Time and Again An exhibition of Rigo 23’s statue of Native activist Leonard Peltier
Exhibition: September 9 – November 18, 2021 Main Gallery Richmond Art Center 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804 Gallery Hours: Thurs 10am-2pm, Sat 10am-2pm, or by appt 510-620-6772
Richmond, CA: Richmond Art Center (RAC) is honored to present Time and Again, an exhibition centered on Rigo 23’s monumental sculptural tribute to Native American activist Leonard Peltier. Twelve feet tall, the sculpture sits at the center of the exhibition anchoring a narrative of Leonard Peltier’s 45-year long incarceration. For the first time, the sculpture will be presented alongside photographs, letters, artwork, posters and ephemera from Rigo’s archive. By sharing these, the artist invites the visitors for an intimate and informal conversation, one that illuminates the artist’s more than two decade long journey – as well as present some of the historical context which helps understand Leonard Peltier’s ongoing cruel predicament.
On Sunday September 12, a celebration will be held in honor of Peltier’s 77th birthday and attended by his daughter Kathy. Capacity is limited; contact RAC for reservations or to organize a press preview.
The sculpture (California redwood, foam, plywood, and metal) is based on a small hand-painted self portrait Leonard Peltier created in prison. The statue’s 9 x 6 foot base replicates the dimensions of a traditional prison cell. Each time the work is shown, the exhibition incorporates selections from the growing collection of photographs of supporters standing in solidarity on the statue’s feet.
Completed in 2016 and first shown at the Katzen Art Center at the American University, Washington D.C., the artwork was almost immediately censored, removed from display, and subsequently withheld from the artist for one year. The removal of the statue was in response to a bomb threat and to the University’s president receiving complaints from the FBI Agents Association – events which happened on the same day. Since its return to the artist, it has been exhibited at the Main Museum in Los Angeles (2018), SOMArts (2019) and most recently atop the roof of the San Francisco Institute of Art overlooking Alcatraz Island (2020).
The statue’s feet, which are detachable, have taken their own journey, traveling to significant sites of Native Resistance across the U.S. including Standing Rock, Alcatraz Island, Wounded Knee, Crow Dog’s Paradise, and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Supporters have been invited to stand on the feet as an expression of solidarity – and be photographed. In summer 2021, Richmond Art Center also welcomed members of the community to do so.
The current exhibition includes materials such as original sketches for the banner “It’s 1999, Why is Leonard Peltier Still in Prison?” mounted outside the Berkely Art Museum; photographs from the Tate Wikikuwa Museum installed at the deYoung Museum that same year; brochure and zine from theTate Wikikuwa Museum at the Warehouse Gallery in Syracuse University where the Leonard Peltier sculpture premiered, in 2011; and historical photographs by the late Michelle Vignes documenting seminal events in the history of the American Indian Movement.
Time and Again draws a very particular circle for both Rigo and RAC. In 1996, twenty-five years ago, RAC welcomed the artist to present his first solo exhibition: Time and Time Again: A Tribute to Geronimo Ji-Jaga. The following year, upon his release from prison, Geronimo would urge the artist to continue using his art to bring to light the plight of political prisoners in the United States. The two remained close friends until Geronimo’s death in 2011. In 1999 Geronimo visited the De Young Museum, in San Francisco, for an exhibition Rigo held there dedicated to Leonard Peltier’s plight.
About the Artist: Rigo 23 has exhibited his work internationally for over 30 years placing murals, paintings, sculptures, and tile work in public situations where viewers are encouraged to examine their relationship to their community, their role as unwitting advocates of public policy, and their place on a planet occupied by many other living things. His projects have included inter-communal collaborations with Native Tribes in North and South America; long-term partnerships with political prisoners; and alliances with underrepresented and disenfranchised individuals and communities. @rigo23studio @peltierstatue #freeleonardpeltier
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: (top) Design by Rigo 23; (above left) Kathy Peltier stands on the feet from the statue of Leonard Peltier, photo by Rio Yañez; (above right) Detail of statue at RAC
For more information contact: Roberto Martinez, Curator, roberto@richmondartcenter.org
ISSUE 27 Fall Class Registration Open | Stay Focused | Mark Your Calendars | New Classes This Fall In Memoriam
Fall Class Registration Open
In-Person Classes Return to RAC!* Online Classes Continue
We’re reopening Richmond Art Center for in-person classes this fall. And if COVID-19 keeps us at home we have an awesome line-up of online activities planed too.
