A message from our executive director and board president
Hello Friends,
In 2025, Richmond Art Center celebrates 89 years. It’s remarkable to imagine that through significant events like World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, and incredible technological advancements, the art center has remained here in Richmond, providing space for the community to make and experience art.
In today’s polarized era, many people are feeling uncertain and fearful about what the future holds—and we share those concerns.
During times of change, our goal is to continue offering programs that promote the benefits of art-making for people of all ages and backgrounds. We also aim to support artists who address our discontents, offering critique, provocation, hope, and healing.
As we look toward 2025, we ask for your support to help Richmond Art Center continue as an anchor for art and community in Richmond.
The Richmond Art Center buzzed Sunday with visitors, as they explored handcrafted goods and engaged with artists and artisans at the Holiday Arts Festival.
The festival began 62 years ago as a craft-focused event and has blossomed into an annual tradition, celebrating the spirit of creativity, said Amy Spencer, the community engagement director who helps organize the event. Richmond Art Center has expanded its vision of bringing the community together to support independent artists and small businesses.
“Nearly half the participating vendors are from Richmond, and this event really puts Richmond on the map as a hub for creativity in the East Bay,” Spencer said.
The festival showcased a diverse array of more than 50 creators, including illustrators, jewelry designers, silversmiths, painters, and clothing designers, as well as zine and sticker makers. Alongside the marketplace were stations for making Christmas ornaments that engaged attendees of all ages.
Van Pham, who has been to other Richmond Art Center events, watched her two children decorate clay Christmas ornaments That would soon find a place on their tree at home.
Nicole Dickerson, a first-time attendee, was captivated by the event’s charm. “I had no idea it was going to be as big as it is. It’s amazing, just the most beautiful thing,” she said. “Spending money locally feels so much better.”
The Zine Zone is a new feature at the Richmond Art Center’s annual Holiday Arts Festival. (Paul Ghusar)
This year, the festival debuted the Zine Zone, showcasing art that intersects with activism. It grew out of a summer class for teens taught by Shani Ealey that focused on indigenous African storytelling, Spencer said. The Art Center wanted to share it with the broader community.
At the festival Zora Whitfield debuted her zine series exploring Black women’s lived experiences.
“I thought I’d just show people my zines,” Whitfield said. “But now, seeing people touched by my work and trading zines with others, I feel like I’m organically learning more about zine culture.”
Candle-maker Elishes Cavness found that he was doing a lot of listening at the festival, because candles often bring back memories that people like to share.
“We laugh, chat, and just have a good time,” Cavness said. “It’s about more than just selling.”
First-time participants like jewelry maker Tara Packard saw the festival as a way to meet people and grow business. “Meeting my fellow craftsmen is very exciting to me,” said Packard, who moved from San Francisco to Richmond four years ago. She credits the Richmond Art Center with helping her connect to the local arts scene.
The annual Holiday Arts Festival will return to the Richmond Art Center for its 62nd year on Sunday, with over 50 local arts and crafts vendors, live music, food, and art activities to create your own holiday gifts.
Everything from ceramics to knitwear will be showcased by artists from across the Bay Area, including many from Richmond. This year, the festival will include the Zine Zone for the first time, spotlighting independent zines, comics and prints. Amy Spencer, community engagement director at Richmond Art Center said that the Zine Zone was introduced after art instructor Shani R. Ealey ran a zine-making class at the center last summer.
“The work made in the class was really powerful and we wanted to find a way to share it with the broader community at a public event,” Spencer said.
The Zine Zone will provide the public with a different way to engage with art, one that revolves around something other than shopping.
“The Zine Zone will highlight non-commercial art and art as a vehicle for activism, at this event,” Spencer said.
Holiday Arts Festival
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday
Where: Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave. in Richmond
What: More than 50 artists and crafters, about 20 zinesters, ceramic studio sale, music, food, drinks, art activities.
Oakland-based indie comic producer and former Richmond resident Avy Jetter is excited to display her work in the Zine Zone. Jetter, whose art prioritizes marginalized voices, hopes the Zine Zone will help diversify the festival.
“It’s super important to hold space for people who don’t necessarily get the shine or attention that they deserve,” Jetter said.
Among the independent artists, local nonprofits such as The Latina Center and Urban Tilth also will have tables at the festival. One of the nonprofits with the longest-standing relationships with Richmond Art Center is NIAD, a progressive art studio that serves adults with developmental disabilities, providing them with a space to make art that is then featured in exhibitions. NIAD has been present at the Holiday Arts Festival for over 10 years.
Ember Avalos, community programs director at NIAD, said the relationship has put the focus more on community building than art sales.
“People are interested in the stories of the artists and the story of how we fit into Richmond community and culture,” Avalos said.
About 1, 300 to 1,500 people are expected to attend the festival, which is free and runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“I think this event really puts Richmond on the map in the East Bay as a hub for art,” Spencer said, “allowing the artistic community to come together.”
