Arts and culture
Lauren Ari proudly calls herself a Richmond artist. It’s where she has lived and sculpted and drawn for more than 20 years. It’s also where she finds support, among dozens of other artists who have made the same decision. “I always had that fantasy of, ‘Oh, one day I’ll move to the country and all my friends will move with me and we’ll have an artist commune and life will be great,’” she said. “And I thought to myself, ‘Who…
Unlike some still art, the bright and geometric vines of Bay Area-born muralist Richard Muro Salazar’s piece “Pahtiā” appear to be devouring the rest of the flat, rust-colored painting. And that’s exactly what the artist wants. “We are now in the time of climate change, so I want to bring back more elements that stick with this theme.”said Salazar, a self-identified xhicano who crafted this piece from wood that was illegally dumped or tossed out in Richmond. Salazar is one…
Two major murals representing scenes from Richmond’s past are getting a makeover. As part of the $4.1 million Richmond Art and Light Project, the “Past Perfect” and “Revisionist History of San Pablo Avenue” murals will get reconditioned by the original artist, John Wehrle. The Richmond Arts & Culture Commission had the murals painted on Interstate 80 underpasses intersecting two of the city’s major thoroughfares in the 1990s. “Past Perfect” on Macdonald Avenue depicts the arrival of a ghost trolley from…
Inside of a tiny house, there is another tiny house, showcasing the two houses in the artist’ life: the one she lives in, and the one she dreams of. This is an artwork that Richmond artist Erin McCluskey Wheeler will be showcasing at the “Today is the Greatest” exhibition, which starts at the NIAD Art Center Thursday and runs until Nov. 17. “Dollhouses, anything in miniature, travel kits, and wearability were all things that seemed delightful to me and pleased…
In joyful movements, a girl sways on a stage adorned with vibrant balloons and gracefully turns, showcasing her fashion creation to the audience. Her pink polyplicate dress billows like a blossoming peony as she twirls. This was the scene at “The Vibration of Awesomeness” fashion show earlier this month. The event at the Oakland Museum of California was organized by several community groups including the NIAD Art Center in Richmond. It is part of a series of events associated with…
Good fences make good neighbors — depending on who owns the fence. On a chain link fence by Richmond Parkway separating the Chevron refinery and a neighborhood downwind of it, community volunteers, including Mayor Eduardo Martinez, wove technicolor wooden slats through the metal bars on Earth Day. The artwork was covered with messages saying, “Richmond deserves clean air + water,” “Chevron!!! A horrible neighbor!,” and “Land = Liberation,” and topped with ribbons blowing with the wind from the Richmond plant…
Drumming a steady beat, David Flores lets the hip hop rhythm inspire him. He’s been writing rap lyrics for a long time but only really started writing poetry after working as an after school poetry teacher. While he and his students considered him a poet, he wasn’t sure Richmond, his hometown, would. Flores almost didn’t apply for Richmond poet laureate, paralyzed by self-doubt and the thought that his work wasn’t good enough. “You know what? I’m just going to go…
On a cloudy Saturday morning, Carmen Román and her husband, Pierr Padilla, filled the basement of the Golden Gate Library in Oakland with a symphony of sounds, using their feet, hands and traditional Afro-Peruvian instruments. A small group of children shrieked with glee and bumbled around the room, dancing as their parents nodded to the beat being created by Román and Padilla opening and closing the top to their cajitas, a box-shaped Latin percussion instrument, and hitting it with a…
The Richmond Art Center has overcome much in recent years, including the closure forced on all during the pandemic and more recently, a significant loss in donations over the summer. As 2023 looms, Executive Director José Rivera says that despite bouncing back from the major revenue losses of 2020, the RAC is still in need of additional funding to return to its pre-pandemic level of operation. When Rivera was appointed in 2020, the RAC was just over $110,000 in the…