Author: NIAD Art Center

NIAD Win Win 10 logo graphic

WIN WIN 10 Tickets On Sale!

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NIAD turns 40 this year, so we’re going BIG. NIAD is pulling out all the stops for our annual WIN WIN benefit to commemorate our 40th anniversary, and it wouldn’t be the same without you! It’s called “WIN WIN” because everyone has a chance to take home fantastic art and support NIAD artists. Please join us on Zoom for a fun afternoon of games, music and a live auction of extraordinary artwork donated by NIAD artists and artists in our vital network of supporters.  Following the Zoom event, NIAD lovers will come together (safely) for an in-person reception with music and paella Read More …

NIAD x Mills Building

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How monumental is this work by Peter Harris, beautifully installed in the turn-of-the-century Mills Building in downtown San Francisco! Danny Thach’s unapologetically contemporary aesthetic commands the space, and Lupe Soto’s series of manipulated sculptural images look right at home among the Roman travertine and black Belgian marble. If you should find yourself at the bottom of Bush Street between now and June 10, 2022, take a moment to stroll through the lobby and see these artists in a new light. Mant thanks to Kerri Hurtado and Artsource Consulting for collaborating with us on this exhibition! NIAD Artists in the Exhibition Peter Read More …

an acrylic painting on two joined canvases. a square on the left features thickly layered paint in reds, pinks, creamy white and a dash of yellow in the upper right corner. A rectangle with a light blue wooden frame attached features a similar pattern of round shapes, thickly painted, but in bright and drippy blues, pinks, and yellows, with a patch of the same creamy white in the lower left corner.

NIAD Online Exhibition // “Voice Inside” selected by Sunila Bajracharya

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About the exhibition We all hear voices. Some come from inside, and others come from outside. The truest voice is the voice coming from inside which only you can hear. We hear this voice day and night. It can be loud, or soft, or strong, or annoyed, or happy, or sad. When we let our inner voice out it can create different forms of art, sometimes in words, sometimes with color, sometimes in three dimensions, sometimes with only lines. This expression can vary every day depending on the hardness of materials, the stiffness of mind, and the softness of heart. Inner Read More …

Off-Site Exhibition // Julio Del Rio in “DreamForms” at the Richmond Art Center

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January 20 – March 22, 2022 About the exhibition Dreamforms is a look into the whimsical imaginations of two Richmond-based ceramicists, Lauren Ari and Julio del Rio.  Through a selection of works that include colorful ceramic figures and works on paper, this exhibition explores the intrinsic relationship between the imagined form and the material form.  Both Ari and del Rio approach ceramics as a medium that offers a magical ability to materialize dreams and imaginations into physical realities. Both artists adopt a multidisciplinary approach to their creative process and often take inspiration from their dreams, personal experiences, and imagined realities. Dreamforms highlights the Read More …

installation view of the Art of the African Diaspora at Richmond Art Center

Off-Site Exhibition // NIAD Artists in “Art of the African Diaspora 2022” at Richmond Art Center

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January 20 – March 19, 2022 About the exhibition Art of the African Diaspora, in partnership with Richmond Art Center, supports artists of African descent in the Bay Area through representation, professional development, and building a creative community. In 2022 we are celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Bay Area Black Artists Exhibition at Richmond Art Center! Over 100 artists of African descent will showcase their work at Richmond Art Center, as well as in open studios and satellite exhibitions at different venues across the Bay Area. NIAD Artists in the Exhibition Halisi Noel-Johnson Thomas Harden Raven Harper Kiesha White Shawna Read More …

A painting on white paper in four colors - yellow, red, indigo and grey. Yellow and red form thick half arches on the left side of the paper. Indigo forms a cloud in the middle and top right corner. Grey is a mass in the mid to lower right. Brushstrokes visible in all the forms.

NIAD Online Exhibition // “Murmuration” selected by Alisa Golden

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About the exhibition A murmuration is a flock of thousands moving together, a pattern through the sky, each bird attuned to its nearest neighbors. Made up of individual parts, the whole becomes greater and more powerful than when it stands alone. In the works presented here, individual parts are visible: pieced, gridded, grouped, and arranged with lines, letters, and fields of color. And from the thousands of works that fly together at NIAD, here is only a sample of pieces that somehow talk and listen to their nearest neighbors. A murmuration of applause to all. About the selector Alisa Golden writes, Read More …

A satirical print of a white male, wearing a blue uniform, smiling, holding up a blue hood with his raised right hand. The words "Trump equals" above the figure and "cobra commander" at the bottom are handwritten in black.