(Top photo: The 2022 Holiday Arts Festival, by Sasha Schell)
Best Bets: 62nd Holiday Arts Festival In Richmond Highlights Free Art Fairs
By Bay City News Service | Dec 5, 2024
The notion of holiday shopping has been transmogrified over the years by forces and developments aimed at making it as easy and expedient as possible — Online shopping! Catalogs! Gift cards!
It’s reached the point where we expect that someday we’ll be able to send people their gifts telepathically (which, don’t get us wrong, we would totally do!) If it’s reached the point where you feel the celebratory fun of holiday shopping has been lost, head to Richmond Art Center this weekend for the venue’s 62nd annual Holiday Arts Festival, an event that celebrates the making of presents as much as giving them.
Among the attractions are a variety of arts and crafts activities as well as a special zone devoted to Bay Area zine-makers and their products, which includes opportunities to create your own zines. There will also be a wide variety of gifts and crafts for sale from more than 50 Bay Area artists, a ceramics studio sale, and plenty to eat and drink.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond. More information is at richmondartcenter.org. The event is one of several art-centered holiday boutiques and events this weekend, most of which have free admission. These include the East Bay Print Sale Thursday through Sunday in Berkeley (www.eastbayprintsale.com); the Black Holiday Market, featuring works from African American-owned businesses on Saturday at San Francisco’s Ferry Building (downtownsf.org/do/pop-ups-on-the-plaza-black-holiday-market); the Makers Market on Haight Street on Saturday (thethirdplace.is/events/explore) and a pair of boutiques in Concord and Pleasanton this weekend hosted by KidFest (www.kidfestconcord.com). Happy shopping!
100% of funds raised this Giving Tuesday will go to our Scholarship Fund
December 3 marks Giving Tuesday—a global day of generosity that kicks off the holiday season.
This year, please consider contributing to Richmond Art Center’s Scholarship Fund. Your support helps students access no/low-cost art classes and attend summer camp for free.
“It is very rewarding to see our Richmond community have access to learning new artforms and blossom in these classes regardless of their financial circumstances.” – Elaine Moreno-Jolly, Scholarship Program Manager
Over the past twelve months, we awarded over $34,000 in scholarships to more than 130 children, youth, and adults. Now, our fund is running low, and we need to raise at least that much to continue these opportunities in 2025.
Mail a Check: Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave, Richmond, CA 94804 (note on the check’s memo line “Scholarship Fund”)
More About Our Scholarship Fund: Making art accessible to all is at the core of Richmond Art Center’s mission. Through our needs-based Art Boost scholarships, we offer free art classes and camps to community members who cannot afford them, including children, teens, and adults. We also collaborate with community partners – like the West Contra Costa Unified School District – to reach under-resourced populations, ensuring they can participate in our programs at no cost. In 2024, we awarded over 100 scholarships to youth and adults. Scholarship funds cover teacher salaries, materials, and some operating costs.
Thank you for being part of Richmond Art Center’s creative community. Your generosity ensures our programs remain accessible to everyone!
An opening reception for the trio of free-to-view exhibitions is set for Jan. 25 from 1-3 p.m. and gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The winter season will mark Art of the African Diaspora’s 28th year honoring the creative expressions of artists of African descent, according to the RAC. The center’s Main Gallery will feature the works of more than 150 local Black artists in what is touted as the Bay Area’s largest non-juried exhibition of its kind.
Nearby in the RAC’s West Gallery, artists Deborah Butler, Kim Champion and Carrie Lee McClish will be showcased, while the overall program also includes receptions, guest speaker events, open studios and satellite exhibitions Bay Area-wide. The RAC’s print catalog, coming out in January 2025, will offer a guide to the exhibition’s surrounding facets.
Richmond’s own Daniel “Attaboy” Seifert’s latest iteration of his Upcycled Garden, a project rooted in the pandemic, is coming to the RAC’s South Gallery. Repurposed materials—pizza boxes, COVID tests and shipping boxes among them—are applied to make “whimsical organic forms,” said the center. The forms have combined over time and to become a garden installation that’s a reflection on consumption and an otherworldly space that outshines its everyday origins.
Jennifer Linderman’s fall art classes at the RAC have set flight to a collection of work by her students in Across Land and Sea. The exhibition will feature mixed media and pastel works on paper by her students, as well as Linderman’s own works.
Find the Richmond Art Center at 2540 Barrett Ave. in Richmond. Learn more here.
January 22 – March 22, 2025 Opening Reception: Saturday, January 25, 1pm-3pm Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804 Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm Exhibitions and events are all free and no rsvp is necessary
Richmond, CA: Opening January 2025, Richmond Art Center’s galleries will showcase new art that bursts with color, meaning, and inventive materials.
In its 28th year, Art of the African Diaspora continues to express and honor the creative achievements of artists of African descent. In the Main Gallery, over 150 local Black artists will showcase their work in the Bay Area’s largest non-juried exhibition of its kind. The adjacent West Gallery highlights work by featured artists Deborah Butler, Kim Champion, and Carrie Lee McClish.
