Help Riverside Art Museum keep up the momentum of engaging, inspiring and building community through the arts! Donate today and have your donation matched!
2023 – an exceptional year! Riverside Art Museum celebrates The Cheech being open its first full year. Thanks to the 130,000 people, including 10,000 students on tours, who visited The Cheech and RAM’s Julia Morgan building to see our critically acclaimed exhibitions. Between both sites, 20 exhibitions featuring the works of over 250 diverse artists educated, inspired, and helped us to understand our humanity in these complex times. Fifty-four programs – including free events like the Pura Pachanga, artist talks, panels, and symposia – created opportunities for connection and community. And, we worked to be in national dialogue through our partnership with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino to tour Collidoscope: de la Torre Brothers Retro-Perspective, starting in Corpus Christi, Texas, then on to El Paso, and opening soon at the Philbrook Museum of Art in Oklahoma! In addition, our team of teaching artists taught nearly 5,000 art lessons in Inland Empire-based schools as well as on-site art classes and workshops, bringing the wonder of creating to nearly 30,000 students. RAM’s The 52 Project encouraged folks that it’s never too late to focus on your art practice, and the Art Alliance’s Riverside Art Market welcomed 5,000 visitors and 100 artisan vendors.
Riverside Art Museum did this unprecedented work in partnership, so thanks to those partners for their commitment to uplifting artistic voices that connect us all. We are also grateful to our many partners including, but not limited to, the City of Riverside, Riverside Unified School District, Val Verde Unified School District, local institutions of higher learning faculty, staff and students like UC Riverside’s Chicano Student Programs, Cosmé Cordova and Division 9 Gallery, Cultura con Llantas, Mexicali Biennial, Unidos For La Causa, Inc., Riverside Latino Network, The Garcia Center for the Arts, Eastside Arthouse, Inlandia Institute, Cellar Door Bookstore, Rainbow Pride Youth Alliance, American Federation of Arts, National Museum of the American Latino, and LACMA. A BIG thank you to Cheech Marin who dreamed that all of this was possible, whose relentless advocacy for Chicano art has changed American art forever, and who always has a little fun doing it!
We are very grateful for a $100,000 matching gift from the Wingate Foundation to launch our inaugural Acquisitions Fund to ensure that we are actively working to collect and preserve work by diverse artists. Over the past year and a half, Riverside Art Museum has added over 150 works by nearly 90 artists; a majority of whom are new to the permanent collections. Spanning from 1920 to 2023, all of these works augment the museum’s joint holdings and amplify the commitment to equitably diversify acquisitions and to collect from innovative points of view.
This was a year of unexpected recognition! The Cheech was nominated by USA Today Readers’ Choice 2024 for “Best New Museum!” The Riverside Art Museum received the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ highest honor – one of only four museums in 2023 – for “dynamic programming and services that exceed expected levels of service….through their community outreach, these institutions bring about change that touches the lives of individuals and helps communities thrive.” Our partners were honored, too. The City of Riverside received the Helen Putnam Award for Economic Development Through the Arts for “The Cheech” from the League of California Cities.Our architectural firm Page & Turnbull was a winner in the 2023 Modernism in America Awards, receiving a Civic/Institutional Design Citation of Merit from DocomomoUS for the firm’s preservation of the mid-century building to make it the home of The Cheech.
The museum also received an extraordinary amount of news coverage this year by local, regional and national press, from PBS NewsHour, CBS Mornings and KVCR TV, to Inland Empire Magazine and Artillery Magazine, to The Press-Enterprise, The New York Times, and Los Angeles Times. Almost 850 stories were shared to audiences about our exhibitions, the artists featured in our collections, and our work in the community.
And, you chose us! By becoming a member, buying a ticket, taking a class, following us on social media, shopping in our stores, voting for us as Best New Museum, or attending a unique fundraising event like the Pachuco Ball, Music from Below, and Artoberfest, you are part of our movement to reinvent museums, center artist voices, and continually seek innovative and creative ways to embrace our shared humanity. While we are fortunate to have partners investing in our success, it is individuals like you who are the backbone of philanthropic giving for nonprofits like ours. Nationwide, individual gifts make up over 70% of donations. And we need you today. We have a tight budget gap to close, and we hope you will give today. The first $2,000 in donations received now through December 31st will be matched dollar for dollar (by a donation from RAM Trustee Adam Guzkowski), essentially doubling your impact! We ask that you make your tax-deductible donation today to help us reach our year-end giving goals and to take advantage of Adam’s matching gift. If you can’t make a monetary gift today, we would love the gift of your presence at one of our upcoming events in the New Year!
