About the Program: The Youth Artist Xchange is a series of free summer intensive classes. The program gives middle and high school students, as well as young adults (up to 24 years), in-depth, hands-on arts learning experiences in our studios led by professional artists.
How to Join:
Available classes are listed below (click the LEARN MORE button to see the class schedules)
Prospective students are invited to complete a short online application to let us know their arts interests and class preferences.
Learn how public art is a powerful tool for community building. A cohort of twelve young artists (ages 14-24) will create a collaborative mural project with artists Fred Alvarado and Keena Azania Romano. Los Artistas Maestros hablan español.
In this class, you’ll learn how designers and artists use 3D modeling software (CAD programs) to turn their ideas into physical realities like art, cars, jewelry, buildings, toys, tools and more! Using the online program Tinkercad, you will learn how to model in 3D and print your own ideas using a 3D printer! What will you create? All materials and tools are included. This class is a youth space for ages 13 to 17.
Dreams of Liberated Futures: A Zine & Printmaking Series
An intensive six-week summer class (with 12 sessions) for 8-12 youth (ages 14-24) that combines hands-on visual arts learning with storytelling. Taught by artist Shani Ealey, the class is rooted in traditional African Indigenous wisdom to provide inspiration for students to explore visual storytelling through zinemaking. Students will then develop illustration and storyboarding skills through the creation of zines as a way to express their ideas, especially related to complicated concepts such as liberation, power, and our connection to the earth.
Learn the art of storytelling through filmmaking! Participants will explore the language of creating visual narratives using professional filmmaking processes. From storyboarding and directing to shooting and editing, students will gain hands-on experience in crafting their own short movies. All materials and tools are included. This class is a youth space for ages 13 to 17.
Do you love glass beads? Ever wonder how they’re made? Join us and get started making your own glass beads! Students will receive an overview of glass history, safety, and technology. They will then get to explore how to sculpt, manipulate and finish the media using professional glassworking tools. Class time is balanced with safety procedures, demonstrations, and plenty of time for hands-on work. All materials included.
Learn how to sculpt your creative vision in clay as functional and nonfunctional ceramic art. Students will learn foundational handbuilding techniques like making coils, slab construction, to more technical skills from clay pinching methods to glaze application and how to finish your artwork. All materials and tools are included. This is a youth space for ages 13 to 17.
Richmond Art Center (courtyard), 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA
FREE
Richmond Art Center is excited to be one of the participating venues for Richmond Open Studios. Open Studio artists who will be at Richmond Art Center on August 17 are:
“Spring exhibitions at the Richmond Art Center shine a light on the beautiful, ongoing cycle of teaching, learning and growing through art,” according to the center.
An annual crowd-pleaser for nearly six decades, the teacher-curated WCCUSD Student Art Show features the creative works of more than 300 middle and high school students originating from 13 West Contra Costa Unified School District schools in Richmond, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Hercules, Montalvin Manor, Pinole and San Pablo.
A reception will kick off the WCCUSD Student Art Show on Tuesday, April 16, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. An award presentation will occur at 5:45 p.m. and the event will include music by the De Anza High School band.
The other two exhibitions opening in April, Home Show and Art Blooms Here, illuminate both teacher and student artwork created within the RAC studios and demonstrate the creativity thriving there, said the RAC.
Shown in the art center’s South Gallery, the Home Show will showcase the works of Eli Africa, Ned Axthelm, Colleen Garland, Julia LaChica, Travis Meinolf and Kristin Satzman.
Artwork by Colleen Garland for the Home Show.
Over in the Community and West Galleries, Art Blooms Here will spotlight the works of Alice Armstrong, Maggie Burns, Larry Craighill, Julissa Duran, Ana Gadish-Linares, Mara Greenaway, Zamira Ha, Beatrice Hartman, Marion Henon, Eugenie Hsu, Susie Kelly, Jen Kelly-DeWitt, Juniper Kirkwood, Jolie Krakauer, Paula Kristovich, Michelle Lin, Susana Macarron, Ahmaya Maroney, Elijah Martinez Ruiz, Jessica McDowell, Jeanette Nichols, Tatyana Ryevzina, Maya Soichet-Yampolsky, Hanneke Steenmetz and ‘Beginner Handbuilding’ students.