Image: Kate Godfrey created this work, Night Passage (2021), in Marisa Burman’s “Ceramics Seminar”
Livestream on Youtube: Saturday, August 28, 2pm-3pm PST
Over six weeks this summer local youth artists worked with Fred Alvarado at RAC to create a collaborative mural focused on community and the environment. Join us online this Saturday as we celebrate the launch of our Barrett Avenue mural and hear from the artists about their experiences creating it.
Image: Every day we must struggle to stay focused on saving this beautiful planet, 2021
Fall exhibitions run September 9 through November 19, 2021. CLICK HERE to see our new gallery hours. And CLICK HERE to learn about our COVID-19 safety measures.
Time and Again Rigo 23’s statue of Native activist Leonard Peltier comes to Richmond Art Center More info…
Works from Home: Richmond Art Center Student Showcase Work from our online classes celebrating our students’ achievements More info…
Opossum Magic Pragmatic beginnings and unexpected moments in the work of Laura Kamian McDermott, Steven Morales and Leslie Plato Smith More info…
Summer Rites Looking out through the lens of Richmond Youth Photographers More info…
We must struggle to stay focused on saving this beautiful planet A collaborative mural by Richmond Youth More info…
In Memoriam
❤️ Hung Liu (1948 – 2021)
Remembering Hung Liu; incredible artist, vibrant person, and supporter of the arts.
Image: Hung Liu (center) at Richmond Center in 2016 with curator Jan Wurm (left) and artist Michael Hall (right) for the exhibition Making Our Mark.
Have something to share? Please email us at admin@richmondartcenter.org
ARTIST INFO SESSION I: Sunday, September 12, 3:00PM-4:30PM (click HERE to register for this zoom event)
ARTIST INFO SESSION II: Saturday, October 23, 12:00PM-1:30PM (click HERE to register for this zoom event)
2022 PROGRAM*
Exhibition at Richmond Art Center: January 18 – March 19, 2022 Open Studios: Feb 26-27, Mar 5-6, Mar 12-13, 2022 Satellite Exhibitions: Throughout January, February and March Artistic Achievement Awardee Talk: Saturday, January 22, 12:30-1:30pm Reception: Saturday, January 22, 2-4pm Closing Party: Saturday, March 19, 2-4pm
*We are planning an in-person event in 2022. However, all events are subject to change based on COVID-19 safety guidelines.
Be Part of the 25th Anniversary of the Bay Area Black Artists Exhibition at Richmond Art Center
Art Of The African Diaspora is a non-juried group exhibition featuring work by artists of African descent. The showcase exhibition is held at Richmond Art Center and is accompanied by self-guided open studio tours and satellite exhibitions throughout the Bay Area. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ART OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA
Questions?
For registration and exhibition questions contact: Richmond Art Center at 510.620.6772 or admin@richmondartcenter.org
Eligibility: Participation is open to all artists of African descent, who are 16 years or older, and who reside/work within the nine counties of the Bay Area (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma).
Richmond Art Center Exhibition Artwork Requirements:
Media: All media considered
Artwork size:
Wall-hanging artwork may not exceed 40 inches high and 40 inches wide (including the frame)
3D artwork may not exceed 40 inches in any dimension
Artwork number: One artwork entry per artist
New and original work: Artwork submissions must be original work created since 2018 that have not previously been exhibited at Richmond Art Center.