We have much to look forward to as we focus on more free access days (Free Summer Sundays coming up in 2024 thanks to Art Bridges’ Access for All program) and opening much anticipated exhibitions likeJudithe Hernández | Beyond Myself, Somewhere, I Wait for My Arrival, welcoming homeRico Gatson on February 16, 2024 to celebrate his “Icons”exhibition, and learning more about Charles Bibbs. We also will share more about the historic preservation study of our Julia Morgan building (made possible by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation) and will be bringing on a Director of Interpretation through the Leadership in Art Museums (LAM) initiative made possible by the Walton Foundation, Ford Foundation, Mellon Foundation, and Pilot House Philanthropy.
Thank you for believing in our mission. We look forward to welcoming you in 2024!
Drew Oberjuerge, Executive Director, Riverside Art Museum
In partnership with Cultura Con Llantas, join us as we celebrate Dia de los Reyes Magos!
1 p.m. – 5 p.m. at the Riverside Art Museum.
Enjoy music and Ballet Folklorico, along with tamales, pan dulce, xocolate Mexicano y slices of Rosca de Reyes as part of this all-ages, free celebration.
Admission to Riverside Art Museum and The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture is free between 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. No reservations or reserved tickets needed to access both locations and exhibitions
Thank you for supporting First Sundays and the Riverside Art Museum exhibition Sacred Spaces: The Work and Collection of Charles Bibbs™
Join us on the first Thursday of every month from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. for the Riverside ArtsWalk, a vibrant community event that celebrates the diversity of arts and culture in Riverside and the Inland Empire.
We offer free admission at both Riverside Art Museum (Julia Morgan Building) and The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture as part of the ArtsWalk, which includes many downtown arts destinations.
Riverside Artswalk is hosted by the Riverside Arts Council and sponsored by the City of Riverside and Riverside Downtown Partnership. More information and Artswalk map available here.
Riverside ArtsWalk is supported in part by:
Photo credit: Puma Photography
December 10, 2022 | 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
Join us for Las Posada at the Riverside Art Museum! This will be a free event that the whole family can enjoy. We will have tamales, pan dulce, and chocolate Mexicano. You and your loved ones can also enjoy music and entertainment. We’ll see you there!
No cost to attend; light refreshments will be available
Location: Gregory Adamson Studio, 2242 Karendale Circle, Riverside, CA 92506
Gregory Adamson needs to “lighten the load” for his big move to the Midwest and that means you will have an unbelievable, one-time-only opportunity to acquire work from his substantial personal archive at amazing prices!
There will be works available spanning nearly 20 years of his career and nothing will be off limits.
And, just as with Off the Wall, a significant portion of the proceeds from every piece sold will benefit RAM.
Come join us for a glass of wine to toast Greg on his next big adventure. Then purchase one or several pieces of his original art for your home or office, or as holiday gifts, while helping Greg lighten the load for his move and raising valuable funds for RAM.
It’s a real win-win-win situation for everyone!
Once-in-a-Lifetime Raffle Opportunity!
Here is your once-in-a-lifetime chance to win the pictured Gregory Adamson painting (at right of flowers in a vase) simply by purchasing a raffle ticket! Greg has NEVER allowed his work to be raffled or be part of silent auctions, so this is a big deal.
Raffle tickets are $10 each or 3 for $25. Proceeds from the raffle tickets will support the Riverside Art Museum; Federal Tax ID #95-1907692. The tickets are not tax deductible. All federal and state laws apply. Winner must be 18 years of age or older. Shipping available within the U.S. Winner’s name may be made public. Winner need not be present to win.
The drawing will be held during the Lighten the Load Art Fundraiser.
Click here to purchase your raffle ticket(s)!
About Gregory Adamson
Gregory Adamson’s art is owned and exhibited by celebrities, broadcasters, politicians, major corporations, public institutions, and private collectors from Hawaii to New York and beyond. His Facing the Music performance painting has entertained audiences across the U.S. and internationally with his paintings raising well over $1 million in cumulative charity auction proceeds and individual paintings selling for as much as $100,000. He has been featured in numerous print publications, radio, and television. His volunteer work with RAM as a teacher, board member, and former interim director spans more than 12 years.
No cost
Join University of California, Riverside, professor of English, Robb Hernández, for an ‘80s flashback party in celebration of his recent book, Archiving an Epidemic: Art, AIDS, and the Queer Chicanx Avant-garde (NYU Press, 2019). Emboldened by the boom in art, fashion, music, and retail culture in 1980s Los Angeles, the iconoclasts of queer Aztlán—as Hernández terms the group of artists who emerged from East LA, Orange County, and other parts of Southern California during this period—developed a new vernacular with which to read the city in bloom. Tracing this important but understudied body of work, Archiving an Epidemic catalogs a queer retelling of the Chicana and Chicano art movement, from its origins in the 1960s, to the AIDS crisis and the destruction it wrought in the 1980s, and onto the remnants and legacies of these artists in the current moment. Hernández offers a vocabulary for this multi-modal avant-garde—one that contests the hetero-masculinity and ocular surveillance visited upon it by the larger Chicanx community, as well as the formally straight conditions of traditional archive-building, museum institutions, and the art world writ large.