NIAD Online Exhibition // “Innersense” ushered by Germán Herrera

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About the Exhibition What is expressed in this small selection of works emanates from tender voices; better equipped than most to express the one quality humankind probably needs the most in this moment: love.  They make me think of canaries in a coal mine and, their message, an invitation to  embrace our humanity. May all of us be inspired by their courage, honesty and capacity to feel. About the organizer Germán Herrera Human being. I am an artist interested in spirituality, communication and art as an extension of consciousness. Student of A Course in Miracles, I live in California with Read More …

an installation shot of Relics from the Future installed in NIAD Art Center's galleries.

In-Person Closing Reception February 12 // “Relics for the Future” curated by Jessica Snow

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Closing Reception Saturday February 12 1-4PM NIAD Art Center 551 23rd Street, Richmond About the exhibition Relics for the Future takes as its point of departure an imagined future in which the art created today is interpreted in an entirely new light. Will future generations look at works of art of the contemporary moment and assign meaning which was entirely unintended by today’s artists? Will they see our artwork as antidotes to archaic social networks that in fact isolated us more than connected us? The artwork of today may be seen as our most successful attempts at communication— odd idols, Read More …

NIAD Goes Remote!

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Dear NIAD Community,  We have made the decision to return to Virtual programming and remote work at NIAD for now. This was not an easy decision, but because we are committed to the health and safety of everyone in the NIAD community, we will remain in the Virtual Studio until we begin to see the most recent national wave of COVID cases decrease. Fortunately our Virtual Studio is a robust creative environment for artists to make work, and staff are prepared to be in contact with all of our studio artists to support their continued practices.  We are thankful for the Read More …

Composite of two black and white headshots. On the left, Rebecca Teague. On the right, Maria Yates.

Welcome Rebecca Teague and Maria Yates!

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NIAD Adds Two Members to the Win Win 10 Event Team Excitement for NIAD’s 40th Anniversary year and our upcoming Win Win 10 Benefit Auction is building,  and we’re thrilled to welcome two new members to the NIAD team who will take our fundraising game to the next level. Rebecca Teague, Win Win 10 Event Director Rebecca Teague was born in Washington DC, raised in Chicago, IL and has lived in places as exotic as St Paul, MN and Ann Arbor, MI and now resides in Woodacre, CA. Educated in textiles and then photography at SFAI and SF Academy of Art. Read More …

A Year Through the Windows // NIAD’s 2021 Windows Exhibitions (online exhibition)

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About the collection NIAD’s Windows Exhibitions are a pandemic-era innovation, born out of the necessity to see art, and for art to be seen, that continued unabated during lockdown. Way back in July 2020 Amanda announced in The Latest, “Starting now, each month we will add new exhibitions to NIAD’s street-side windows, selected by local artists, curators and NIAD community members… Interested audiences can now drive by, take a stroll past our windows, or get in touch with us directly to arrange for sales or more information on art and artists.” Many thanks to NIAD Gallery Director Julio Rodriguez, the deft facilitator Read More …

An arrangment of artworks related to the Win Win 10 fundraiser, organized in two rows of three, with the Win Win 10 logo in the middle of the bottom row.

Win Win 10 Sneak Preview, collected by Isabel Xilonen Ortiz (online exhibition)

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Our final NIAD Gift Guide of the season doubles as a sneak peek into what’s in store for you at Win Win 10, NIAD’s Annual Benefit Fundraiser coming up on Saturday March 5, 2022! Isabel X. Ortiz from NIAD’s fundraising team describes the NIAD artworks that inspired her Win Win 10 Sneak Preview collection… About the collection I curated this collection with all the game-lovers and risk-takers in mind. It’s for the artists who are pushing their own creative boundaries. It’s for the innovators who are thinking of their next passion project. It’s for the people who like to spice up their homes with Read More …

A handful of dogs (some brown, some yellow) and what appear to be a few cats poke their heads in sideways and here and there into a garden scene of red and pink flowers with twining stems and bright green leaves on a light green background. Only the heads and necks of the dogs (and cats, perhaps) are visible.

NIAD Windows Exhibition // “Menagerie on 23rd Street” selected by Prajakti Jayavant

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About the exhibition The exhibition windows of NIAD on 23rd street are wildly overstuffed this holiday season. Amongst a backdrop of drawings that are doodled and dotted emerge a collection of creatures that are striped and spotted. This menagerie includes an assortment of tickles and roars from the furriest felines to amphibians galore. At daybreak, dapper penguins appear as mischievous musketeers, parading their way through showers of shapes. Marsupials, with pocketfuls of petunias, patiently postpone their leaping while snails slowly scribe a chalk hopscotch design. By midday, squirrels engage in patterns of play by using their tails as paintbrushes to carry Read More …

A collection of images of work by NIAD studio artists arranged in a grid.

