Una Tarde con The Great Tortilla Conspiracy at SFMOMA
Special Event to Celebrate Two Exhibitions: Diego Rivera’s America at SFMOMA and Emmy Lou Packard: Artist of Conscience at Richmond Art Center
Thursday, August 4, 3:30pm-7:30pm
SFMOMA, Howard Street Entrance
Join Bay Area political performance collective The Great Tortilla Conspiracy for an irreverent night of screen-printed quesadillas, communal snacking, and graphics inspired by Diego Rivera’s America!
To complement both Diego Rivera’s America at SFMOMA and Emmy Lou Packard: Artist of Conscience at Richmond Art Center, this four-hour event brings the unorthodox materials and mischievous humor of The Great Tortilla Conspiracy (GTC) to the museum. In an interactive performance reminiscent of Diego Rivera’s own demonstration at the 1940 Golden Gate International Exposition, GTC artists Jos Sances, Art Hazelwood, and Río Yañez will screen print graphics inspired by Rivera and Packard (Rivera’s principal assistant on Pan American Unity) onto tortillas with edible ink. After cooking them on a traditional comal, the collective will serve them up—with a side of playful conversation—to museum visitors.
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.
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
Saturday, May 14, 12pm-3pm | FREE Richmond Art Center (courtyard), 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond Event webpage: richmondartcenter.org/familyday2022
Richmond, CA: Kids of all ages and their grown-ups are invited to Richmond Art Center’s Spring Family Day on Saturday, May 14, 12pm-3pm. This free, family event is an opportunity to celebrate the gifts of spring through art-making, dancing, and music.
Activities will include making clay flowers, live printing by Liberación Gráfica, succulent art planters, flower photo booth, and bomba dancing by Quenepas. Visitors will have an opportunity to work with Fencelines to contribute to a public art project, as well as meet the folk from Richmond Our Power Coalition to learn about organizing work around the environment and housing happening in Richmond.
Richmond Art Center is located at 2540 Barrett Avenue in Richmond.
Covid-19 Prevention: Mask wearing is a condition of entry to RAC’s galleries, studios and public indoor spaces. Vaccinations are strongly encouraged. Masks may be removed in our courtyard.
Thank you to Richmond Rotary Club for sponsoring this event.
About the Program and Participants:
Bomba by Quenepas: Bomba music and dance originated over 400 years ago in the sugar cane plantations of Puerto Rico where enslaved Africans played, sang, and danced to survive and to resist colonial oppression. Quenepas is a vibrant Puerto Rican Bomba music and dance youth ensemble that had its inception in 2008 at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley. Quenepas youth have been studying and performing under the direction of Hector Lugo and Shefali Shah for over 15 years and many of the youth have been involved in the practice of Bomba through observing and participating in community jams and performances with their families. Contact: bombaaguacero@gmail.com, 510-681-1036
Live Printing by Liberación Gráfica: Liberación Gráfica is a collective of young printmakers from Richmond whose members create work to uplift social justice, the Richmond community, and young voices. As educators the collective has developed a curriculum that helps young people engage in printmaking through exploring historical political posters and creating their own posters on topics they feel connected to. The collective has held multiple live screen printing workshops around the community at events, high schools, and local organizations like RYSE, Urban Tilth, APEN and Richmond Art Center.
Workshop by Fencelines: Join the Fencelines team for an art-making workshop to paint messages and stories about environmental justice onto colorful fence slats. Fencelines is a participatory art project that responds to the Chevron petroleum refinery. The project’s team are artists, designers and community organizers, who have collaborated for years on projects for urban environmental and infrastructural transformation here in Richmond.
Richmond Our Power Coalition: Special guests Richmond Our Power Coalition will have an information table set-up for folks to learn more about the work ROPC does in organizing around issues of the environment and housing here in Richmond.
Succulent Art Planters: Take home a spring succulent in an artful planter made by students at Richmond Art Center. These weird and wonderful creations can be yours for a small donation.