The Art of the African Diaspora program includes receptions, guest speaker events, open studios, and satellite exhibitions throughout the Bay Area. Be sure to grab a copy of the print catalog, available in January 2025, for a comprehensive guide to this dynamic celebration.
In the South Gallery, Daniel “Attaboy” Seifert unveils a new iteration of his Upcycled Garden, an ever-growing project born during the pandemic. In 2021, faced with lockdown challenges, Attaboy began repurposing materials like pizza boxes, COVID test kits, shipping boxes, and house paint through an intuitive, meditative process to create whimsical organic forms. Over time, these forms evolved into a garden installation that serves as both a diary of consumption and an otherworldly space—both playful and strange—that outshines its humble origins. Upcycled Garden has been exhibited at ten venues across the United States, and we’re excited to now present it in Richmond, the artist’s hometown.
Finally, the Community Gallery we’re proud to showcase work by the talented students working in our studios. Across Land and Sea will include mixed media and pastel works on paper by students from Jennifer Linderman’s fall art classes at Richmond Art Center, along with works by Linderman herself.
An Opening Reception for all exhibitions will be held on Saturday, January 25, from 1pm to 3pm. All are welcome to attend.
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
Images (from top down): Artworks by Jennifer Linderman, Carrie Lee McClish, and Attaboy
THANKSGIVING: Richmond Art Center will be closed Thursday, November 28, 2024 through Saturday, November 30, 2024.
WINTER BREAK: Richmond Art Center will be closed from Saturday, December 21, 2024 through Wednesday, January 1, 2025. Staff will be onsite again starting Thursday, January 2, 2025. Please see the exhibition and class calendar to find out when programs resume.
Experience Richmond’s 62nd Annual Holiday Arts Festival
Sunday, December 8, 10am-4pm | Free Admission Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA
Richmond, CA: Richmond Art Center is delighted to announce the Holiday Arts Festival will return on Sunday, December 8, from 10am to 4pm. In its 62nd year, the festival continues to be all about art as an experience for all to explore, make and purchase affordably through featuring local artisans and free art-making activities.
The heart of the festival is the Arts and Crafts Marketplace, showcasing one-of-a-kind designs, artisanal products, and handmade treasures. “We’re thrilled to welcome over fifty vendors this year,” says Executive Director José R. Rivera. “These talented makers from across the Bay Area—including many from Richmond—offer a fantastic opportunity to shop for creative gifts (or treat yourself) while supporting independent artists and small businesses.”
New to the festival in 2024 is the Zine Zone, a dedicated space for independent zines, print, comics, and indie artists. The Zine Zone celebrates these art forms as powerful tools for expression and social justice.
Additional highlights include the popular Ceramics Studio Sale featuring an array of handmade, functional ceramics at unbeatable prices, free drop-in art-making activities, pop-ups from Richmond-based community partners, and live music throughout the day.
The Holiday Arts Festival takes place at Richmond Art Center, located at 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA. Admission is free, and everyone is welcome to join in the festivities.
Start your holiday shopping early! Browse the online vendor gallery and learn more about the festival at: richmondartcenter.org/haf
Accessibility and Parking: Ample free parking is available in the 25th Street lot across from Richmond Art Center. Wheelchair access is available via the Barrett Avenue entrance, with accessible parking spaces nearby. Parking and Entrance Map
About Richmond Art Center: Richmond Art Center has been sharing art and creating with the community since 1936. Our programs encompass art 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, images and artist stories contact: Amy Spencer, amy@richmondartcenter.org
Meet Some of Festival Participants:
“I love participating in the annual holiday festival, it’s one of my favorite days of the holiday season as a maker. I find that the people who attend are deeply committed to the arts and supporting handmade, handcrafted and items made with love and creative care. I can’t wait!”
“I will be selling fine art prints celebrating the biodiversity of the California coast. I love to share my passion for nudibranchs, fungi, and all the creatures that make our state colorful and unique.”
“As a local artisan, I’m thrilled to bring Broken Angels Design’s handcrafted sterling silver jewelry to the Holiday Arts Festival. It’s a wonderful opportunity to share our passion for creating unique pieces that help you ‘Wear Elegance and Beauty Everyday’.”
“A Bay Area native, raised in Richmond, I will be sharing my passion for nature and the outdoors through paintings and prints. I love exploring local Bay Area hikes as well as the greater California area to find inspiration for my landscapes. I am looking forward to sharing my work at Richmond Art Center!”
Class Registration Opens Wednesday, November 6, 2024, 10am
Winter classes run January through March 2025
Tips for Enrolling in Classes Online
Get Ready: Class listings are now available for preview on our website, so you can browse now and decide which class you’d like to join. If you see ‘Fully Booked,’ don’t worry—it will update once registration opens at 10am.
Don’t Panic When the Listings Disappear: It’s only temporary! Classes will disappear from view around 9am on 11/6 as we prepare to open them for registration.
Just Refresh Your Browser at 10am: At 10am (or as close as we can get), refresh your browser to see the classes reappear.
Be Patient: Our team is working as quickly as possible—thank you for your understanding!
