Raven and Shana Harper have dedicated themselves to their art practice for decades. During their time in the NIAD Studio, they have moved fluidly through different medium to create bodies of work that explore a wide breadth of themes. From flora and fauna, family, sisterhood, pop culture icons and civil rights leaders, this exhibition highlights the multi-disciplinary practices of Raven and Shana Harper. Read More …
Join Senator Scott Wiener as he proudly presents the exhibition HUES, featuring twenty-five exceptional Black artists from the Bay Area. Hosted at Senator Scott Wiener’s Office in the State of California Building, San Francisco, this showcase will run from February 22 to March 30, 2024. Read More …
We didn’t always get along. We spent some years apart but when we both came to work at NIAD, our relationship grew deeper and stronger. Without my sister I don’t know what I would do. She’s my world. I am happy that we have a show together and I know it will be amazing and exciting. Read More …
This year NIAD is delighted to have works by seventeen NIAD artists in the Richmond Art Center’s AOTAD exhibition, with satellite exhibition locations to be announced. 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. Read More …
The KPFA Craft Fair is back at the Craneway!
With more than 70 active artists, the 23rd Street Studios have been in full swing all year and we have SO many one-of-a-kind, extremely gift-able works to show you.
Stop by and say hello! Read More …
Join us at the Eddie Rhodes Gallery for the opening of “3,734 Dreams Not Remembered” featuring work by NIAD Artists who are Contra Costa College alumni. Read More …
Join us in NIAD’s Galleries to celebrate the spirit of community activism and creative energy of Richmond High School and NIAD Art Center artists! Richmond Artists Activate! centers artists as agents for lasting social change and leaders in the Richmond community. Read More …
Art of the African Diaspora is the longest running event of its kind in the Bay Area. This year it brings together over 150 artists of African descent, showcasing their work at the Richmond Art Center, as well as in open studios and satellite exhibitions at thirty different venues across ten Bay Area cities. Read More …
Crossover is an apt title for this show, which will showcase the vibrant and newly-connected fiber art scenes of NIAD and Cedars. Crossover is a companion to the textile-centered exhibition Follow the String, on view at Marin MOCA. In preparation for this show, artists from both programs visited each other’s studios, and participated in a tee-shirt and doll making workshop at Marin MOCA. T-shirts and dolls from this workshop will be on view in NIAD and Marin MOCA. Read More …
Join us for an Artists in Conversation for our exhibition “Soft Material” with artists Shantae Robinson, Raven Harper, and Karen May, with Moderator Nan Collymore. Read More …
Dear NIAD Lovers: Every time Miguel Chacon comes through NIAD’s studio doors, he assumes his role as “The Manager,” a nickname he earned from his fellow artists for his leadership qualities, but also for his unwavering support and mentorship of NIAD artists, veterans and newcomers alike. Miguel is a sought-after sound engineer, but his keen eye for cultural commentary in his visual art practice is clear in the artworks surveyed in his recent solo exhibition Observer. He has said that he spent years just watching other studio artists before hitting his groove as a painter, and by now that groove is as deep as on the tracks he produces. Read More …
On Friday, July 29th, DJ Surface Tension invites KALX listeners to tune in to an ear-opening conversation with the “sounding artists” of NIAD Art Center as they discuss their most recent release Sounding Artists R Sweet and So R You. Featured in this conversation are artists Luis Estrada, Christian Vassel, and Raven Harper. This studio compilation captures the rawness of NIAD’s community artists at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Recorded in early 2020 over the phone and in zoom, the outcome is equal parts poignant, hilarious, beautiful and boundary-pushing. Sounding Artists R Sweet and So R You is a sonic answer to the age old question: what is music? Find the Read More …
AUGUST 18 – SEPTEMBER 3 Sherrie Aradanas, Ricky Bearghost, Raven Harper, Gail Lewis, Elmeater Morton, Shantae Robinson Soft Material is a collaborative garment-construction project between artists who have an interest in and connection with fashion and textiles, as well as the corporeal, the body, and performativity. The program supports and connects artists living with disabilities whose communal studios were severely interrupted by the pandemic. The project is co-organized by NAN COLLYMORE and CELIA LESH with artists from NIAD, Creative Growth, Elbow Room, and the Center for Craft. Related Events Thursday August 18 // Opening Reception at Berkeley Art Center Friday Read More …
About the exhibition Being brought up in a culture oriented towards consumption, self-gratification, and self-fulfillment, one learns not only what to desire but how to desire, where to situate one’s desire in relation to the self, all desire’s dimensions. The goal of this hegemonic cultural project is to eventually make one lose the sense of self beyond that desire, and be left with nothing but desire. “What I want” and “who I am” become one, and the cultural program, determining what these desires are, can control our sense of ourselves. There are many ways of dealing with this predicament, from Read More …
About the exhibition Henri Matisse painted Luxe, calme, et volupté more than a hundred years ago. Today, the vibrantly coloured Fauvist painting keeps instilling a sense of warmth and repose. Luxury, peace and pleasure indeed. At the moment, many of us may not be feeling at ease. To state the obvious, there’s an unfinished pandemic and a war raging once again in Europe. These are difficult times and many futures seem possible. Times are trying. Change and anxiety cannot be avoided. Very often, the extra toiling accumulates upon the female and/or racialized body. Labor and care, both physical and emotional, are often Read More …
About the exhibition This online NIAD exhibition is in conjunction with DreamForms, curated by Roberto Martinez, currently at the Richmond Art Center. It represents the ceramic visions of Julio del Rio and (myself) Lauren Ari. I had the pleasure of being a painting instructor at NIAD where Julio Del Rio is a studio artist. I was inspired by the well of creativity, the open-heartedness and the community which is a sweet world unto itself. It has been a joy to go back and choose these works to share with you! “You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one Read More …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …