Thanks to the Richmond Standard for this great recap of our 2016 Holiday Arts Festival! “The Richmond Art Center (RAC) hosted the 54th edition of their popular Holiday Arts Fest on Sunday, and a bustling turnout enjoyed the 50-plus artisan vendors, engaging make-your-own-art tables and some tasty food offerings.”
Read the rest of the article here: http://richmondstandard.com/2016/12/richmond-art-centers-54th-holiday-arts-fest-draws-crowd/
As the Richmond Standard wrote in the October 18, 2016 issue:
When it comes to treasured resources in the Bay Area, it’s hard to top what the Richmond Art Center has brought to the area for 80 years. The robust venue . . . is accessible, attractive and overflowing with artistic offerings for every age group and interest.
I see the energy created by our diverse offerings virtually every day – when guests arrive for artists’ talks, to see new works by Bay Area artists, students creating new art forms with their hands and innate inspiration, or joining in on the fun at a family event in our Courtyard. I am especially honored to lead this award-winning organization that provides a community forum for people of all ages to see, make art and learn about art.
We have continued to expand our Art in the Community outreach program to deliver more after school programs to Richmond elementary and middle schools, and community centers; continuing our free family weekend activities that encourage multi-generational learning; and providing professional development to elementary teachers to integrate creative art making into their curriculum; presented increasingly ambitious art exhibitions like, David Park and the Human Spirit, and Making Our Mark, attracting new audiences and national acclaim. We have also added new teaching artists to provide lifelong learning opportunities for youth and adults while keeping our classes affordable and offering more scholarships.
I know that you understand the importance of the Art Center, and I hope that you will consider continuing your commitment to supporting our ongoing efforts to bring art to thousands of people each year. I am also pleased to announce that your contribution will be matched 1:1 by anonymous donors who share your commitment to the Art Center. Your tax-deductible gift will help support our exhibition, studio, and community-based programs. You can donate online here right now.
I would value the opportunity to meet with you to discuss what your contribution can mean to us. You can reach me at Richard@therichmondartcenter.org, or by phone at (510) 620-6777.
There’s more than just art to buy at this year’s Art Center’s annual holiday festival with food trucks and Richmond’s own craft brewery and cidery participating.
RICHMOND, CA — November 29, 2016—On Sunday, December 4, 2016, the largest community event and fundraiser for the Richmond Art Center returns for its 54th year, with over 50 local artists and artisan collectives participating. In addition, this year’s festival is also hosting three local food trucks, as well as two other Richmond-based vendors: a craft brewery and a cidery.
“So much of bringing people together for this event is centered around artists, which makes perfect sense,” says Nisha Chauhan-McGrath, Volunteer Services Coordinator and Holiday Arts Festival coordinator. “We wanted to make sure that our visitors have an all-around great shopping experience, and that has to include good food and drink, and a place to mingle and connect.”
The food truck idea is a new one for the decades old arts festival but a welcome one at the Richmond Art Center. Participating vendors include Curbside Kitchen, a gourmet mobile food truck based out of San Pablo, CA, that offers Filipino-American cuisine, with hints of Latin and Southeast Asian flair. Favorite dishes include their Curb-bahn mi, described as traditional Filipino adobo meets bahn mi, and small plates that include Filipino street tacos and Mom’s lumpia.
Opie’s Gourmet Stacked Burgers will be on hand, serving up their sizzling full menu of signature “absolute best Gourmet STACKED Burgers” (not to mention herb/garlic fries and the “Herbavoire” for vegetarians).
DUM Indian Soul Food will treat customers to a modern interpretation of classic Indian flavors, “ the best of flavors and textures from north, east and south India to the streets of Bombay!” with specialties including Paneer Skewers seasoned with North Indian spices and served with tangy coconut chutney.
Local Richmond-based craft brewery Benoit-Casper Brewing Company (“Good Beer for Good People”), established in 2014 by two craft beer obsessed friends, Marc Benoit and Chad Casper, run a production-only brewery located in the heart of Richmond, and will be sharing several new drafts.
And Far West Cider Company will be sharing their hand-crafted ciders as Richmond’s only farm-to-glass cidery. Far West Cider Company specializes in uniquely Californian hard ciders made exclusively from apples grown on Chinchiolo Family Farms; a fourth generation family farm located in rural San Joaquin County, CA.
The festival opens its doors to the public at 11am and ends at 5pm at the Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue in Richmond, CA. Attendees will be able to decorate their own canvas tote bag, perfect for shopping or carrying art supplies, create their own handmade terrariums, bid on silent auction items, mingle with many local artists and Richmond Art Center art instructors, and learn more about what’s happening in the Richmond nonprofit community.
