Business Spotlight: Riverside Art Museum


December 4, 2013 8:37 pm Published by

Business Spotlight December 2013: Riverside Art Museum

The mission of the Riverside Art Museum is to integrate art into the lives of people in a way that engages, inspires and build the community by providing high-quality exhibits and art education programs that instill a lifelong love of the arts. The building was designed by California’s first female architect, Julia Morgan. She designed a number of well-known California buildings including Hearst Castle located in San Simeon.  Built in 1929 on the corner of Mission Inn Ave and Lime St, the site originally housed the YMCA until 1967 when the building became for sale. At the time, the space occupied an indoor swimming pool, a large gymnasium, a stage, and an open atrium garden on the ground floor.

The Riverside Art Association was formed in the early 1950’s by a group of artists to promote the arts appreciation. A decade later, the Riverside Art Association purchased the YWCA space and developed in into the Riverside Art Museum. At the time, the Riverside Art Museum housed classrooms, exhibit spaces, a permanent collection vault, museum store, and a glass ceiling-enclosed atrium.

Over the years, the Riverside Art Museum has a number of exhibits that showcase traditional and modern art. The Riverside Art Museum regularly showcases the works of well-known artists from around the world such as Robert Williams, Kathe Kollwitz, and Millard Sheets. The Riverside Art Museum also highlights the works of local talent including high school students. Doug McCulloh, artist/photographer who contributed to their current “52” exhibit, states, “art is most present not in clean finished pieces, but in the messy debris spun off by the journey of art. Stated another way, the richest art is not an object at all, but an artist living and discovering and creating. Frames embalm. Chaos lives. Getting a chance to meet the artists behind the artwork we put up on our walls is a unique opportunity for the public to really see.”

The Riverside Art Museum will continue to partner with organizations, cultural groups, advocacy groups, and the City to provide outlets where individuals can express their interest in art.The Riverside Art Museum also hosts a number of annual events such as The Press-Enterprise Riverside County High School Art Show, a local tradition that show cases original art pieces in photography, ceramics, sculpture, mixed media, drawing, and painting as well as Off The Wall which is a fundraising event where patrons can purchase pieces of art that are framed and ready to take ‘off the wall.’

Executive Director Drew Oberjuerge says, “in today’s quickly changing world, museums across the nation are re-evaluating how to best engage their communities. RAM’s Board of Trustees and stakeholders believe that RAM can best serve Riverside, the state’s second fastest growing county, by interactively showcasing high quality art, design, and architecture. Through hands-on art making activities, incorporating technology (like cell-phone audio guides for exhibitions), and participatory elements of exhibitions, RAM is working towards creating a new generation of museum champions who are reflective of our region’s diversity. In addition, with 1 in 8 jobs in Southern California now tied to the creative industries, we see the importance of a vibrant art education program that prepares youth participants with the technical, creative, and critical thinking skills needed to excel in today’s market.”

Oberjuerge further states, “An important goal in implementing these activities is to help develop a sense of place in our city, as residents create and connect with others in their own neighborhoods. This type of activity was recently identified as a desired strategy during a Seizing Our Destiny Champions Council meeting. Toward these ends, RAM will be collaborating with the City of Riverside’s Community Development Department in their blueprint to create unique neighborhood strategies within a non-traditional planning framework that uses creative, interactive activities. Our twenty-plus scheduled exhibitions during the next year will move us forward towards our vision of interactively showcasing high quality art, design, and architecture, as we strive to continually improve the quality of our exhibitions and to bring more acclaimed ones to the city.”

For more information about the Riverside Art Museum and their programs and events, please visit

www.riversideartmuseum.org or www.facebook.com/riversideartmuseum.com

 

Riverside Art Museum
3425 Mission Inn Ave.
Riverside CA 92501
Phone 951 684-7111
Fax 951 684-7332

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