NIAD x Mills // MCAM Acquires 14 Works by NIAD Artists

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We are thrilled to announce that fourteen artworks by NIAD studio artists Heather Hamann, Shana Harper, Serena Scott, and Jonathan Velazquez have been acquired by the Mills College Art Museum as part of a newly launched student acquisition project to help diversify the museum’s collection Full Press Release: Mills College Art Museum is pleased to announce the acquisition of 14 works of art by contemporary artists associated with NIAD Art Center in Richmond, California: Heather Hamann, Shana Harper, Serena Scott, and Jonathan Velazquez. These additions to MCAM’s collection are part of a newly launched student acquisition project to identity, research, Read More …

a collection of six zines and artist books made by NIAD studio artists and staff

NIAD x SFMOMA // 2021 Small Press Book Bazaar

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NIAD is thrilled to be participating in the 2021 Small Press Book Bazaar at SFMOMA! We’ll be rounding up a bevy of beautiful books, zines, t-shirts and other ephemera for NIAD’s table. We’ll be there alongside an amazing roster of small Bay Area presses. We hope to see you there! Event details: Thursday December 2 1-8pm Schwab Hall, Floor 2 SFMOMA / 151 Third Street / San Francisco Free and open to the public; museum admission is not required. From the SFMOMA website: This holiday season, support the Bay Area creative community by shopping this special pop-up sale with local Read More …

an arrangement of works by NIAD studio artists included in NIAD Holiday Gift Guide #5 - a red ceramic snake, a wrapped necklace, a watercolor of football helmets, a scarf, a weaving, a t shirt, a beaded necklace and a print

NIAD Holiday Gift Guide #5, collected by Dawline-Jane Oni-Eseleh

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About the collection Gift-giving can be so tricky! It can be hard to know if someone has an item already, if it will be useful, or if it’s something that maybe you like instead of the recipient.  When I choose a gift for someone, I try to focus on their interests or recent big events in their life  – did they just move into a new home? Are they always dressed to the nines? Do they love sending videos about cute animals?  I curated this shopping guide with those friends in mind, so whether you are buying a gift for your new Read More …

A square canvas with strong red brushstrokes around a smaller square of white brushstrokes surrounding a flurry of strong blue brushstrokes in the middle.

NIAD x Christie’s // Future History: The Katz Legacy

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An exhibition of NIAD artists at Christie’s San Francisco We’re thrilled to be a part of “Future History: The Katz Legacy”, an exhibition at Christie’s San Francisco on view December 2-9. NIAD studio artists Dorian Reid (courtesy of Kapp Kapp Gallery), Shana Harper, Jeremy Burleson, Sam Gant, Felicia Griffin, Tre’von Silva, and Shantae Robinson will represent NIAD in the show, and we’re honored to share the space with incredible artists from our sister studios Creative Growth and Creativity Explored. Do you know about the Katzes? They’re an innovative, awe-inspiring couple – artist and art educator Florence Ludins-Katz,  and her husband psychologist Dr. Elias Read More …

A graphic of a collection of artworks included in the holiday gift guide. arranged in a grid.

NIAD Holiday Gift Guide #4: “SISTER SISTER” collected by Amanda and Sarah Eicher

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About “SISTER SISTER” Some people think we look alike; others think our voices sound the same, and still others mistake us for each other – but do we have the same taste?  We definitely swapped clothes, jewelry, sneakers, and a few items we argued over as tiny pups in the world.In this selection, I tried to choose for my sister a few of the things I think she might have borrowed from my childhood bedroom – or that I’d want to borrow from hers. (Unsurprisingly, we chose a few of the same items the first time around!) As the younger sibling, I Read More …

NIAD Holiday Gift Guide #3: “The Zindel Collection” collection by Bill

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About “The Zindel Collection” collection The items in this Holiday Gift Guide are perfect for your friend or family member who: 1. loves handsome dudes and fall colors. Mireya Betances, Two Dudes ceramic 13x7x2″ 2. admires intelligence, integrity, and dedication. Raven Harper, MLK T-shirt hand silk-screened, 100% cotton  3. dreams of living in a strawberry. Heather Hamann, Untitled  mixed media on paper 12×18″ 4. loves swamp creatures.  Saul Alegria, Untitled ceramic 13x10x2″ 5. loves alien swamp creatures.  Saul Alegria, Untitled acrylic on paper 30×22“ 6. likes laughing, and ponies on the freeway. Nathan Lam, Bad Traffic Sign  graphite on paper, Read More …