Africa captured some amazing caricatures of folk who attended Spring Family Day at Richmond Art Center. Check out his work in this fun video!!
Video by Eli Africa
We had big fun on Saturday!!
Thank you to all our collaborators, partners and supporters who made Spring Family Day possible: The Richmond Our Power Coalition, UC Master Gardener Program, Fencelines project team (Graham L.P., Princess Robinson, Gita Khandagle), Mueve, Nyabingha McDowell, Richmond Arts & Culture Commission, and our fabulous volunteers!!
And special thanks to our superstar teaching artists: Cristine Blanco, Vince de Jésus, Eli Africa, Alice Rice, and Rebeca García-González.
Browse art classes now and get ready for summer registration opening on May 3. Summer class listings are posted on our website (don’t worry if the class says ‘Fully Booked’ this will change once registration opens).
New classes include:
Don’t forget, needs-based scholarships are available!
New students, use coupon code popsicle2023 for 20% off your first class
Image: New class – Gel Prints into Journals! Create beautiful gel prints and then incorporate them into hand-bound journals. This weekend workshop, July 22-23, is taught by Rebeca Garcia-Gonzalez and Anna Kingsley.
Richmond Parkway Bay Trail between Gertrude and Vernon Avenues
On Earth Day, Saturday, April 22, community members gathered at the Richmond Parkway Bay Trail to install the hundreds of painted wooden slats that make up the Fencelines public artwork. The site of the installation – an existing chain link fence – highlights the close proximity between the Chevron petroleum refinery and Richmond residential neighborhoods. For generations, the refinery has polluted the neighboring community’s air, water, land and people.
Fencelines represents the collective voice of hundreds of individuals and families who, over the past year, gathered at events to paint their stories and messages on the slats, responding to the questions: “What message do you have for the polluting industry here in Richmond?” and “What vision do you have for your community in the future?” The resulting public artwork documents the impact of the petroleum industry; As you travel along this fence you will see messages of hope, unity, and care woven together into a collective monument to the resistance and resilience of Richmond.
Fencelines project is created by Graham L.P., Princess Robinson, and Gita Khandagle, local artists and organizers; inviting participation from Richmond & North Richmond community members and working in partnership with the Richmond Our Power Coalition to envision a just and regenerative future.
Special thanks to Richmond LAND for hosting the Earth Day event on the parkway, and Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez for his participation and support.
Add Your Voice: Community members are invited to paint fence slats to add to the installation at the Fencelines exhibition at Richmond Art Center, on view until June 3.
Families can also participate at Spring Family Day, a free, art-making event at Richmond Art Center on Saturday, April 29, 12pm-3pm.
Images by Graham L.P.
Clean Air is in the Wind! This coloring sheet was created by artist Eli Africa for Spring Family Day 2023.
About the Artist: www.elicreates.com
DOWNLOAD THE COLORING SHEET PDF (HIGH RES)
SPECIAL EVENT
Spring Family Day: Clean Air in the Wind
Saturday, April 29, 12pm-3pm | FREE
Richmond Art Center (courtyard), 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond
Event webpage: richmondartcenter.org/familyday
Richmond, CA: Saturday, April 29, 12pm-3pm is Spring Family Day at Richmond Art Center (RAC). Spend your Saturday afternoon with us making art and celebrating the community-voices that demand Richmond residents’ right to clean air. This free, family event features art-making activities, community action groups, spoken word, and music.
Special guests from the frontline of environmental activism in Richmond are the Richmond Our Power Coalition and the FENCELINES project team. Spoken word artist Nyabingha McDowell will perform. And the UC Master Gardener Program will give away sunflowers.
Art-making activities by RAC teaching artists are mobiles with Cristine Blanco, sound art led by STEAM specialist Vince de Jésus, caricatures by Eli Africa, and screen printing by Alice Rice. Plus kids and families can enjoy coloring with recycled crayons, family photo booth, gallery search and find, music by Mueve, and healthy snacks!
Spring Family Day is free, open to all and no rsvp is necessary. Richmond Art Center is located at 2540 Barrett Avenue in Richmond.
Thank you to the Richmond Arts and Culture Commission for making this event possible.
About Our Event Partners:
Accessibility, Parking and Public Transportation: Ample free parking is available in the 25th Street lot across the street from Richmond Art Center. RAC’s facility is accessible to users of wheelchairs via two step-free public entrances. The Barrett Street entrance is adjacent to a parking lot with six accessible spaces. The 25th Street entrance is adjacent to a parking lot with three accessible spaces. Richmond Art Center is accessible by BART, AC Transit, and R-Transit. Parking and Entrance Map
For information about Spring Family Day visit: richmondartcenter.org/familyday
About Richmond Art Center: For over 80 years, Richmond Art Center has served the residents of Richmond and surrounding communities through studio arts education programs, exhibitions, off-site classes, and special initiatives for community-wide impact. Richmond Art Center’s mission is to be a catalyst in Richmond for learning and living through art. richmondartcenter.org
For more information, images and artist quotes contact:
Amy Spencer, amy@richmondartcenter.org
Top image: Drawing by Eli Africa
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Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3pm to 6pm
The painting spot, the gathering spot, the spot light or epicenter of action.
Public art is a powerful tool for community building. This program will introduce young artists to the means to create vibrant community art works. A cohort of twelve young artists (ages 14-24) will learn about different models of community art projects, help to define how the program will local youth, and create a collaborative mural project. Students will learn basic color theory, composition, and painting methods.
CLICK HERE to view the mural created by youth participating in the program in 2021.