With a focus on works by Mundo Meza (1955–85), Teddy Sandoval (1949–1995), and Joey Terrill (1955– ), and with appearances by Laura Aguilar, David Hockney, Robert Mapplethorpe, and even Eddie Murphy, Archiving an Epidemic composes a complex picture of queer Chicanx avant-gardisms questioning not what Chicanx art is, but what it could have been. The event is co-sponsored by the Riverside Art Museum, the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art, Culture & Industry of the Riverside Art Museum, and AIDS Health Care Foundation’s Somos LOUD (Latino Outreach and Understanding Division).
No cost
Bring the family to enjoy a warm cup of chocolate mexicano and some arroz con leche while we celebrate our version of the Mexican Festival Las Posadas. Learn about the traditional festival and find a place at the table to make your own star piñata.
The Riverside Art Museum showcases the creative possibilities that happen when light and art collide during the annual Festival of Lights celebration. Join us for the Switch-On Event on Friday, November 23, at 5 p.m. as we light up alongside the Mission Inn Hotel and Spa. RAM’s facade will feature the colors of the season and our Luminaries Project debuts two new sculptures by Kristi Lippire, Cal Baptist University Assistant Professor, and CBU visual arts students.
New this year is an exhibition in the works that will feature contemporary art in keeping with the spirit of the Festival of Lights. Click here for more information on Lisa Schulte: Light Encounters.
We will also have extended hours every Thursday in December until 9 p.m. Regular admission prices apply except for Thursday, December 6, during Artswalk.
Join RAM for the 2nd annual “pARTy the night away” New Year’s Eve bash + fundraiser on Saturday, December 31, 2016, from 9 p.m. – 12:30 a.m., as we say goodbye to 2016 with:
- music provided by DJ Mental Physix,
- “casino play night”,
- food,
- drinks,
- art-making,
- an art-projection countdown,
- and more!
Each general admission guest receives two free drink tickets, one complimentary midnight champagne toast, a photo booth pic, and 2000 in “casino play money”.
Early-bird special: Purchase your general admission ticket BEFORE December 1 and receive an additional drink ticket and an extra 200 in “casino play money”!
General admission tickets: $85/person or $150/couple (RAM Members: $72/person or $127/couple)
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR
General admission 10-pack: $717 (No member discount)
21+/Dress to impress!
No email/paper tickets will be issued. Your PayPal receipt is your confirmation. No refunds will be issued. Thank you.
Your name will be added to our reservation list. Reservations will be held at the door. Thank you.
VIP TICKETS
VIP tickets include:
- VIP lounge with private food access,
- three free drink tickets,
- VIP bar access,
- one complimentary midnight champagne toast,
- a photo booth pic,
- and 4000 in “casino play money”.
Limited availability. No early-bird special or member discount.
VIP tickets: $120/person or $220/couple
21+/Dress to impress!
No email/paper tickets will be issued. Your PayPal receipt is your confirmation.
Your name will be added to our reservation list. Reservations will be held at the door. Thank you.
Marriott NYE Package
If you haven’t purchased your tickets yet and are looking to book a room at a local hotel for New Year’s Eve, consider the Marriott Riverside at the Convention Center!
One of their Room Packages is the NYE Package with the Riverside Art Museum pARTy, which includes:
- either a Guest Room or a Jacuzzi Suite;
- buffet breakfast for 2 adults;
- wireless Internet; and
- 2 tickets to RAM’s NYE pARTy the night away! fundraiser!
Click the Marriott link or call them at 951.784.8000 and ask for the NYE Package with the Riverside Art Museum pARTy to book your room and get tickets now!
Thank you to our generous sponsors:
Photos from last year’s event by Sinly Lim and Michael J. Elderman.
Join us this holiday season for an afternoon of cooking authentic Mexican cuisine from Michoacan with Maria Rico Contreras, star of Abuela’s Kitchen.
Silvia Salas-Sanchez began to record her grandmother cooking for YouTube in order to create a digital archive of her grandmother’s recipes and to document her culture and traditions for future generations.
Come and sit around the table with Abuela’s Kitchen and learn to make a delicious holiday treat.
Join us on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. on RAM’s Instagram (@riversideartmuseum) to watch and learn live as artist Juan Navarro (and occasional guest artists) create art and give tips!
First Sundays is a series of free programs featuring activities for all-ages at various downtown Riverside locations.
Every first Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Riverside Art Museum (Julia Morgan Building) and The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture are free and open to the public from 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. No tickets are necessary.
Presenting Sponsor – First Sundays (March, April, May) and Judithe Hernández | Beyond Myself, Somewhere, I Wait for My Arrival
In partnership with Riverside Arts Council. List of participating organizations, here.
If you are interested in sponsoring free First Sundays activities, please contact Valerie Found at [email protected]
Photo credit: Puma Photography