Create & LearnCommunity Engagement The Branch
Our first artist-in-residence program in the Eastside neighborhood, located at 4307 Park Avenue, will provide an affordable rental opportunity for an income-qualified artist. We are proud to present community artist Juan Navarro as artist-in-residence at The Branch. For several years, RAM has worked closely with Navarro on various community art projects. Navarro has demonstrated excellent skills in activating partners and the public in his work, a keen understanding of his role in the community, and the ability to engage and communicate with residents. The Branch provides an opportunity for the artist to live within the community, engage with their neighbors, and lead art programming with the goal to engage, inspire, and build community through the arts. The goals of this program are to cultivate individual skills, foster social interactions, and promote neighborhood development. Artist residencies will vary in duration, but are expected to last approximately six-to-twelve months. Artists will get to know their neighbors, hear their stories, and respond with programming that is relevant and substantive.
Current initiatives include Juan Navarro’s murals and art-making events in the Eastside as our artist-in-residence. For example, RAM commissioned Navarro to produce a community-driven mural that reflected the relationship between medical professionals and community members as they work together to create a healthier Eastside community. The mural concept was directly influenced by Eastside residents from development to completion. Click here to learn more.
Juan is currently working on an art project with community members at Lincoln Park. He plans to create an outdoor art gallery along the park’s walkways. With the help of the City of Riverside Parks and Recreation department and the Riverside Art Museum, Navarro will build and install a wooden four by eight foot frame for art installations. “This project will allow us to feature local artists, allow families to experience art in the outdoors, and improve our community’s visual landscape,” says Navarro. His passion for social practice art has allowed him to visualize ways our local community members can share their individual culture and creative visions within their local neighborhood.
SEE THE MURAL . . . AND OTHERS!
Take a ride through Eastside Riverside to see the murals completed by our artist-in-residence, Juan Navarro! Click here to download a pdf of the mural tour.
About Juan Navarro: Juan Navarro is an emerging social-practice artist currently serving as artist-in-residence with the Riverside Art Museum. The founder of a co-working art studio known as Eastside Arthouse, Navarro has an Associate’s degree in Human Behavioral Studies from RCC. He has created mural work for brands such as Riverside Community Health Foundation, Sandals Church, Romeo Power, and Verizon. In his recent Artist-in-Residence partnership with the Riverside art Museum, he recently was awarded an emerging leader grant through U.S. Bank that supports emerging leaders and community-led solutions to address economic disparities in his neighborhood. He enjoys being part of community-building projects that involve local Riverside residents working together to improve the landscape of their community. He believes that murals add to quality of life, promotes walkability, celebrates diversity, unifies neighborhoods, and gives a cultural voice to the residents who participate in creating them and experience them.