After stepping through the Richmond Art Center’s entrance, visitors immediately begin celebrating Black excellence, as laid bare in the “Art of the African Diaspora.” Gracing the center’s main gallery in every medium imaginable, the exhibition in its entirety unveils how Black identity shifts, evolves and culminates uniquely through the lens of each artist.
Originally a salon for Black artists, first titled “Colors of Black” and then “The Art of Living Black,” the exhibition has supported Black visibility, representation and community in the arts since 1989. Annually, the series develops a new creative collective through the main exhibition and its Bay Area satellites, as artists display their recent work.
132 artists are part of the 2023 exhibition, displaying a diverse set of backgrounds, mediums and inspirations. The expanse of talent is embodied by the three 2022 Artistic Achievement Award Winners, Pryce Jones, Cynthia Brannvall and Derrick Bell.
Jones’ abstract yet sharp paintings greet visitors to the exhibition. These portraits are cutting — a slash of warm yellow acrylic marks a woman’s cheekbone, while bright green accentuates the shadows of her face.
In “Night Rider,” a large acrylic painting on canvas, a man’s proud face is outlined in dark blacks and grays, yet is offset by the warm red and yellow textures of his facial features. The painting evokes solitude in a chaotically colorful canvas: Two images of a person on horseback ride beside a block of text about a man riding at night, in contrast to the sunflower yellows and purples that occupy much of the painting.
Brannvall’s six displays are mixed-media collages. Political maps of Africa and the United States are overlaid by physical maps and photographs of people — some staring into the camera, inviting attention, while others look away sinking into their collages.
Occasionally, Brannvall’s use of space is blocky, such as in “Fulfillment,” where a man is collaged to sit above a cutout of the Earth, a slice of the ocean and two political maps. His posture is satisfied and comfortable, with legs and arms folded.
Contrastingly, “Descendants” brings to mind Pangea, with a physical map reaching upwards from the left corner towards three overlaid political maps spanning the top third of the canvas. A woman in a white dress contemplatively sits in the center; through her, Brannvall creates historical and modern perspectives on the woman’s journey.
Bell similarly turns to history and his roots for inspiration in his acrylic paintings. His three works appear like stylized stainless glass panes, sections of bright paint set starkly apart through their black boundaries.
In “Ancestral Contributions,” the painted panes are not glassily inflexible or flat; textures of clothing are apparent through Bell’s variation in shading and coloration. The folds of three women’s cream dresses look soft to the touch, and the group is swankily dressed for a celebration. One man holds a woman above his head; with only her skirt visible, she is unseen yet appears to be the focal point of the piece, alongside another woman in a blouse adorned with shells, proffering an empty plate.
A thousand gorgeous details clamor for attention in the exhibition’s main gallery.
There, stunning handmade necklaces of green and brown stone, titled “Spirit Quest” by Donna Gatson. Here, a collage-giclee print on canvas in tribute to Jimi Hendrix, “Taste of Purple Haze” by Frederick S. Franklin. Everything on the canvas looks to be made of fruits and vegetables; a Hendrix composed of peppers strums a cantaloupe guitar, eyes closed in musical ecstasy, as cherries rain around him. Exuberance and celebration leap from the work, leaving one wishing for a mouthful of purple haze.
Wooden carvings, photographs, sculptures and a spray-painted piece all individually mark aspects of the Black experience. By drawing from as many artistic talents as possible, as indiscriminately as possible, the exhibition honors the cultural wealth of the diaspora. Appreciation and reflection on Black identity through emotion, spirituality and history are vulnerably on display, leaving visitors awed by the exhibition’s collective and individual strength.
“Art of the African Diaspora” will be exhibited at the Richmond Art Center until March 18th.
Interested in joining Richmond Art Center’s teaching community? Let’s meet up on Zoom and get better acquainted! In this informal online session RAC’s Education Team share information about our hiring process and teaching opportunities.
Richmond Art Center offers visual arts education programs for the community year round, on-site at RAC, off-site in the community and online via Zoom. We work collaboratively with Teaching Artists to develop dynamic and inclusive arts education programs that cultivate, support and build our creative community here in Richmond. RAC currently offers visual arts programs and media under the following disciplines: Ceramic Arts & Sculpture, Digital Arts & Sculpture, Drawing & Painting, Glass Arts & Sculpture, Jewelry & Metal Arts, Printmaking Arts, Textiles & Fiber Arts, Mixed Media Arts & Sculpture. TEACHING ARTIST JOB DESCRIPTION
CLICK HERE to register for this Prospective Teaching Artist Information Session.
