Author: NIAD Art Center

A print of a person wearing a helmet an an armband that reads "police" about to bring their foot down on the face of a person lying on the sidewalk. A protest sign that reads "POLICE BRUTALITY" lies nearby, next to a vivid red brick wall.

Online Exhibition: “Edges of Attention” organized by Canela Art Gallery

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

About the exhibition   We selected our favorite evocative works and put them into a virtual gallery.     There was so much amazing work to choose from, but we believe that these works in particular speak for themselves. Lastly, we also think these works exhibited together speak to this moment in America and how art represents what we give our attention to. * Seleccionamos nuestras obras evocadoras favoritas y las pusimos en una galería virtual. Había tantas obras para elegir, pero creemos que estas obras en particular hablan por sí mismas. Por último, también creemos que estas obras expuestas Read More …

An ink drawing of floating hearts surrounded by smaller hearts, large floating flowers with hearts on the petals, flowers surrounded by flowers, all shapes filled with thin washes of color, blotched here and there. Some are colored with pencil. The colors are varied and bright. The artist's signature is in the bottom right corner.

Online Exhibition: “A Firmament in the Midst of the Waters” organized by Jay Youngdahl

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

About the exhibition   Viewers can learn much from the work of NIAD artists. Their work offers the viewer a recognition that life is often a jumble of color and form.  Things arise, and often not in a linear or scientific manner. In reviewing the NIAD catalog, a religious/spiritual theme emerges.  Based on the conception of the beginning of the world found in the Old Testament book of Genesis, out of a chaos a world is born. Let there be light. About the organizer Jay Youngdahl is an artist, writer, and activist. For the past few decades he has made his Read More …

NIAD Windows Exhibition: The Ultimate NIAD Hard-Core Horror Metal Art Show

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

About the exhibition  “Bonfires burning brightPumpkin faces in the nightI remember Halloween … Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, HalloweenCandy apples and razor bladesLittle dead are soon in gravesI remember Halloween” -The Misfits About the organizer Alan Perez is an artist who is interested in the dark side. His work may not always be the nicest or the friendliest, but to be honest with you, he’s more interested in the darkness and mysteries of life.  From bands like Misfits to filmmakers like Tim Burton to writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Alan is very interested in popular culture’s ideas of the dark side, too. Read More …

A collage of pictures involving NIAD studio artist Deatra Colbert and her artwork.

From NIAD’s Director: Back to Studio!

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

For 25 years, Deatra has had a truly legendary practice as a studio artist at NIAD.  Not only does Deatra work across mediums including fiber arts, printmaking, ceramics, drawing, and painting, she is a community connector.  And so it’s fitting that this year, she was one of the first artists to return to our 23rd Street studio to work in person. In the video below, she shares her personal approach to making sure life in the Virtual Studio and on-site at NIAD stay continuous. It’s all about friends – whether in the NIAD courtyard or studio, or on-screen in our Virtual Read More …

A screenprint portrait by NIAD studio artist Raven Harper in red ink of a female figure from the shoulders up. The words at the bottom of the print read "Rosa Parks".

Online Exhibition: “Super Powers” organized by Aubrey Ingmar Manson

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

About the exhibition   As artists, we all have super powers. We can say what we feel and build worlds out of nothing. We can demand change and speak out about injustices. We can protest for our rights, freedoms, and share with others our views. It is the outside world viewed through the artist’s lens. Our powers are both inside and outside of us. Who among us will stand up for what they believe in? Who among us will help out? Who among us has a vision? Who among us desires change and progress? And who among us will do Read More …

A black ink drawing, smudged in some areas, with three crowded rows of bees filling the bottom half and three rough rows of winged figures in the top half, jostling each other for space.

Online Exhibition: Ravel, organized by Danny Volk

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

About the exhibition   Ravel is an exhibition of two and three dimensional work that attracts with loose references leaving the mind to give up meaning in the pursuit of possibility. Recommended listening to accompany the viewing of the exhibition: Maurice Ravel’s Boléro. About the organizer Danny Volk received a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Art from the University of Chicago (Chicago, IL) and a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Studies from Kent State University (Kent, OH). His recent exhibitions, screenings and performances include Mrs. Lincoln, What Did You Think of the Play at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (Milwaukee, WI), The News Gallery at SPACES (Cleveland, OH), The Read More …

an inky blue wash dilutes to a pale blue, shrouding a brilliantly red figure that gazes intensely at the viewer. The face of the figure is the same red as the body, which has no visible characteristics. Two blue eyes, a blue nose, an open red oval for a mouth. A bluish-green half-circle shape crowned with red dots is attached to the figure's cheek.