All are welcomed to the reception for Home Show and Art Blooms Here Thurs., April 18, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Find the Richmond Art Center at 2540 Barrett Ave. in Richmond. Visit the gallery during its open hours Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free to the exhibitions and events.
Art by Jen Kelly-DeWitt, Hold Complexity, 2023, for Art Blooms Here.
ANNOUNCING: Spring Exhibitions at Richmond Art Center
April – June 2024 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: Spring exhibitions at Richmond Art Center shine a light on the beautiful, ongoing cycle of teaching, learning and growing through art.
In the Main Gallery, the 58th Annual WCCUSD Student Art Show is a classroom-teacher curated exhibition celebrating the creativity of over 300 of their students. The artists come from 13 district schools across El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Hercules, Montalvin Manor, Pinole, Richmond, and San Pablo.
Also opening are Home Show and Art Blooms Here, two exhibitions representing artwork by both teachers and students working in the studios at Richmond Art Center, and embracing the creativity thriving at home in our organization.
These three exhibitions will open on Wednesday, April 10, 2024. A reception for the WCCUSD Student Art Show will be held on Tuesday, April 16, from 5pm to 6:30pm. Additionally, a reception for Home Show and Art Blooms Here is scheduled for Thursday, April 18, from 5pm to 7pm. All are welcome to attend!
Richmond Art Center is located at 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10am to 4pm. Admission is free.
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) Artwork by Cashel Shaughnessy, student at Fred T. Korematsu Middle School; (above left) Artwork by Colleen Garland, Teaching Artist at Richmond Art Center; (above right) Artwork by Jen Kelly-DeWitt, Student at Richmond Art Center
We’re excited to announce, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the second iteration of the Richmond Artist Residency program!
About the Residency: The Richmond Art Residency (RAR) will support an emerging or mid-career artist to pursue their creative work while also engaging with the community in Richmond. Residency activities include a dedicated studio space for 8-months, and opportunities to teach, exhibit, take classes, and learn best practices for community-based arts programming. The selected RAR artist will receive a $8,000 stipend, plus competitive hourly rates for any teaching time.
If accepted, studio access hours will be determined based on facility operation hours. We recommend that the artist be prepared to commit at least 10-20 hours a week to get the most out of the program.
Program Overview:
Artist Stipend: $8,000 (plus hourly pay for any teaching time)
Duration of Residency: Eight months (October 2024 – May 2025)
Discipline: Visual Art
Facilities Access:
Dedicated Studio: Light-filled 250 square foot private studio equipped with a worktable, storage, chair and sink
Communal studios: Access to RAC’s shared visual arts studios and equipment, including the painting studio, ceramics studio, textiles studio, printmaking studio, metals studio (during pre-approved times)
Eligibility / Who Should Apply: The residency is open to emerging, mid-career and underrepresented Bay Area artists who work in all visual art disciplines. Bilingual English/Spanish or English/Mandarin applicants, as well as applicants with a connection to Richmond, are especially encouraged to apply. A key tenet of the residency is for the artist to learn best practices for engaging with the community as artists and/or teaching artists, so we encourage artists with experience or strong interest in learning best practices in arts education to apply!
Residency Activities:
PRIVATE STUDIO / PERSONAL CREATIVE PRACTICE: The RAR artist will have access to a light-filled 250 square foot private studio equipped with a worktable, storage, chair and sink. The artist will have their own key and can access the studio during daylight hours. They also have access to RAC’s shared/communal visual arts studios and equipment (during pre-approved times).
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT / TEACHING ACTIVITIES: With support from RAC program staff (Education and Exhibitions) the RAR artist will develop a community engagement strategy to lead art-making opportunities with the community.
STUDIO SKILL BUILDING: The RAR artist is invited to take classes at RAC to develop new skills and multidisciplinary practice. Studio focuses are Jewelry & Metal Arts, Printmaking, Ceramics, Fiber Art, Glass Arts and Painting/Drawing/Mixed Media. The RAR artist will have access to technical equipment and support in each studio from training Teaching Artists.
EXHIBITION / PUBLIC PROGRAM (OPTIONAL): Within the first quarter (2 months) of the residency the artist can determine if they would like to work towards an exhibition or public presentation of their work at RAC. The exhibition may include recent work or work made during the residency. The RAR artist is encouraged to invite community collaborators to participate if appropriate.
