Deatra Colbert

Thirsty Thursday Logo - a blue drop of water with "Th2" superimposed at the bottom and "Thirsty Thursday" underneath

Online Event: Thirsty Thursday – July 8

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

Join us online from 6-7 PM PT, Thursday July 8th! We’ll welcome Nan Collymore and Celia Lesh in conversation about organizing this month’s NIAD Windows Exhibition, Soft Material. Our guest speakers will share some insight on how this collaborative project came to be. You could have the opportunity to meet and talk with participating artists from NIAD, Creative Growth, and Elbow Room: Deatra Colbert, Shantae Robinson, Raven Harper, Gail Lewis, Sherrie Aradanis, Elmeater Morton, and Ricky Bearghost. About Thirsty Thursday Hosted by Julio Rodriguez, NIAD’s Gallery Manager, Thirsty Thursday is our new event series bringing together artists and curators with interested Read More …

NIAD Windows Exhibition: Soft Material, Organized by Nan Collymore and Celia Lesh

NIAD Windows Exhibition: Soft Material, selected by Nan Collymore & Celia Lesh

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

About the exhibition Soft Material is a collaborative garment construction project, between artists who have an interest in and connection with what one might call fashion and textiles, and what can also be understood as the corporeal, the body and performativity. Soft Material supports and connects artists living with disabilities whose communal studio programs have been severely interrupted by the pandemic. The project was born out of an interest in proposing a model for generating clothes reciprocally, with many voices and a disregard for efficiency.     About the organizers   Nan Collymore makes work that is tactile and continuous—as though Read More …

NIAD artists in our courtyard working on sketches for SFMOMA's Mini Mural Festival. Top row: Luis Estrada, Esmeralda Silva, Miguel Chacon. Circle: Jonathan Valdivias. Bottom row: Julio Del Rio, Deatra Colbert, Christian Vassell's sketches.

Online Event: SFMOMA Mini Mural Festival Kickoff – June 24

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

NIAD is one of three organizations commissioned by SFMOMA to contribute murals to its Mini Mural Festival this summer. During this special online kickoff event, Acción Latina, NIAD, and SOMA Pilipinas will discuss our organizations’ work and missions. Then, the artists will reveal their mural designs for the first time. Don’t miss this special preview! SFMOMA Mini Mural Festival Kickoff (online)Thursday, June 24th, 5:30 PM PTRSVP today! Image: NIAD artists in our courtyard working on sketches for SFMOMA’s Mini Mural Festival. Top row: Luis Estrada, Esmeralda Silva, Miguel Chacon. Circle: Jonathan Valdivias. Bottom row: Julio Del Rio, Deatra Colbert, Christian Vassell’s sketches.

Untitled (S0912) Samantha Kershnar

NIAD Windows Exhibition: Adornment, selected by Max Kauffman

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

About the exhibition These ten artists imbue spirit into everyday objects. Facets of daily life become abstract through their methods; quilts, photographs, clay and paper become magical things through the power of repetition. The rituals of home and comfort are elevated through spiritual fulfillment. The love bestowed upon these items reveals itself. Not merely beauty, these things serve a purpose. They emanate joy, a sense of peace, and a hope of understanding one another. About the selector Max Kauffman   Meet the selector (virtually) at Thirsty Thursday, June 10, 6-7pm PT. View the exhibition.View Untitled (S0912), Samantha Kershnar.

New Windows Exhibition: Art In Windows, organized by NIAD + Richmond Main Street Initiative

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

About the exhibition Art In Windows, the annual storefront exhibitions program pioneered by Richmond Main Street Initiative, returns this year through a pilot collaboration with NIAD Art Center. Funded by the Richmond Arts and Culture Commission’s Neighborhood Public Arts Mini-Grant, the collaboration includes two exhibitions in Downtown Richmond windows, a free online opening reception (featuring participating artists and family-friendly workshop kits to accompany the exhibition), and a small business development workshop in June for up to 25 artists. In March, the Art in Windows call for artists resulted in 34 submissions from 26 artists. Running from May 1–22, 2021, Art In Read More …

Online Exhibition: Artist of the Month Series: We Are Creating Our History curated by Deatra Colbert, Felicia Griffin, and Dorrie Reid

Posted onAuthorAmanda Eicher

About the exhibition “Black History Month is a time when I like to think about how we talk about our history together at NIAD. We learn about reading and cooking and printmaking and sewing. I’ve been thinking about how I’ve been coming here making art for a long time, and so I know I’m going down in history with NIAD.” – Deatra Colbert Over the past few years, NIAD artists have been delving deeper into the curatorial aspects of their practices by participating in our Artist of the Month program, which converts a portion of the communal studio into an installation and exhibition space. Working individually or in Read More …

Online Exhibition: Faces In The Crowd, selected By Elizabeth Lalley

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

View the show. About the exhibition In her essay “Joy,” Zadie Smith divulges that a source of her daily pleasure in life is, very simply, “other people’s faces.” Beyond the surface of appearance, Smith alludes to the private lives, anxieties, triumphs, and toils she imagines in others—strangers she passes on the street or sits beside on the bus, for instance. Her projections are fictions, but they are a continual exercise in empathy, imagination, and compassion nonetheless.   I think of Smith’s essay often, passing days in the anonymity and excitement that life lived among others, in public space, can shape. Read More …