Online Exhibition: I See What You’re Feeling, organized by Daniel Krakauer

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

About the exhibition   Have you ever met somebody whose emotions are so big they seem to fill up a room? These wonderful drawings remind me of those passionate people. Each subject fills their piece of paper with their emotions. Whether joyful, calm or anxious, their feelings permeate their faces, their bodies and even the spaces around them. Even when the backgrounds are empty, they are empty in ways that amplify the subjects’ inner states.  I don’t know these artists, so I can’t ask what they meant to say. But it’s art, so we each get to make up whatever Read More …

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

RSVP for Thirsty Thursday – September 9

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

Join us online from 6-7 PM PT, Thursday September! NIAD Gallery Manager Julio Rodriguez will waltz us through “Mis Figuras Favoritas,” the September Windows Exhibition featuring a lovely selection of new works on paper by NIAD studio artists and BFFs Carlota Rodriguez and Erica Martinez. Tune in and you can meet friendly NIAD artists, studio facilitators, community members, and chat with Erica or Carlota directly about their work! About the exhibition   This month, our Exhibitions Team has selected a collection of new works on paper by Carlota Rodriguez and Erika Martinez. Pre-pandemic, these two artists would usually sit close to Read More …

Three triangles are stacked on a background painted gray. These three triangles contain multiple other triangles, with bands of color and a blue or black border defining each triangle.

NIAD Windows Exhibition: Mis Figuras Favoritas – Carlota Rodriguez & Erika Martinez

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

This month our Exhibitions Team has selected a collection of new works on paper by Carlota Rodriguez and Erika Martinez. Pre-pandemic, these two artists would usually sit close to each other when working in the studio, which would become apparent in their geometric abstractions. When NIAD moved to a Virtual Studio, Rodriguez and Martinez continued to create, though now only able to connect over Zoom. Despite the distance between them, a palpable connection continues in their artwork – a helpful reminder that what connects us transcends the space that separates us.   VIEW THE EXHIBITION RSVP FOR THIRSTY THURSDAY

A linocut print with a slightly rough right edge. the ink is fire-engine red with very lightly speckled patches of white paper showing through here and there. in the upper center of the page, the word YIELD in handdrawn letters is tightly enclosed by an upside-down triangle, with is in turn enclosed by another upside down triangle, with a third triangle tight around the second. The borders of the two outer triangles blend together here and there.

Online Exhibition: Yielding, organized by Ann Marguerite Tartsinis

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

About the exhibition   To yield is to submit to pressure, to give way to an external force. It is also to produce or create something, the yield, from one’s own labor. The artworks brought together in this exhibition reflect the multiple ways matter can yield: Clay is molded and punctured by the sharp tip of the stylus, fabric gathers at the pull of the embroidery thread, and brushstrokes accumulate to reveal an overflowing mass of delineated forms on the page. While some of the artworks here physically represent how yielding is embedded in the very processes of their making, others Read More …

a face emerges from a canvas of exuberant brushstrokes - a cornflower blue muzzle, a lavender nose, yellow brows, skin in brown and magenta shades, surrounded by an aura of more magenta paint mixed with lavender and cornflower blue. the canvas is vertically oriented. the face is smiling.

Online Exhibition: 177 years, organized by Julia Goodman and Michael Hall

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

About the exhibition   177 Years is a group show including multiple works by Lisa Blevens, Eddie Braught, Sylvia Fragoso, Peter Harris, Tre’von Silva, Jonathan Valdivias, Christian Vassell and Susan Wise. Cumulatively the artists have spent 177 years making art in the NIAD studio working with paint, textiles, ceramics and sound. Julia and Michael co-curated this show from home while their toddler was sleeping.  About the organizers Julia Goodman is known for her low and high relief handmade paper sculptures. Goodman’s innovative approach to papermaking holds strong throughlines with the history of rag paper as she gathers, sorts, tears, soaks and pulps fibers, transforming discarded bedsheets and Read More …

Special Exhibition: SFMOMA x NIAD MiNi Mural Gallery

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

About the gallery The NIAD MiNi Gallery is a collection of work that showcases the diversity of NIAD’s studio artists in material and form, featuring the artists who contributed to the SFMOMA MiNi Mural Project. About the event From the SFMOMA website: In 1940, more than sixty-five artists made their creative processes public when they participated in Art in Action, an exhibition of live art making conceived by architect Timothy L. Pfleuger as part of the Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island. Among these artists was Diego Rivera, who during this time painted the mural Pan American Unity, which Read More …

Untitled (D0897) by Julie MacDonald graphite on woven paper 13 x 19” unique 2019. Row after row of small squares, each divided into four bright triangles, stacked up across the picture plane to form an optical dance (perhaps more of a march?) of color.

