Collection: NIAD Main Gallery Exhibition // "We Make Art in Richmond"

About the exhibition

All of the artists in the exhibition, We Make Art in Richmond, really do exactly that. There are twenty artists here who work in a wide range of disciplines, from bookmaking, textiles, ceramics, printmaking, poetry, and painting.

Half of the artists work out of NIAD’s 23rd Street Studio and the other half work out of their homes or studios scattered throughout Richmond. There are artists who have put in decades making art and some that are just getting started.

In putting together this show, I wanted to shine a light on artists working in Richmond. I wanted this show to feel inspiring and exciting for future and present artists in our community. There are twenty artists in this show, but there could easily have been four times as many artists who are excelling at their craft, sharing their work globally, giving back to their communities, and making it happen here in Richmond.

551 23rd Street, Richmond

Participating Artists

Andrés Cisneros-Galindo, Woody De Othello, Rebeca Garcia-Gonzalez, Anthony Grant, Laura Kamian McDermott, e bond, Lisa Rappoport, Kristin Farr, Jacqueline Sarah Brown, Karla Alfaro, Shawn Sanders, Saul Alegria, Julio Del Rio, Christian Vassell, Shana Harper, Karen May, Shantae Robinson, Maria Radilla, Deatra Colbert, Halisi Noel-Johnson

About the organizer

Erin McCluskey Wheeler is a lifelong Richmond resident. She is a visual artist, writer, curator, educator and a studio facilitator at NIAD Art Center. She is one of the founders of the Visual Artists of Richmond (VAR), an artist advocacy group, and continues to serve on the Leadership Team. Erin’s work will be included in the upcoming 2024 Right Here Right Now, Biennial exhibition at the Richmond Art Center.

Erin has been an Artist in Residence with the City of El Cerrito, the City of Walnut Creek, and was awarded a Gallery-as-Studio Residency and solo exhibition at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. This spring, she will be part of the inaugural group of Bay Area Artists in Residence at Nick's Cove in Tomales Bay. Erin has a BA in studio art and art history from Beloit College, and an MFA from California College of the Arts in writing.