Top Image: Daniel Camacho leads a Calaveritas Workshop at Richmond Art Center. Photo by Sasha Schell
Interested in joining Richmond Art Center’s teaching community? Let’s meet up on Zoom and get better acquainted! In this informal online session RAC’s Education Team will share information about our hiring process and teaching opportunities.
Richmond Art Center offers visual arts education programs for the community year round, on-site at RAC, off-site in the community and online via Zoom. We work collaboratively with Teaching Artists to develop dynamic and inclusive arts education programs that cultivate, support and build our creative community here in Richmond. RAC currently offers visual arts programs and media under the following disciplines: Ceramic Arts & Sculpture, Digital Arts & Sculpture, Drawing & Painting, Glass Arts & Sculpture, Jewelry & Metal Arts, Printmaking Arts, Textiles & Fiber Arts, Mixed Media Arts & Sculpture. TEACHING ARTIST JOB DESCRIPTION
CLICK HERE to register for this Prospective Teaching Artist Information Session.
Can’t make the meeting on Thursday, February 23? We are hosting another online session on Saturday, February 25 at 9am.
Top image: A community workshop at Richmond Art Center for the Fencelines public art project.
Feeling Fine will be a vendor at the Holiday Arts Festival from 10am to 5pm on Sunday, December 4 at Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond.
EGChu Handcrafted will be a vendor at the Holiday Arts Festival from 10am to 5pm on Sunday, December 4 at Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond.
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA94804
FREE
Artists Anne Wolf and Lisa Levine invite you to become part of their ENOUGH Considered portrait project and receive a digital copy of your ENOUGH portrait.
The photographic portrait series created as a collaboration between artist Anne Wolf and photographer Lisa Levine synthesizes the material/somatic and non-material/language/rhetoric of ENOUGH. A simple writing exercise invites participants to reflect on this word.
Each participant is then invited to choose an ENOUGH stamp and apply it directly to their body as a starting point for an embodied gesture of ENOUGH, as a means of healing an old wound or violation, a message of boundaries/protection, or a means of sanctifying one’s own sense of abundance.
This the first of the Enough Photo Sessions to be held at Richmond Art Center as part of Wolf and Levine’s ENOUGH Considered project which will be presented as an exhibition in the Summer of 2023.
Artist Walkthrough and Ancestor Wheel Journaling Workshop with Amanda Ayala
Saturday, February 18, 2023, 12pm-2pm
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA
FREE
Join artist Amanda Ayala for an exhibition walkthrough and interactive journaling workshop where she will share the process of creating the Ancestor Wheel. Ayala’s interactive talk will provide an insight into her process, inspirations and trajectory of working with the ancestor wheel project. In this workshop participants will have an opportunity to participate in a group conversation about their ancestral connections through the process of journaling.
Participants will receive a hand-bound journal and will use this to capture thoughts, feelings, and connections. The interactive walk through and journaling workshop will take place in the South Gallery and will be followed by a Q&A session.
All materials will be provided.
This event is free, open to all and no rsvp is necessary.
CLICK HERE for information about Amanda Ayala’s exhibition at Richmond Art Center.
Brick Factory Designs will be a vendor at the Holiday Arts Festival from 10am to 5pm on Sunday, December 4 at Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond.
There’s no place like home for the holidays, and this year you won’t have to go far to procure the perfect gifts for friends and family. Now that Thanksgiving has passed, it seems like local holiday fairs are popping up everywhere.
Check out The Chronicle’s guide to holiday-focused markets and festivals, with an emphasis on shopping and an abundance of seasonal merriment.
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Richmond Art Center Holiday Art Festival Each year the festival offers visitors a chance to shop for unique gifts from more than fifty local vendors, enjoy food and beverages, buy a raffle ticket, check out open glass and ceramics studios and participate in art-making activities for the whole family.
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Dec. 4. Free admission. Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond. 510-620-6772. richmondartcenter.org
Erin McCluskey will be a vendor at the Holiday Arts Festival from 10am to 5pm on Sunday, December 4 at Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond.
