Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11:00am – 2:30pm June 7 – June 30, 2022 For this three-week course, artists ages 13-17 will join mixed media visual artist, Alex Martinez, in exploring what legends, characters, and icons that have informed their personal identity or cultural understanding and shape their visual language.
Summer Mural Program for Richmond Youth Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1pm to 4pm June 14 – July 28, 2022 With instructors Fred Alvarado and Keena Azania Romano, a cohort of twelve young artists (ages 14-24) will learn about different models of community art projects and create a collaborative mural project. Students will learn basic color theory, composition, and painting methods. This class welcomes Spanish speakers and is an inclusive bilingual space. El Artista Maestro habla Español.
S.P.O.T.S: Supporting Peoples Outlooks, Talents, and Speech
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1pm to 4 pm
Jul 5 – Aug 11, 2022
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.
Eligibility: This six week class is for youth ages 14-24 who live, work or study in Richmond.
Stipend: Each student will receive a $200 stipend for their work at the completion of the program.
Schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1pm-4pm, Jul 5 – Aug 11, 2022
Instructors: Fred Alvarado and Keena Azania Romano
This class welcomes Spanish speakers and is an inclusive bilingual space. El Artista Maestro habla Español.
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11:00am – 2:30pm
June 14 – June 30, 2022
For this three-week course, youth ages 13-17 will join artist Alex Martinez to explore the legends, characters and icons that have informed their personal identity and cultural understanding, while developing their own visual language in mixed media.
La instructora de clase es bilingüe ingles / español.
About the Artist: Alex Martinez (she/her/they) is a Queer Latinx mixed media visual artist and teacher who is based in Oakland, California. Her mixed media paintings and prints playfully juxtapose her ancestors with Mexican ephemera, folklore, legends, and pop culture characters that represent her personal identity and visual landscape.
From April 6th to June 4th, the Richmond Art Center is presenting the paintings of popular local artist Dewey Crumpler. The exhibit features an absorbing survey of Crumpler’s “shipping container” work.
More than 120 pieces of his art will be on display, providing an opportunity for viewers “to consider the history, lived legacy and future impact of the global shipping industry”. In this series of works, including new large-scale paintings, Crumpler juxtaposes our dependence on container shipping with the consequences and heritage of cargo ships crossing the oceans over the centuries.
Dewey Crumpler: Crossings asks us to consider the history, lived legacy and future impact of the global shipping industry. Presenting over 120 works, from sketches to large scale paintings, the exhibition represents Crumpler’s twenty-five years of investigation into the beauty and power of ribbed, metal cargo boxes.
In Crumpler’s work shipping containers are dense metaphors; encompassing stories of mass migration, transformation and voyages destined to be repeated. They trace transatlantic trade routes that emerged in the 15th century and are still used today. They also show industry that has irrevocably shaped port cities like San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond. Through connecting historical and contemporary systems, time in Crumpler’s work becomes a loop of rebirth and decline pressed forward through the crossing of water. Crumpler explains, “At the heart of these works is memory.”
For more than 30 years Dewey Crumpler has been a major influence in Bay area artist communities. He has taught at the SF Art Institute since 1989. Recent retrospectives and exhibits include the Hedreen Gallery in Seattle and Frieze 2020, a virtual presentation curated by Zoe Whitley of London’s Chisenhale Gallery.
Crumpler’s work is in the permanent collections of museums in Oakland, Santa Clara and Los Angeles. He is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and other grants.
JEANNE POWELL is a published poet and essayist. She holds degrees from Wayne State University and the University of San Francisco. Jeanne has taught in the CS, UB and OLLI programs at universities in the City. Her books in print include MY OWN SILENCE and WORD DANCING from Taurean Horn Press.
Could there be a more perfect cover artwork for our Spring Catalog than instructor Chris Harper Triplett’s Flower Cowgirl? Some students may recognize this piece as Chris created it as a demo in her watercolor class back in 2018.
As Covid-19 case numbers continue to go down and the Bay Area gradually “opens up” you’ll see some positive changes rolling out at Richmond Art Center. Our gallery hours are expanding (Wed-Sat 10am-4pm), new staff hires are arriving (welcome Elaine Moreno, our new Visitor Services Coordinator), and more in-person classes will run as part of our Spring Session schedule. A highlight for me in the galleries this spring is—after a two year pause—the return of the WCCUSD Student Art Show. Be inspired by the skill and vision of the next generation of local artists.
There’s also a lot happening behind the scenes at RAC. Our education team is collaborating with RYSE Youth Center and East Bay Center for the Performing Arts to run a professional development training series for educators. The makeover of the metals studio continues and we are hosting the Metal Arts Guild Picnic. Artists-in-residence Liberación Gráfica are working in the print studio with a group of students from Richmond High. And we were excited to send three staff to the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference in Sacramento this past March. Marisa Burman, RAC’s Ceramics Manager, described the event as, “rich and stimulating”.
Kids of all ages and their grown-ups are invited to Richmond Art Center’s Spring Family Dayon Saturday, May 14, 12pm-3pm. This free, family event is an opportunity to celebrate the gifts of spring through art-making, dancing, and music.
Bomba by Quenepas
Live Printing by Liberación Gráfica
Fencelines Workshop
Succulent Art Planters
Art Making Activities
Flower Photo Booth
Pottery Demo with a Kick Wheel
Richmond Our Power Coalition
Gallery Search and Find
…and more!
Thank you to Richmond Rotary Club for sponsoring this event.
Images (left to right, top to bottom): Details of works by Karen Seneferu, Heather McAlister, Melanin Buford, Jeff Maylath, Daniel Ballesteros, Adrian Delgado, Janet Lipkin, and AJ Serrano
