Riverside, CA — The California Arts Council recently announced a grant award of $16,200 to the Riverside Art Museum (RAM) as part of its Artists in Communities program.
Artists in Communities (AC) centralizes artists and their artistic processes as vehicles for community vitality. AC grants support sustained artistic residencies in community settings. Artists must work closely with organizational partners and community members to produce creative projects that are relevant and responsive to their community.
RAM’s artist-in-residency project embeds bilingual (English/Spanish) artist Juan Navarro in Riverside’s Eastside community. Building upon his three-year history working and now living in the Eastside, Navarro will outreach to residents, organizations, and schools to connect with artists who will co-create a multi-panel large-scale mural installation. Navarro will assist selected artists in the design of their section of the mural project and curate and co-create the multi-panel project, culminating in the Eastside Arts Festival, which will feature music, dancers, community info booths, resident-created visual art, and art-making activities.
Navarro and RAM will gather a broad range of stakeholders (community groups/city staff/residents) to be part of a Mural Advisory Task Force and Eastside Arts Festival Committee.
“This fantastic investment from the California Arts Council furthers our community-based work created by Juan Navarro through our Branch artist-in-residency program,” says Drew Oberjuerge, Executive Director of the Riverside Art Museum. “The artwork Juan and the residents are creating together is highlighting the rich history and culture of the Eastside. I’m excited to see this project come together as more stories are shared through the murals.”
RAM is one of 96 grantees chosen for the Artists in Communities program. The award was featured as part of a larger announcement from the California Arts Council, with grant funds totaling a projected $24,508,541 for 2018–2019, the highest investment in statewide arts programming since the 2000–2001 fiscal year.
“Arts and culture are inextricably linked to our humanity,” said Nashormeh Lindo, California Arts Council Chair. “They serve as a universal touchpoint for understanding and addressing our societal issues—dismantling inequity, healing trauma, reframing justice, inspiring truth and shaping futures. The Council is humbled to support the vital work of the Riverside Art Museum and its passionate efforts to make a better California for us all.”
To view a complete listing of all Artists in Communities grantees, visit http://arts.ca.gov/programs/program_files/1819/CurrentGrantees/FY18-19_Project_Descriptions_AC.pdf.