Application Review Process: A selection committee of community professionals and Richmond Art Center staff will review all applications based on the criteria: Artistic Merit, Community Connection, and Potential (to benefit from the residency). Finalist candidates will be invited to participate in short zoom meetings to discuss the residency opportunity. Selected candidate will be determined by the end of June 2024.
Contact us at admin@richmondartcenter.org with questions!
About Richmond Art Center: Richmond Art Center’s mission is to be a catalyst in Richmond for learning and living through art. Richmond Art Center has been sharing art and creating with 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 art making experiences to district schools and community partners.
*The deadline to apply for this residency is Friday, May 24, 2024. Unfortunately a flyer was printed with an incorrect deadline on it, we apologize if this has caused confusion. May 24 is the correct deadline. – RAC Staff, 3/1/24
Top Image: The Richmond Artist Residency was launched in 2022 with Liberación Gráfica as artists-in-residence.
In this introductory embroidery methods, students will learn basic stitches, techniques for interpreting imagery into textiles, and create a self-portrait for their final project.
If you are looking for community in your art making process, join us in the studio. Students will work on your own projects with the support of the instructor and the feedback of the other artists in the class.
Learn how to set a gemstone in a classic bezel setting. Instructor will demo creating a bezel, different seat options, adding the band and then setting the stone. Students will then design and create their own rings.
Create compelling, original still-life compositions building on foundational skills developed in the Beginning Watercolor class. We will learn how to paint light and shadow to create the illusion of volume, apply color theory to mix colors and practice the basic rules of perspective.
In this class we explore the foundational techniques of metal forming. We will learn how to use drawplates, the rolling mill, chasing and repoussé, press plates and how to use our a 20 ton press!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, February 21, 2024
ARTISTS ANNOUNCED FOR RICHMOND BIENNIAL EXHIBITION
Right Here, Right Now, Richmond Third Richmond Biennial of Art Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804 Exhibition Dates: September 4 – November 21, 2024
Richmond, CA: Richmond Art Center announces the seven artists selected to present work in Right Here, Right Now, Richmond. In its third iteration, this biennial exhibition celebrates local, visionary art and ideas through commissioning new artwork from artists who either live or work in Richmond, California.
The 2024 RHRN artists are Anthony Delgado, Art Hazelwood, e bond, Erin McCluskey Wheeler, Helia Pouyanfar, Quinn Keck, and Taro Hattori.
The Biennial exhibition will be presented at Richmond Art Center and curated by Roberto Martinez. It will run from September 4 through November 21. Richmond Art Center is located at 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804. This program is funded, in part, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
e bond makes digital spaces by day, handmade books by night, hangs out with trees on weekends and writes something close to poems in the spaces between. Under the studio name roughdrAftbooks, she makes one-of-a-kind artists books, printed matter and abstract drawings that merge and blur the boundaries of art, craft, design and poetry. e holds a BFA from Moore College and an MFA from Mills College. ebondwork.com, @eisroughdraft
Anthony Delgado is a Californian by birth and by nature. His starting point in art was as a painter, attending UMASS in Amherst, and Cal for degrees in Fine Art. After working in graphic design for over 30 years, photography is now Delgado’s principal artistic pursuit. His recent work focuses on capturing the “decisive moment”, when animate and inanimate, emotion and action combine to form a singular image. www.anthonydelgado.com
Taro Hattori is an interdisciplinary artist who has shown his installations and socially engaged projects nationally and internationally. His recent work often creates relationships between physical sculpture and space with people with a specific socio-political background through their performances, conversations and singing. He is currently teaching at CCA the chair of Sculpture and Individualized Programs. www.tarohattori.com
For over 35 years Art Hazelwood has created politically charged prints, working with dozens of organizations from arts organizations to unions to grassroots movements. He taught printmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute where he founded the San Francisco Poster Syndicate, which brings together political poster makers to work with activists. UC Santa Cruz Special Collections has established an archive of approximately 300 of his political prints. www.arthazelwood.com
Quinn Keck is a multidisciplinary artist working across traditional printmaking, painting, and digital mediums to create dialogues on the human experience. Instead of portraying just the physical form of people, places, and objects, Quinn abstracts layers to discuss identity, memory, perception, and grief – exploring the absurdity of making patterns in a chaotic world in their work. www.quinnkeck.com, @running.from.the.silence.press
Erin McCluskey Wheeler, born and raised in, and current resident of, Richmond, CA, is a mixed media artist, writer, curator, and teacher. Erin is a studio facilitator at NIAD Art Center in Richmond and teaches online with 92NY. Erin holds a BA in studio art and art history from Beloit College, and an MFA from California College of the Arts in writing. erinmccluskey.com, @erinmwheeler
Helia Pouyanfar was born in Tehran, Iran, and immigrated to California in 2014. Inspired by her cultural background, her architectural sculptures and research endeavors to illustrate and investigate the permanently transient state of the refugee body and its negotiation and reconciliation with Place. She received her BA from University of California, Berkeley and her MFA from University of California, Davis. heliapouyanfar.com, @heliapouyanfar
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
Have Your Work Featured in the Spring Student Showcase
All media! All levels of experience! No entry fees!