Amazing Clay Flowers: Join teaching artist Lauren Ari to sculpt and decorate clay flowers using air dry clay. Lauren Ari is a Richmond-based artist and educator.
Family Photo Booth: Rally your friends and family, strike a pose, and take home a special polaroid photo to remember Spring Family Day forever!
Pottery Demo with a Kick Wheel: Artist Colleen Garland will demonstrate the fun of throwing pottery on a kick wheel. Colleen grew up in Richmond and works as a potter and ceramics teacher at Richmond Art Center.
Gallery Search and Find: Have fun exploring Dewey Crumpler’s Crossings exhibition in the main gallery with a unique search and find activity. Find Pikachu, Miss Piggy and their friends to win prizes!
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: Former Family Day fun at Richmond Art Center
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond
CLICK HERE to read an important notification about parking at RAC during the Members’ Meeting
Richmond Art Center’s Board of Directors invites current, recent and prospective members, as well as the general public, to our Annual Members’ Meeting on Saturday, June 18 starting at 1pm. Learn about RAC’s accomplishments over the past year and what we have planned for the future.
At the meeting current members will also be invited to vote to elect new members to our Board of Directors (see short biographies for members who are standing for election below). Voting will open at 12:30pm and close at 1:30pm.
The Members’ Meeting will be followed by the Opening Reception for our summer exhibitions from 2pm to 4pm.
Prospective New Members to Our Board of Directors
John Boychuk
John Boychuk is a professional artist and art professor who works with a wide variety of materials and processes, both traditional and digital. Over the course of 20+ years of art making, John has shown and taught internationally as well as in the Bay Area. He is a new teaching artist at Richmond Art Center. John grew up in the Detroit metropolitan area and now lives with his family in Richmond. Being a RAC board member would further connect his local community, his love of art and his experience of mentoring artists.
John has taught at Berkeley City College, SAE Expression College in Emeryville, and the University of Silicon Valley in San Jose. His greatest accomplishments as an educator are in supporting multicultural, gender-diverse, and economically challenged students to achieve their academic and personal goals. He encourages his students to question conventional ideas, form their own opinions and communicate that through their art. He is excited to work with Richmond Art Center to increase the creative opportunities for the communities of Richmond.
Jane Diokas
With her Master’s in printmaking from Illinois State University and background in teaching art at schools in underserved communities, as well as starting and running two successful design-based businesses, Jane Diokas is uniquely qualified to provide real world solutions that bridge the gap between idealism and financial necessity. She believes that art can be first and foremost a joyful pursuit that naturally expresses a higher truth. She hopes to help carry on the mission of the founder of Richmond Art Center – who believed there was an artist in everyone and that art was as vital as breathing – while aligning it with both contemporary values and needs.
Nettie Hoge
Nettie Hoge is an East Bay resident who is deeply grateful to the staff and faculty at Richmond Art Center for her cultivation of self-expression and personal growth in and as a result of Richmond Art Center’s painting and drawing classes. She would love to give back to RAC and the community surrounding it by serving on the board.
Nettie would bring a wealth of nonprofit experience to Richmond Art Center’s board. She has served on three nonprofit boards, including a stint as the chair of the Heyday Press board. She is a retired lawyer who has worked in many governmental and nonprofit organizations including as an executive director and a senior staff member. She served as Chief Deputy Commissioner at the California Department of Insurance during the term of Dave Jones. She provided legal assistance to victims of domestic violence as a Legal Services lawyer. While working for Consumers Union, she served on the advisory board for Health Access and litigated to establish funds for community health efforts as nonprofits like Blue Cross converted to for profit institutions. She was Executive Director for six years at TURN, a nonprofit, legal organization advocating at the Public Utilities Commission for utility consumer rights, and fare rates.
