Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA
FREE
Create art for environmental justice in Richmond!
Join the Fencelines team for ahands-on art workshop that will provide space to reflect on local conditions of environmental injustice in Richmond. Participants will paint on recycled wooden fence slats with images, messages and stories that respond to the following prompts:“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 slats created in is workshop will be used to form a temporary public art installation along a city-owned fence bordering the Chevron refinery and North Richmond neighborhoods in fall 2022. Additionally, this installation will be shown in an exhibition at Richmond Art Center in spring 2023.
This workshop is part of a series of workshops that will be presented at Richmond Art Center every third Saturday this summer. Additional workshops will be presented out in Richmond at local community events. All workshops are free to attend.
Fencelines Art Workshops at Richmond Art Center
Saturday, June 18, 2pm-4pm
Saturday, July 16, 12pm-2pm
Saturday, August 20, 12pm-2pm
Saturday, September 17, 12pm-2pm
Fencelines Workshops in the Community
Saturday, June 18, 10am-12pm: Urban Tilth Volunteer Day at Unity Park
Saturday, July 9: Richmond LAND: Love Your Block Event in North Richmond
Saturday, August 6: APEN Refinery Explosion 10 Year Memorial Event; Hood Day in North Richmond at Shields-Reid Park
… and other summer 2022 events with Richmond Our Power Coalition TBD!
Fencelinesaspires to create a unique, celebratory monument with the community in Richmond by: facilitating the creation of artwork by the community itself, promoting conversation and connection between Richmond community members, bringing awareness to issues of environmental injustice, and beautifying and activating an otherwise underutilized space. The project design and participatory format is explicitly designed to center and amplify the voices of the community.
The Fencelines team is made up of local artists, organizers, and community members, Princess Robinson, Graham L.P., Dulce Galicia and Gita Khandagle. This project is presented as a partnership between Richmond Our Power Coalition, Richmond Art Center, and Fencelines.
The Richmond Art Center (RAC) will feature Artist of Conscience, an exhibition, from June 22 through Aug. 2, that will explore the life and work of Emmy Lou Packard (1914-1998), an artist not only known for her paintings, prints and murals, but also for her activism, per the center. Robbin Légère Henderson and Rick Tejada-Flores are curating the exhibition.
An Open Reception will be held Sat., June 18, from 2-4 p.m. at the RAC, 2540 Barrett Ave. in Richmond.
According to the RAC, the exhibition will be organized around significant periods of Packard’s life and “will tell the story of this remarkable, though overlooked, artist” via her artwork, photos and ephemera.
Packard had strong local ties. She worked at Kaiser Shipyard’s Fore ‘n’ Aft newspaper in Richmond during WWII, during which time she created images that “urged ending racial segregation and supported voting rights,” said the RAC. She also assisted her mentor, Diego Rivera, on a mural he painted in 1940 on Treasure Island for the Golden Gate International Exposition; the work is currently on display at SFMOMA.
Later, she was a mentor to many Bay Area female Chicana artists, and a few hours north, headed up an effort to keep the Mendocino headlands from development, said the center.
The artist was also a printmaker who created “portraits of workers, explorations of the joys of childhood, the beauty of nature and the importance of history,” per the RAC. A signature image she created—Peace is a Human Right—earned global distribution and featured three children of Asian, black and white ethnicity sitting around a sunflower. “The message is framed in human terms—children are not political; they are just children.”
The Emmy Lou Packard: Artist of Conscience exhibition will overlap SFMOMA’s own exhibition—Diego Rivera’s America—which will open July 16 and provide the opportunity to “learn about Packard’s mentor and understand her oeuvre within a broader artistic movement focused on social change and justice,” said the RAC. The center will partner with SFMOMA on a collaborative public program to be announced at a future date.
Funding from California Humanities and The Jay DeFeo Foundation have supported the upcoming exhibition, as have collectors and organizations that have loaned their work, including the Mendocino Art Center and Emmy Lou Packard’s son Donald Cairns and granddaughter Shannon Cairns.
To learn more about events related to the exhibition, click here.