This year’s Holiday Arts Festival features many new artist vendors, and gourmet food trucks and food vendors on site. Art collectors mark the day as an opportunity to bid on collectible, prized works by notable Bay Area artists. To see the list of vendors and community partners participating in this event, please visit the Holiday Art Festival’s web page as it will be continuously updated with current information: http://richmondartcenter.org/holiday-arts-festival/
About the Richmond Art Center:
The Richmond Art Center is the largest visual arts center in the East Bay, delivering exciting arts experiences to young and old alike who reflect the diverse richness of our community. The Art Center features hands-on learning, well-equipped studios, Art in the Community programs and contemporary exhibitions in its galleries.
Every year, the Richmond Art Center serves thousands of students through classes and programs taught by professional artists, both onsite at the Art Center and at sites throughout Richmond. The Art Center’s four galleries mount rotating exhibitions that display the works of emerging and established Bay Area artists. Artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, Jay DeFeo, Wanxin Zhang, Hung Liu, William Wiley and Peter Voulkos have been showcased here.
Now celebrating its 80th anniversary, the Richmond Art Center originated in 1936, when local artist Hazel Salmi, who worked for the WPA, traversed the streets of Richmond with a suitcase packed with art supplies, eager to teach art to anyone interested. Today, everything at the Art Center continues to breathe life into Salmi’s original vision: That within every person lives an artist.
Donate today to help support our scholarships for local youth and adults, free community classes and events, and our galleries and exhibitions. Today your donation will be matched dollar for dollar by a generous anonymous donor.
Become a volunteer. Our volunteers are a vital part of the work we do and they help us with a variety of really important projects.
Give us a thumb’s up review on Facebook, Google or Yelp. Tell others why you love coming to the Richmond Art Center.
Support your local artists and buy local. Check out the Silent Auction, have lunch at the food trucks, sample local beer and cider and meet our Community Partners at the Holiday Arts Festival on Sunday, December 4.
Richmond Art Center’s 54th Annual Holiday Arts Festival Partners with Local Nonprofits
Five Richmond nonprofits share their missions, sell their work in the Community Gallery at the Art Center’s annual holiday festival.
RICHMOND, CA — November 18, 2016—On Sunday, December 4, 2016, the largest community event and fundraiser for the Richmond Art Center returns for its 54th year, with over 50 local artists and artisan collectives participating. This year, the festival has expanded to present and give visibility to nonprofit partners with the Richmond Art Center, which include Rosie the Riveter Trust, Girls Inc. of West Contra Costa, NIAD Art Center, and RYSE Youth Center.
“We love our neighbor the Richmond Art Center and their annual Holiday Festival, said NIAD’s Gallery Director, Tim Buckwalter. “What a fantastic tradition. At NIAD Art Center, we delighted and honored to be a part of it. This year we’re pleased to showcase work from four of our emerging artists – Vanessa Bravo, Donzell Lewis, Shana Harper and Sara Malpass – who will be amazing works in clay, fiber, and clay.”
RYSE Youth Center will also be creating art to sell this year. Says Visual Arts Coordinator Vanessa “Agana” Espinoza: “The Visual arts team at Ryse Youth Center has been creating some new original handmade jewelry, art and crafts to share at the Richmond Art Center’s Holiday Art Festival. We are honored to present some amazing unique pieces for sale made by the talented young artists at Ryse. We are very excited about this partnership especially after collaborating on a youth-led mural in the front entrance of the Richmond Art center.”
“Girls Inc is so excited to be working with some very special young entrepreneurs, helping them to fulfill their desires for a successful career doing what they love to do,” says Cristal Banagan, Associate Director of Girls Incorporated of West Contra Costa County. “With the help of personal mentors, our young ladies are creating their businesses, and finding opportunity to “make their mark” with the help of the Richmond Art Center! Stay tuned in to these incredible young marvels and their beautifully creative creations, brought to you as only Richmond can!”
“Rosie the Riveter Trust will be selling a variety of unusual ‘Rosie’ items to benefit its work on behalf of the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park,” says Marsha Mather-Thrift, Executive Director of Rosie the Riveter Trust. “Items will include a variety of unusual designs from the Rosie the Riveter National Park Gift Store. We are very excited to be participating in this years Arts Festival and supporting the greater Richmond community.”
Also present will be staff from The Latina Center, whose mission is to improve the quality of life and health of the Latino community by providing leadership and personal development opportunities for all Latinos.