Deadline to Enter: Wednesday, March 6, 2024, 11:59pm
Exhibition Dates: April 10 – June 14, 2024
About the Exhibition: Presented in the Community Gallery, the Student Showcase is a juried show of artwork by current and recent Richmond Art Center students. 6 to 12 artists will have their work selected for the exhibition, with an emphasis on presenting multiple pieces (2+) by the same artist to demonstrate students working in series and diving deeper into their chosen media or themes. Artworks will be selected by Richmond Art Center staff using the criteria: Artist Excellence and Diversity of Media/Themes.
Eligibility: All students who have taken a class or workshop at Richmond Art Center in the past three years are eligible to enter. Entries may include work done in a RAC class, or work completed over a period of time in response to techniques, processes or themes a student explored in a class at Richmond Art Center. All artwork media and sizes will be considered. See Terms at bottom of this webpage for more info.
Exhibition Schedule:
Deadline to Enter: Wednesday, March 6, 2024, 11:59pm
Artist Notification: By Monday, March 11, 2024
Artwork Drop Off: Saturday, March 16, 10am-1pm OR Monday, March 18, 10am-1pm
Exhibition Dates: Wednesday, April 10 – Friday, June 14, 2024
Reception: Thursday, April 18, 5pm-7pm
Artwork Pick Up: Saturday, June 15, 10am-1pm
Prepare Your Artwork Submission:
Artwork submissions must be original work created in 2021 or later
Students may submit minimum 1, and up to 4 artworks images, for consideration for the exhibition
Image files should be jpgs or pngs with a maximum 1 MB file size
Include caption information for each artwork image (title, year, media, dimensions)
*TERMS: Selection: Entry does not guarantee selection for the exhibition. Installation Ready: Selected artworks should be installation ready with any hanging hardware attached (rods, hanging wire, d-rings, etc.), and labeled with artists full name on the back/underneath. Work on paper should be framed or mounted. Artwork Delivery: Selected artwork must be delivered to Richmond Art Center during scheduled drop off dates: Saturday, March 16, 10am-1pm OR Monday, March 18, 10am-1pm. Artwork Pick Up: All artworks must be picked up on the scheduled day: Saturday, June 15, 10am-1pm (unless artwork is sold).
Tuesday, April 16, 5pm-6:30pm (Award Presentation at 5:45pm)
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA
FREE
A special reception to celebrate the artistic achievements of over 300 students from thirteen different West Contra Contra Unified School District schools participating in the annual Student Art Show! Featuring music by the De Anza High School band.
All friends and family of the students are welcome. No RSVP is necessary.
Top image: Artwork by Cashel Shaughnessy, Fred T. Korematsu Middle School
Art of the African Diaspora Artistic Achievement Award Winners Announced
Every year three Art of the African Diaspora artists receive Artistic Achievement Awards to have their work featured at Richmond Art Center. This year at the opening reception for the exhibition the 2024 awardees were announced: Carrie Lee McClish, Deborah Butler and Kim Champion. Congratulations to these three artists!
Don’t forget to check out the work by last year’s winners – John Broussard, Valerie Brown-Troutt, and Stacy Mootoo – currently on view in the West Gallery.
Top image (l-r): Carrie Lee McClish, Deborah Butler and Kim Champion