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
Kids of all ages and their grown-ups are invited to the Richmond Art Center’s Spring free, family event. Celebrate the gifts of spring through art making activities, dancing and music including Bomba music and dance from Quenepas, pive printing by Liberación Gráfica, succulent art planters, photo booth, pottery demonstration and more.
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA
FREE
Join us for an artist talk with J.B. Broussard in conversation with artist Raymond Holbert. This talk is presented in conjunction with Broussard’s solo exhibition The Eastern Shore.
Top Image: J.B. Broussard, The General, 2021. Courtesy of the Artist
NAKA Dance Theater and Mujeres Unidas y Activas will be presenting a short excerpt of their collaborative performance work, Y Basta Ya! (Enough!) (Tu’mixtzin ja’la!) where the bodies and the words of Latinx and Indigenous women are featured centerstage. In the face of so much systemic injustice, they speak and dance their stories out loud.
Mujeres Tejiendo Historias: Recepción de apertura
Sábado, 25 de junio, 14:00-16:00
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA
NAKA Dance Theatre y Mujeres Unidas y Activas presentarán una fragmento de su trabajo colaborativo Y Basta Ya! (Tu’mixtzin ja’la!), un proyecto de danza, teatro y música donde el cuerpo y la palabra de la mujer se visibilizan ante tanta injusticia sistemática, contando y bailando sus historias.
Eje xuj nchachmon qa o che ex tuj
Sábado, 25 de junio, 14:00-16:00
NAKA Dance Theatre y Mujeres Unidas y Activas k-elix chyek’i’n jun piẍ aq’untl ob’aj kyb’inchan Y Basta Ya (Tu’mix tzin ja’la) jun aq’untl te b’ixb’il, yek’b’il ex b’ib’itz jatum nchaj etz q’incha’lin txumlal ex tyol xuj tun tni nti no’k chq’on chipin xuj (injusticia), ntzaj chq’aman ex nchab’ixin jun che o ch-ex tu’j.
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA
FREE
Create art for environmental justice in Richmond!
Join the Fencelines team for ahands-on art workshop that will provide space to reflect on local conditions of environmental injustice in Richmond. Participants will paint on recycled wooden fence slats with images, messages and stories that respond to the following prompts:“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 slats created in is workshop will be used to form a temporary public art installation along a city-owned fence bordering the Chevron refinery and North Richmond neighborhoods in fall 2022. Additionally, this installation will be shown in an exhibition at Richmond Art Center in spring 2023.
This workshop is part of a series of workshops that will be presented at Richmond Art Center every third Saturday this summer. Additional workshops will be presented out in Richmond at local community events. All workshops are free to attend.
Fencelines Art Workshops at Richmond Art Center
Saturday, June 18, 2pm-4pm
Saturday, July 16, 12pm-2pm
Saturday, August 20, 12pm-2pm
Saturday, September 17, 12pm-2pm
Fencelines Workshops in the Community
Saturday, June 18, 10am-12pm: Urban Tilth Volunteer Day at Unity Park
Saturday, July 9: Richmond LAND: Love Your Block Event in North Richmond
Saturday, August 6: APEN Refinery Explosion 10 Year Memorial Event; Hood Day in North Richmond at Shields-Reid Park
… and other summer 2022 events with Richmond Our Power Coalition TBD!
Fencelinesaspires to create a unique, celebratory monument with the community in Richmond by: facilitating the creation of artwork by the community itself, promoting conversation and connection between Richmond community members, bringing awareness to issues of environmental injustice, and beautifying and activating an otherwise underutilized space. The project design and participatory format is explicitly designed to center and amplify the voices of the community.
The Fencelines team is made up of local artists, organizers, and community members, Princess Robinson, Graham L.P., Dulce Galicia and Gita Khandagle. This project is presented as a partnership between Richmond Our Power Coalition, Richmond Art Center, and Fencelines.
Top Image: Princess Robinson, co-creator of the Fencelines project, with her family
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
Images (details l-r): J.B. Broussard, The General, 2021; Twin Walls Mural Company, Protectors of the Sacred, Power: A Prayer for Buffalo Nation, 2020; Emmy Lou Packard, Artichoke Picker, circa 1955