The festival opens its doors to the public at 11am and ends at 5pm at the Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue in Richmond, CA. Attendees will be able to decorate their own canvas tote bag, perfect for shopping or carrying art supplies, create their own handmade terrariums, bid on silent auction items, mingle with many local artists and Richmond Art Center art instructors, and learn more about what’s happening in the Richmond nonprofit community. All within a few steps of great meals served up by Curbside Kitchen and Opie’s Gourmet Stacked Burgers.
This year’s Holiday Arts Festival features many new artist vendors, and gourmet food trucks and food vendors on site. Art collectors mark the day as an opportunity to bid on collectible, prized works by notable Bay Area artists. To see the list of vendors and community partners participating in this event, please visit the Holiday Art Festival’s web page as it will be continuously updated with current information: http://richmondartcenter.org/holiday-arts-festival/
About the Richmond Art Center:
The Richmond Art Center is the largest visual arts center in the East Bay, delivering exciting arts experiences to young and old alike who reflect the diverse richness of our community. The Art Center features hands-on learning, well-equipped studios, Art in the Community programs and contemporary exhibitions in its galleries.
Every year, the Richmond Art Center serves thousands of students through classes and programs taught by professional artists, both onsite at the Art Center and at sites throughout Richmond. The Art Center’s four galleries mount rotating exhibitions that display the works of emerging and established Bay Area artists. Artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, Jay DeFeo, Wanxin Zhang, Hung Liu, William Wiley and Peter Voulkos have been showcased here.
Now celebrating its 80th anniversary, the Richmond Art Center originated in 1936, when local artist Hazel Salmi, who worked for the WPA, traversed the streets of Richmond with a suitcase packed with art supplies, eager to teach art to anyone interested. Today, everything at the Art Center continues to breathe life into Salmi’s original vision: That within every person lives an artist.
Visit the Richmond Art Center’s website for more information: http://richmondartcenter.org/
As the Richmond Art Center celebrated its 80th Anniversary year, it prepared a major exhibition in tribute to its history and its mission. The exhibition, Making Our Mark, looked to artists who have had a history with the Art Center: artists who have exhibited, supported, and enriched the programs over the years. In selecting these artists, we reflected on the scope of interest—media as richly varied as painting, ceramics, fiber, sculpture, and photography—and themes as diverse as the cultural backgrounds at the foundation of the community.
We also asked each of the invited artists to put forward a younger artist: someone whom they have taught or mentored or whose work they have felt should be shown and promoted. This, too, is in line with our history and our mission—giving voice to new artists and opening the galleries to new visions. Some of the invited artists, including Jim Melchert, Hung Liu, Squeak Carnwath, and Lia Cook, had their very first exhibitions at the Richmond Art Center and have over the years served as the core of the Bay Area art community, teaching, mentoring, and lighting a path for younger artists. And for some of the younger artists, this exhibition presents one of the first major showings of their work. Turning our attention to materiality, the environment, systems of power and inequality, these artists have followed different modes of expression with a common passion for their art.
As the Richmond Art Center celebrated its 80th Anniversary year, it prepared a major exhibition in tribute to its history and its mission. The exhibition, Making Our Mark, looked to artists who have had a history with the Art Center: artists who have exhibited, supported, and enriched the programs over the years. In selecting these artists, we reflected on the scope of interest—media as richly varied as painting, ceramics, fiber, sculpture, and photography—and themes as diverse as the cultural backgrounds at the foundation of the community.
We also asked each of the invited artists to put forward a younger artist: someone whom they have taught or mentored or whose work they have felt should be shown and promoted. This, too, is in line with our history and our mission—giving voice to new artists and opening the galleries to new visions. Some of the invited artists, including Jim Melchert, Hung Liu, Squeak Carnwath, and Lia Cook, had their very first exhibitions at the Richmond Art Center and have over the years served as the core of the Bay Area art community, teaching, mentoring, and lighting a path for younger artists. And for some of the younger artists, this exhibition presents one of the first major showings of their work. Turning our attention to materiality, the environment, systems of power and inequality, these artists have followed different modes of expression with a common passion for their art.
As the Richmond Art Center celebrated its 80th Anniversary year, it prepared a major exhibition in tribute to its history and its mission. The exhibition, Making Our Mark, looked to artists who have had a history with the Art Center: artists who have exhibited, supported, and enriched the programs over the years. In selecting these artists, we reflected on the scope of interest—media as richly varied as painting, ceramics, fiber, sculpture, and photography—and themes as diverse as the cultural backgrounds at the foundation of the community.