Registration Fee: $65
Each registered artist receives:
Opportunity to exhibit 1 artwork at Richmond Art Center (Available until exhibition full. There is space for maximum 120 artists in the exhibition at Richmond Art Center. Once we reach capacity artists can still register to participate in satellite exhibitions, open studios and the online listings.)
Artist listing in the Art Of The African Diaspora guide
Artist listing in the online artist gallery
Opportunity to participate in open studios/satellite exhibitions (Artists without a space for open studios/satellite exhibitions can request to be offered a space. Artists who do not wish to participate in open studios/satellite exhibitions may choose to opt out at the time of registration (the fee remains the same)).
Artist Ads:Optional. Artists can upgrade their Art Of The African Diaspora guide listing by purchasing a discounted ad (view the 2020 Art Of The African Diaspora Guide for ad examples):
1/4 page ad $50
1/2 page ad $80
Full page ad $150
TERMS
Fees: Entry fees are non-refundable.
Photography and Image Use: Richmond Art Center and Art Of The African Diaspora reserves the right to use images of submitted artwork, and to photograph the artist, artwork and exhibition for publicity, documentation, and fundraising purposes.
Exhibition at Richmond Art Center:
Delivery of Artwork: Artwork must be delivered to Richmond Art Center during scheduled drop off dates: Friday, Jan 7, 2022, 11am-4pm and Sat, Jan 8, 2022, 11am-4pm. Artists who cannot drop off their artwork during these times should arrange for someone else to deliver it for them.
Sales: For any artwork sales at Richmond Art Center: RAC’s commission on a sale is 30%; artist retains 70%.
Pick Up: All unsold artworks must be picked up on the scheduled days: Saturday, Mar 19, 2022, 4-6pm & Monday, Mar 21, 2022, 11am-4pm
Open Studios Participants: If an artist or venue hosts other artists, each artist must be a registered participant of Art Of The African Diaspora.
ARE YOU READY TO BEGIN YOUR REGISTRATION?
Please note, gallery capacity for the Art of the African Diaspora exhibition at Richmond Art Center is 120 artists. Once we reach capacity, registration will remain open for artists to participate in satellite exhibitions, open studios, and the catalog and online listings. If the exhibition is full a Steering Committee member will be in touch with you to let you know.
ISSUE 26 Abstraction as Land Care | RAC News | Special Event this Thursday | Last Call | Drawing: The Grounding
Abstraction as Land Care
This Land Is Me
New Online Exhibition: July 28 – September 7, 2021
This exhibition highlights the work of three artists – Saif Senussi Azzuz, Kim Champion, and Emily Van Engel – who use abstraction to express ideas related to land care. Employing approaches that range from personal to cultural to imagined, selected works show how abstraction can be a powerful tool for exploring how we can situate ourselves within the land; a vital first step towards restoring and protecting it.
Top Images (l-r): Details for work by Saif Senussi Azzuz, Emily Van Engel, and Kim Champion
Roberto Martinez is a curator and cultural organizer with over a decade of experience developing community-centered exhibitions and programs. At Richmond Art Center he is committed to organizing from the bottom-up and to nurturing collaboration with local communities, in order to co-create exhibitions that are relevant and uplift the voices and experiences of the Richmond community.
Thursday, September 9 is the day our galleries reopen. In-person classes will start rolling out the following week. Stay tuned as we’ll announce our fall exhibition schedule and class schedule later this month!!
*Subject to Covid-19 rates of infection and local health and safety guidelines.
Online Artists’ Talk: Thursday, August 5, 7-8pm PST
Join us this Thursday, August 5 at 7pm as photographer Robin D. López (Shots from Richmond) speaks with three artists about their recent mural projects in Richmond: Deonta Allen, Rebeca Garcia-González, and David Solnit.
Image: Climate Strike Mural. Richmond, CA, 2021. Lead Artist: David Solnit. Photo by Shots from Richmond
Top and bottom banner images: Details of Kim Champion’s drawing Pink eye purple hull peas (2020). This work is part of the new online exhibition This Land Is Me.
