Led by NIAD artist and curator Dorian Reid, We Are Creating Our Own Histories! celebrates a community milestone in envisioning NIAD’s multi-year, collective public art project of a large-scale, cut-metal panel artwork across NIAD’s building, fence, and courtyard gate on 23rd Street in Richmond. This exhibition features a selection of artworks by six NIAD artists and community members created during two collaborative workshops hosted in 2024 and 2025 supported by the California Arts Council. The presentation also includes both 2D and 3D renderings by the local architectural studio, Object Projects.
Community Celebration
NIAD Art Center — Annex Gallery
Saturday, May 9, 2026
1–4 PM
Free and open to the public
Join us in celebrating this collaborative public art project led by NIAD artist and curator Dorian Reid. A NIAD artist for over two decades and a 2026 MoAD Emerging Artists Program recipient, Dorian will share her vision for the project in an artist talk alongside food, drinks, and a raffle for one of her iconic Black Cat Revolution t-shirts.
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About the 23rd Street Metal Facade:
We Are Creating Our Own Histories! explores themes of water, animals, music, and collective memory. Drawings and designs created by NIAD artists and community will be included in this permanent cut-metal public artwork
In Dorian's words:
“23rd Street can be overpowering with stress or noise. I think about the sound of water. The sound of water is like always saying hello, never goodbye - the waves, and the water like a mirror. If we had something new like a gate or a new public space for art, it could be some kind of song, some kind of music, to include some kind of sound alongside the cars - to keep the hostility down and lift up more music!”
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