Susan Kuramoto Moffat
Susan Kuramoto Moffat melds the arts and the humanities and environmental design disciplines to study urban life. She is Executive Director of Global Urban Humanities Initiative and Creative Director of Future Histories Lab, two grant-funded interdisciplinary programs at UC Berkeley. She has worked in organizations ranging from small advocacy organizations (Greenbelt Alliance) to large bureaucracies (UC Berkeley) and has served on Albany’s City Council-appointed Waterfront Committee and Arts Committee in Albany. She founded a small non-profit community arts organization called Love the Bulb that brings outdoor music, dance, and theater performances and public art to non-traditional audiences. She brings an anti-racist and equity lens to all her work.
Susan earned her undergraduate degree at Harvard University and master’s degrees at UC Berkeley (City Planning) and Columbia (Journalism). She has lived in Albany since 1997. She looks forward to bringing her experience and expertise to Richmond Art Center’s board.
Rachel Sommovilla
Rachel Sommovilla was born and raised in the Philadelphia area, and received her B.A. degree in biological anthropology from Harvard University. She earned her law degree from UC Berkeley School of Law, practiced law in San Francisco and clerked for numerous Federal District Court judges before joining the Richmond City Attorney’s Office in 2012. As a Senior Assistant City Attorney and Interim City Attorney, Ms. Sommovilla’s duties included the handling of complex litigation and land use matters for the City, and advising the City Council, City Departments, and various boards and commissions. Ms. Sommovilla currently serves as Assistant County Counsel for Alameda County. While in the Richmond City Attorney’s office, Rachel and her two sons participated in various Richmond Art Center classes and summer programs. Rachel lives in El Cerrito with her two sons, husband and dog.
Image: Past and current members speaking about their artwork in 2019. Photos by Bill Johnston Jr
Liberación Gráfica at the Richmond Juneteenth Festival
Saturday, June 18, 12pm-3pm
Nicholls Park, 3230 Macdonald Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804
FREE
Join art collective Liberación Gráfica at Richmond’s Juneteenth Festival at Nicholls Park!
This summer Liberación Gráfica will be out in Richmond engaging youth and families at community events and local gathering places with live screen printing demonstrations. The prints will raise awareness to social issues faced in Richmond while reflecting the joy and resilience of the community. The goal of this project is to bring art directly to the people and inspire the community to engage with Richmond and each other through art.
Community Event Schedule:
Liberación Gráfica at the Richmond Juneteenth Festival Saturday, June 18, 12pm-3pm Nicholls Park, 3230 Macdonald Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804
Liberación Gráfica at Low Rider Sundays Sunday, July 31 12pm-3pm 23rd Street Between Grant Avenue and Rheem Ave
Liberación Gráfica at Richmond Flea Market Sunday, August 21,12pm-3pm 716 W. Gertrude Avenue, Richmond, CA 94801
More dates and locations to be announced. If you are interested in inviting Liberación Gráfica to a community event this summer, please contact Roberto Martinez at roberto@richmondartcenter.org
Liberación Gráfica is a community based art collective whose mission is to provide opportunities for self and community expression through silkscreen printing. The collective is made up of Richmond-based artists, teachers, and community organizers: Eddy Chacon, Lisette Vera, Daniel Cervantes and Francisco Rojas. Liberación Gráfica was established in 2019 and since has worked towards teaching youth the process of silkscreen printing through a social justice lens with the intention to bridge gaps between communities of color and bring awareness to social injustices faced by the Richmond community.
Richmond Art Center’s board plays an important role in supporting and guiding the organization. Different individual board members bring different experience, skills, knowledge and connections to their Board work.
People who live and/or work in Richmond, who are community-minded and thoughtful about how Richmond Art Center could better serve the community in and around Richmond
Artists and others who know and love Richmond Art Center
People with accounting/bookkeeping expertise with the potential to serve on the board finance committee and/or as board teasurer
A lawyer (for the general knowledge and issue-spotting ability lawyers tend to have)
People who can help us raise money for Richmond Art Center
Leaders with the potential to be board vice president and president in the future
What can you expect?
Board members attend board meetings (currently being held via Zoom), act as ambassadors at select evening and weekend events, give of their expertise and wisdom and make a personal financial contribution to the extent that they can. A Board member’s term is three years, with a two-term limit. Service on the Board of Directors is unpaid.
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.