CLICK HERE to view the mural created by youth participating in the program in 2022.
Eligibility: This seven week class is for youth ages 14-24 who live, work or study in Richmond.
Stipend: Each student will receive a $250 stipend for their work at the completion of the program.
Schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3pm to 6pm from June 13 to August 3, 2023
Instructors: Fred Alvarado and Keena Azania Romano
This class welcomes Spanish speakers and is an inclusive bilingual space. El Artista Maestro habla Español.
Español
Aprenda cómo el arte público es una herramienta poderosa para crear comunidad. Una grupo de doce artistas jóvenes (de 14 a 24 años) creará un proyecto de mural colaborativo en el Centro de Arte de Richmond este verano con los artistas Fred Alvarado y Keena Azania Romano. Los estudiantes que completen el programa recibirán un estipendio de $250 por su trabajo.
Large-scale public art installation confronts Chevron refinery in Richmond, accompanied by major exhibition at Richmond Art Center
FENCELINES // PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION
April 22 – June 3, 2023
@ Richmond Parkway between Vernon and Gertrude
FENCELINES // EXHIBITION
April 5 – June 3, 2023
@ Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804
Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm
FENCELINES // COMMUNITY EVENTS
Earth Day Installation @ Richmond Parkway: Saturday, April 22, 10am-4pm (Community Remarks at 3pm)
Spring Family Day @ Richmond Art Center: Saturday, April 29, 12pm-3pm
Artist Talk @ Richmond Art Center: Saturday June 3, 12pm-1:30pm
Artist Talk @ Richmond Art Center: Saturday June 3, 12pm-1:30pm
Closing Reception @ Richmond Art Center: Saturday June 3, 2pm-4pm
Richmond, CA: The Fencelines Project centers circumstances of environmental injustice through a public art installation along the Richmond Parkway, where an existing fenceline separates Richmond residential neighborhoods from the Chevron petroleum refinery. For generations, this refinery has polluted the community’s air, water, land and people.
The art installation encompasses painted slats, milled from locally reclaimed trees, placed on the fence itself and adorned with ribbons animating the direction of the wind. Over the past year at community workshops in Richmond hundreds of individuals and families have recorded their stories and messages on these slats, documenting the impact of the petroleum industry on many lives and together forming a collective monument to resilience.
“We are here, we want to be seen, and we are lending our hand to make all of these initiatives work to end pollution of our communities.”
–Princess Robinson, Community Organizer and Fencelines Co-Creator
A Fencelines public art installation event will happen on Earth Day, Saturday, April 22. Community members are invited to meet at Richmond Parkway between Vernon and Gertrude Avenues to install the painted slats. This event will take place between 10am and 4pm, with a program of remarks from community organizers, artists and poetry happening at 3pm.
A large-scale exhibition and free community events at Richmond Art Center accompany the Fencelines public art project, offering opportunities for community participation and designed to amplify the work of local environmental justice organizations.
The Fencelines exhibition in the main gallery at Richmond Art Center features an immersive collective portrait of project participants and a sculptural fence installation featuring community-painted slats. The gallery space hosts workshop tables where visitors can participate by making their own piece of the project and include their portrait in the digital archive of the project. The exhibition also features picket signs from local actions for climate justice, and video and audio projects that highlight Richmond stories of confronting the harms of the refinery presence here. A special conversation with the project’s co-creators and closing reception will be held on Saturday, June 3. The talk will occur between 12pm and 1:30pm, and the reception will run from 2pm to 4pm.
On Saturday, April 29, 12pm-3pm, Spring Family Day is happening at Richmond Art Center. Kids of all ages and their grown ups are invited to spend an afternoon making art and celebrating the community-voices that demand Richmond residents’ right to clean air. This family event will feature art-making activities – including an opportunity to paint a fence slat to be added to the Fencelines installation – community action groups, spoken word, and music. Special guests will be the Richmond Our Power Coalition.
The exhibition and events at Richmond Art Center are free, open to all, and no rsvp is necessary. Richmond Art Center is located at 2540 Barrett Avenue in Richmond.
Fencelines is funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency.
About the Project Team: Fencelines is co-created by local artists and organizers –
Graham L.P., Princess Robinson, and Gita Khandagle – and members of the Richmond Community working in partnership with the Richmond Our Power Coalition to envision a just and regenerative future.
About Richmond Art Center: For over 80 years, Richmond Art Center has served the residents of Richmond and surrounding communities through studio arts education programs, exhibitions, off-site classes, and special initiatives for community-wide impact. Richmond Art Center’s mission is to be a catalyst in Richmond for learning and living through art. Richmondartcenter.org
For more information contact: Amy Spencer, amy@richmondartcenter.org
Top image: Excerpt from Fencelines: Richmond Collective Portrait, courtesy of Graham Laird Prentice & Gita Khandagle
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Saturday, July 29, 2pm-3:30pm
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA
FREE
Join us for a print demonstration by artist Andrés Cisneros-Galindo, whose work is on view at Richmond Art Center in the exhibition Nahui Ollin.
This event is free, open to all and no rsvp is necessary.
Top image: Andrés Cisneros-Galindo, Flor y Canto, 2008, Collagraph
Saturday, July 29, 2023, 1pm-2pm
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA
FREE
Hear from artists who have participated in NIAD’s printmaking program over the last 35 years. This event is held in conjunction with the exhibition Printmaking at NIAD: The Legacy of Andrés Cisneros-Galindo.
This event is free, open to all and no rsvp is necessary.
Top image: Shana Harper, Untitled (PN082), 2017, Linocut print
