Student Artists Invited to Enter the Mobile Fab Lab Design Challenge
West Contra Costa Unified School District students can see their Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) designs permanently displayed on the new Mobile Fab Lab
RICHMOND, CA October 13, 2015 –Chevron, the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) and the Richmond Art Center today launched the Mobile Fab Lab Design Challenge – an opportunity for local students to design the “wrap” that will be applied to the exterior surface of the Mobile Fab Lab trailer.
The Mobile Fab Lab, which will travel to schools throughout the district, is a small-scale digital workshop equipped with computer-controlled tools, such as 3D printers, laser-cutters, routing machines, 3D scanners, 3D milling machines and programming tools. Made possible as part of a $1 million grant from Chevron to the Fab Foundation, the Mobile Fab Lab will provide hand-on learning to spark the interest in STEM and prepare students for jobs that will require basic STEM literacy over the next five years.
“We’re excited to sponsor the Mobile Fab Lab Design Challenge” said Andrea Bailey community engagement manager of the Chevron Richmond Refinery. “It’s a great opportunity for kids to integrate STEM into art.”
Students from grades K -12 are invited to design a colorful image depicting STEM related ideas. No artistic ability is required. Winning images will be permanently displayed on the outside of the Mobile Lab and multiple entries from every grade level will be chosen and merged into one design.
“This is wonderful opportunity for all students from K – 12 to display their artistic talents for the entire community to see” said Philip Gonsalves, senior director for curriculum and instruction for Mathematics, Science, and STEM in the West Contra Costa Unified School District. “I look forward to seeing the students’ interpretation of STEM through their designs.”
Chevron and the WCCUSD are partnering with the Richmond Art Center and one of its teaching artists, Alex Wang, to create a design that incorporates all of the winning submissions.
“We are thrilled to partner with Chevron and the WCCUSD to help bring the Mobile Fab Lab to life through the students designs” said Richmond Ambrose, executive director of the Richmond Art Center. “With the support of the Richmond Art Center, the students’ designs are sure to be creative and inspiring.”
The Richmond Art Center will offer free workshops to help assist students in submitting a design:
• Thursday, October 15 : Lupine Hills Elementary School, Multipurpose Room, 6:00pm-7:30pm
• Tuesday, October 20: Coronado Elementary School, Multipurpose Room, 6:00pm-7:30pm
• Thursday, October 22: Richmond High School, Library, 6:00pm-7:30pm
• Thursday, November 5: Helms Middle School, Multipurpose Room, 6:30pm-8:00pm
• Saturday, November 14: Kennedy High School, Rooms 401 and 402, 10:00am to 11:30am
The deadline for submission is November 20, 2015, 5:00pm. Contact Drew Kravin at akravin@wccusd.net for additional information and for the submission form.
South Richmond’s Kennedy Park is undergoing a massive redesign, the majority of which will be completed on October 24th at a community build day. AIC is a key part of this effort by holding a community mural panting class, led by community muralist and educator Fred Alvarado. Fred is taking a group of adults and teens through a collaborative design process, and the group will prep and paint the 1134sq foot circular floor mural. Most of the class participants are longtime residents of the neighborhoods surrounding the park and are excited to make this huge mandala painting that reflects their values and history.
We are still in need of folks to help prep and paint this mural on Monday and Thursday afternoons before the finishing touches can be added on October 24th build day. If you are interested in supporting the painting effort before or on build day please contact Rachel Schaffran, Art in the Community Director at (510) 620 – 5543 orrschaffran@richmondartcenter.org.
Each year nonprofits around the Bay Area apply to the CCA CONNECTS program and are matched with a CCA student who will work for them for one academic year. CCA provides an hourly wage for the students and training and networking opportunities. We are so thrilled to be selected to take part in this program and to have Francisco working with us!
In Memoriam: June Schwarcz June 10, 1918 –August 2, 2015
Born in Denver, Colorado, June Schwarcz was a legend in the field of metal enamel sculpture. After studying industrial design at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Schwarcz pioneered unconventional, electroformed and electroplated metal nonfunctional sculpture. Schwarcz utilized the traditional bassee-taille enameling technique, which involves cutting and etching into the surface of copper plaques, plates and bowls to create complex, abstract compositions that are visible through layer upon layer of transparent, almost ethereal enamel. When asked why she chose this technique, Schwarcz replied, “I felt there were characteristics of enamel one could use that were not available in any other medium. I didn’t want to do what everyone else had done.”
Schwarcz was a founding member of the Northern California Enamels Guild where she was also given a Life Time Achievement Award in 1991. She was designated a California Living Treasure in 1985 and was awarded the Masters of the Medium Award by the James Renick Alliance of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Her work has been featured at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York (now the Museum of Arts and Design), the San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum, the Long Beach Museum of Art, the Mingei Museum, San Diego, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the de Young Museum in San Francisco and many others.
Schwarcz exhibited her work at the Richmond Art Center in 2012 alongside acclaimed camera obscura photographer John Chiara in the show titled, In Coversation: June Schwarcz and John Chiara. Ken Baker, art critic for the San Francisco Chronicle recognized this exhibit as the top five exhibit in the Bay Area for 2012.
“We were honored to feature her innovative artwork at the Richmond Art Center, and are so fortunate to have worked with such a fearless and experimental leader in the enamel arts, Ric Ambrose, Executive Director of the Richmond Art Center.
This Friday is our last day of camp! It’s been a wonderful session brimming with creativity, and we will surely miss this flock of young artists! To celebrate the amazing work that your children have put into the last four weeks, we’ll be having an exhibition and party on Friday, July 10 in our community gallery and ceramics studio.
Morning session 12:15 – 1 pm
Afternoon session: 3:45 – 4:30 pm
Parents, friends and family are all welcome. We’ll have light refreshments; feel free to bring a snack or fingerfood to share. Also don’t forget to bring a box and/or bag to collect all your child’s work at the end of the exhibition!
Thanks to your votes, we were named “Best Community Arts Center” in the East Bay Express’ 2014 Best of the East Bay readers’ poll. This year, help us bring home the prize in the “Best Art Gallery” category by filling out an online survey here.
Our Art in the Community program has begun its summer schedule! Thanks to the EdFund, the summer camps held at Richmond community centers have grown to four sites this year. Artists Marie Kamali and Chris Castle will be teaching at Booker T. Anderson, Parchester, Nevin and Shields-Reid community centers.
Thank you to all of our volunteers for helping us out with Upcycle, our opening and closing receptions and for helping out with gallery installations! We would like to give a special thanks to Mary Gillis who is an extraordinary force transitioning our galleries from start to finish! Thank you Mary! You ROCK!
Thank you to all of our volunteers who were able to attend the Tea with Volunteers meeting on April 30th. It was a hot Spring day, but was nice underneath the shady trees in the Courtyard. Our open discussion was really helpful and allowed the volunteers to speak freely about their ideas and suggestions. We will definitely implement some of those ideas and keep an open door policy with our volunteers because you matter in a major way!