We also asked each of the invited artists to put forward a younger artist: someone whom they have taught or mentored or whose work they have felt should be shown and promoted. This, too, is in line with our history and our mission—giving voice to new artists and opening the galleries to new visions. Some of the invited artists, including Jim Melchert, Hung Liu, Squeak Carnwath, and Lia Cook, had their very first exhibitions at the Richmond Art Center and have over the years served as the core of the Bay Area art community, teaching, mentoring, and lighting a path for younger artists. And for some of the younger artists, this exhibition presents one of the first major showings of their work. Turning our attention to materiality, the environment, systems of power and inequality, these artists have followed different modes of expression with a common passion for their art.
About Dawline-Jane’s work: “I am an Oakland-based visual artist whose current work is focused primarily on the urban landscape. An avid observer and prolific photographer, I employ a vast catalog of visual notes and memories to create my work. A lover of materials and process, I uses a range of media including relief print making, watercolor, pen and ink and encaustic. I make work that ranges from lighthearted illustration work to bold relief prints. Strategic use of color and composition are important parts of my work.”
Dawline-Jane Oni-Eseleh is a New York native who currently calls the Bay Area Home. She attended the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Art and Science in Manhattan. Her work has been exhibited across the Bay Area and as far way as Japan.
54th Annual Holiday Arts Festival Is Richmond Art Center’s Largest Community Event of the Year Richmond favorite festival hosts 50+ artisan vendors, local nonprofit community partners, gourmet food trucks and a silent auction.
RICHMOND, CA — November 4, 2016—On Sunday, December 4, 2016, the largest community event and fundraiser for the Richmond Art Center returns for its 54th year, with over 50 local artists and artisan collectives participating. This year’s Holiday Arts Festival is on track to be a exciting experience, with many new artist vendors added to the roster, and gourmet food trucks and food vendors on site. Art collectors mark the day as an opportunity to bid on collectible, prized works by notable Bay Area artists. This year, the festival has expanded to present and give visibility to nonprofit partners with the Richmond Art Center, which include Rosie the Riveter Trust, Girls Inc. of West Contra Costa, NIAD Art Center, and RYSE Youth Center.
“The Holiday Arts Festival is a long-standing annual tradition that really brings the East Bay arts community together,” says Ric Ambrose, Executive Director. “This festival not only celebrates and showcases the talents of many local artists, but it allows a larger community to appreciate, own, and gift handmade art. We enjoy this annual opportunity to bring many new people to the Art Center so they can learn what we’re all about, and to gather with our longtime students and supporters.”
The festival opens its doors to the public at 11am and ends at 5pm at the Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue in Richmond, CA. Attendees will be able to decorate their own canvas tote bag, perfect for shopping or carrying art supplies, create their own handmade terrariums, bid on silent auction items, mingle with many local artists and Richmond Art Center art instructors, and learn more about what’s happening in the Richmond nonprofit community. All within a few steps of great meals served up by Curbside Kitchen and Opie’s Gourmet Stacked Burgers.
To see the list of vendors and community partners participating in this event, please visit the Holiday Art Festival’s web page as it will be continuously updated with current information: http://richmondartcenter.org/holiday-arts-festival/
About the Richmond Art Center:
The Richmond Art Center is the largest visual arts center in the East Bay, delivering exciting arts experiences to young and old alike who reflect the diverse richness of our community. The Art Center features hands-on learning, well-equipped studios, Art in the Community programs and contemporary exhibitions in its galleries.
Every year, the Richmond Art Center serves thousands of students through classes and programs taught by professional artists, both onsite at the Art Center and at sites throughout Richmond. The Art Center’s four galleries mount rotating exhibitions that display the works of emerging and established Bay Area artists. Artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, Jay DeFeo, Wanxin Zhang, Hung Liu, William Wiley and Peter Voulkos have been showcased here.
Now celebrating its 80th anniversary, the Richmond Art Center originated in 1936, when local artist Hazel Salmi, who worked for the WPA, traversed the streets of Richmond with a suitcase packed with art supplies, eager to teach art to anyone interested. Today, everything at the Art Center continues to breathe life into Salmi’s original vision: That within every person lives an artist.
Dear Richmond Art Center family,
RICHMOND, CA — November 4, 2016—On Sunday, December 4, 2016, the largest community event and fundraiser for the Richmond Art Center returns for its 54th year, with over 50 local artists and artisan collectives participating. This year’s Holiday Arts Festival is on track to be a exciting experience, with many new artist vendors added to the roster, and gourmet food trucks and food vendors on site. Art collectors mark the day as an opportunity to bid on collectible, prized works by notable Bay Area artists. This year, the festival has expanded to present and give visibility to nonprofit partners with the Richmond Art Center, which include 