Online Exhibition: Holding the Line, organized by jill moniz

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

About the exhibition The works in this exhibition use the line to suggest form and meaning. Whether as a solid object or a mere suggestion, the line elicits connections beyond formalism, and resonates with transformative power. The synchronicity between what is made and what is felt enriches the experience with the visual languages offered here. Together, these works tell a story with line, color and form about the pleasure, diversity and complexity born from simple materials that should be required reading. About the organizer  jill moniz is an independent curator of visual narratives. She shares her vision of empowering visual Read More …

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

Online Event: Thirsty Thursday – August 12

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

Join us online from 6-7 PM PT, Thursday August 12! We’ll welcome organizer Jessica Cadkin and guest artist Leigh Barbier in conversation about organizing this month’s NIAD Windows Exhibition, Picnic.  You could have the opportunity to meet and talk with participating NIAD studio artists Saul Alegria, Jeremy Burleson, Jonathan Velazquez, Serena Scott, Shana Harper, Michael Nuñez, Michael Walker, Tre’von Silva and Hacer Acma. Leigh Barbier is a renowned San Francisco-based artist with a singular style. What are Leigh’s career highlights so far? “Working on dioramas for the California Academy of Sciences, being part of an all-girl team to make a Read More …

an acrylic painting on paper of an insect, with four olive green legs, yellow wings, a purple thorax and orange eyes on a bright pink background

NIAD Windows Exhibition: Picnic, organized by Jessica Cadkin

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

About the exhibition Ice cream trucks, pool parties, and picnics evoke images of summertime. This year in particular, picnics became an opportunity to reunite with friends and family after so many months of isolation. The summer ritual of gathering outside on blankets with baskets to share a meal, play games, and bask in the sun took on special meaning. So as this summer draws to a close, the artworks selected for this window exhibition are an expression of some of those things. About the organizer  Jessica Cadkin was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and grew up in Napa, California. She received Read More …

an image of a pixellated palm tree and beach scene next to text from Spotify: Playlist. Break Tune Favorites. "Here are the top 10 'Break' Tune Favorites. At least for now. The idea for this playlist is about taking some time off, whenever is needed..." - NIAD Studio Artist Jean McElvane 10 songs, 45 min 53 sec

Break Tune Favorites playlist by Jean McElvane

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

It’s time for the latest playlist from NIAD Studio Artist Jean McElvane! She has this to say about her latest collection: Hello, & welcome to this next occasion starting this month. Here are the top 10 “Break” Tune Favorites.  At least for now. The idea for this playlist is about taking some time off, whenever is needed.   Though, once again, this Jean is taking another one-week off for her birthday (like I do every year), just this first week (8-4-1973 – 4:11 am – Leo), I’m just staying put, & taking it easy at where I am & while turning 48 Read More …

From NIAD’s Director: Open Letter to SFMOMA

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

Embedded in NIAD’s tagline, “Redefining Contemporary Art,” is a mission to help build a more inclusive contemporary art world. One way we do this is by building partnerships – in Richmond, the Bay Area, and worldwide. Our partnership with SFMOMA has been an especially important one. Marlon Mullen received the SECA Award in 2019 and as I write this, NIAD studio artists are preparing to unveil two collaborative murals on August 14 and 15 at the museum’s Mini Mural Festival. SFMOMA is a meaningful entry point for NIAD studio artists’ visibility and success. However, at this time we are seeing SFMOMA Read More …

Untitled (D0653) mixed media on paper by NIAD studio artist Erica Martinez. image description: a bright magenta feather shape with black ink details on a light yellow background.

Online Exhibition: 20 Continuous Lines, selected by Veronica DeJesus

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

About the exhibition 20 continuous linesCommunicationConnectionsRelationshipsModel MakingCirclesFriendsFamilyGrounding StonesVacationsFinding BalanceSeeing things throughColors open up our perspectivesFinding peace and harmonyEVEN through hard shiftsBREATHE WORKPRAYER WORKPERSPECTIVE WORKlaying in a fieldFeeling connected to your purposeHaving your inner light turned on from within About the selector Veronica DeJesus is a visual artist currently living and working in Los Angeles. She was raised in Miami, LA, Oakland and on the open road along Highway 10. Veronica has had numerous solo shows at galleries in New York, Atlanta, and San Francisco, including her remarkable exhibition of Memorial drawings at The Berkeley Art Museum. Her work has been featured Read More …

Image: Untitled (D7526), Karen May.

Online Exhibition: Every Sing, selected by Jesse Malmed

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

About the exhibition   Every SingSome SingAny SingThis Sing   Or what we might call singinging, both to and away from alongongs. This online exhibition brings together a series of works from some of the artists at NIAD that harmonize with singing things, through fan culture, instrument studies, exploded gig posters from a pole on the studio table, scores and how songs move. About the selector Jesse Malmed is an artist and curator working in video, performance, text, occasional objects and their gaps and laps over and under. 

James Heartsill Untitled (P0639)

Online Exhibition: Diverse Findings, selected by Paulette Nichols

Posted onAuthorNIAD Art Center

About the exhibition Here is a picture by James Heartsill of what looks to be a house, except it has teeth, and there is a sky and trees and the roof looks like it has a hair cut, and a tongue is coming out like a door mat. Don Van Vliet, a.k.a. Captain Beefheart wrote a song called My Head is My Only House Unless it Rains, and that’s what this mixed media on canvas piece makes me think of. We walk around in our heads that protect us like little houses. We inhabit our bodies. They are our homes, and we may own Read More …