Have something to share? Please email us at admin@richmondartcenter.org
Richmond Art Center is thrilled to announce Roberto Martinez as the organization’s new Curator!
About RobertoMartinez: Roberto Martinez is a curator and cultural organizer with over a decade of experience developing community-centered exhibitions and programs. His work weaves together the colorful strands of imagined possibilities that stem from the Arts with the powerful threads of stories, shared experiences and ancestral memory. Roberto believes that Art is critical and necessary to imagine a better world, a world that is more just, more kind, and more empathetic, therefore Art needs to be accessible to all. So, his commitment is to organize from the bottom-up and to nurture collaboration with local communities, in order to co-create exhibitions that are relevant and uplift the voices and experiences of the Richmond community. Roberto holds a Masters in Museum Studies from JFK University and has worked with community-centered institutions like the Museum of Social Justice, the East Side Arts Alliance, and LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes.
FALL 2021 GALLERY AND FRONT DESK HOURS: (starting 9/9/21):
Thursdays 10am-2pm Saturdays 10am-2pm
Closed Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and major holidays. We are working hard to expand these hours subject to staffing and Covid-19 health and safety guidelines.
FALL 2021 STUDIO HOURS:
Online and in-person classes are happening during weekday, weekend and evening hours. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, studios will be open for in-person classes at a limited capacity. Fall class schedule to be announced soon.
Richmond, CA: Richmond Art Center presents a new online exhibition This Land Is Me, presented in conjunction with EXTRACTION: Art on the Edge of the Abyss, a multimedia, multi-venue, cross-border art intervention. The exhibition will run July 28 through September 7 and feature work by three Bay Area artists Saif Senussi Azzuz, Kim Champion, and Emily Van Engel.
This Land Is Me highlights artwork that uses abstraction to express ideas related to land care. Saif Senussi Azzuz is a Libyan-Yurok artist whose paintings explore the interconnected and dynamic practices of Indigenous land management. Kim Champion’s detailed drawings are a visual tribute to the connection she shares with her father and the importance of her family’s land in Mississippi. In her new series of paintings, Emily Van Engel searches for a future without crisis through assigning positive meanings to colors.
Employing approaches that range from personal to cultural to imagined, the artists in This Land Is Me show how abstraction is a powerful tool for exploring how we can situate ourselves within the land; a vital first step towards restoring and protecting it.
Top image (l-r): Details for work by Saif Senussi Azzuz, Emily Van Engel, and Kim Champion
About EXTRACTION: Art on the Edge of the Abyss: The Extraction Project is a global coalition of artists and creators committed to exposing and interrogating the negative social and environmental consequences of industrialized natural resource extraction. The project consists of nearly fifty overlapping exhibitions, performances, installations, site-specific work, land art, street art, publications, poetry readings, and cross-media events throughout 2021. www.extractionart.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
ISSUE 25 Mural Art as Resistance | Online Classes and Reopening Survey | Announcing… The Student Show! Classes Starting Soon | Support Funding for the Arts in CC County
Mural Art As Resistance
#RichmondSpeaks
Online Artist Talk: Thursday, August 5, 7-8pm PST
Special Event Announcement Join us Thursday, August 5 at 7pm as photographer Robin D. López (Shots from Richmond) will speak with three artists about their recent mural projects in Richmond: Deonta Allen, Rebeca Garcia-González, and David Solnit.
Online Classes and Reopening Survey (win a free class!)
With the reopening of Richmond Art Center in sight, we want to take a moment to reflect on and celebrate the achievements of our students online over the past year.
Students who complete the survey are eligible to win a free class!
Let’s see our collective creativity over the pandemic!
Deadline to Enter: Sunday, August 8, 11:59PM Online Exhibition Dates: August 23 – November 19, 2021 In-Person Exhibition Dates: September 8 – November 19, 2021
All students who have taken an class or workshop at Richmond Art Center in the past year are invited to enter!
Image: Drawings by student Melody Rose Serra made in Dawline-Jane Oni-Eseleh’s ‘Visual Journaling’ class
In this online camp students will be making stretchy, gooey, colorful, irresistible SLIME! Enjoy making fluffy cloud slime, milk and cereal slime and more.
In this two-part workshop, students will learn how to create simple paper templates and profiles with which to construct larger symmetrical forms like vase.
Adult Workshop (Ages 16+) Saturdays, 10am-12pm Aug 21 – Aug 28
More info…
Support Funding for the Arts in Contra Costa County!
Support secure arts funding at the Measure X meeting!
Measure X is Contra Costa’s new countywide half-cent sales tax. The Measure X Community Advisory Board was formed to identify unmet community needs and recommend spending priorities to the county Board of Supervisors. On Wednesday, July 28 at 5pm the Arts Commission will be presenting to the Advisory Board to request $625,000 ($.54 per resident!) to support art programs and a community art fund.
With the reopening of Richmond Art Center in sight, we want to take a moment to reflect on and celebrate the achievements of our students online over the past year.
Online Classes and Reopening Survey (win a free class!)
If you’ve taken an class or workshop over the past year we want to hear from you! We also want to know how students feel about RAC’s facility reopening to the public. Please be as candid in your feedback as you like. This survey may be completed anonymously. (But you’ll need to leave your email address if you would like to go into the draw to win a free class.)
We’re honoring the achievements of our students over this past year with an exhibition showcase! This online and in-person exhibition will feature work made in our online classes by students of all ages and all experience levels.
ISSUE 24 **EVERYTHING RICHMOND SPECIAL EDITION** A Showcase of Richmond Art | Richmond Artists Speak | Summer Mural Class for Richmond Youth Summer Photography Class for Richmond Youth | Seeking Past Students of Robert Benin
A Showcase of Richmond Art
Spoken Word. Dance. Music. Art. Movement.
Online Event: Friday, June 25, 3:30pm-5pm PST
In collaboration Richmond organizations NIAD, East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, Richmond Art Center, and RYSE bring you Out of the Mouths of Beings, hosted by Richmond’s own Youth Poet Laureate, Sheila McKinney!
Kick off summer right and enjoy the abundance of creativity Richmond has to offer!
End in Sight Three Artists’ Bittersweet Journey Through a Pandemic
Online Artists’ Talk: Thursday, June 24, 7-8pm PST
Three artists – Elishes Cavness, Tiffany Conway and Marva – will discuss their journey through the Covid-19 pandemic in a special online artists talk on Thursday, June 24, 7pm to 8pm. These three Richmond artists have studios very close to each other, and over the past eighteen months have developed a special bond. As Cavness says, “We are a unique three. We’ve supported each other. We’ve been in contact. We created a community of three.”
In-Person Mural Class for Richmond Youth Class starts Tuesday, July 6
Learn how public art is a powerful tool for community building while creating a mural at Richmond Art Center this summer with artist Fred Alvarado. 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.
Online Photography Class for High School Youth in Richmond Class starts Wednesday, July 21
Would you like to be paid to develop your photography skills this summer? Richmond Art Center is working with esteemed artist Simone Bailey to offer an online summer photography intensive for high school students in Richmond. Students in the class will receive a DSLR Camera (Canon EOS Rebel T7), stipend for their time, prints of work developed in class, and opportunity to exhibit photos in an exhibition at Richmond Art Center. Apply today, space is limited!
Image: Photograph by a student in a RAC photography class from the 1970s. See the bottom of this newsletter for more information.
Did you take an afterschool photography class at RAC in the 1970s?
We would love to hear from you! Contact Amy Spencer amy@therac.org, 510.620.6772
We recently discovered a trove of black and white photographs taken by youth at Richmond Art Center and Shields-Reid Community Center in the early 1970s. These works were created in an after school class taught by Richmond photographer Robert Benin. We’ll be sharing these more of these photos online and around the community this summer as we try to identify the photographers and their models.
