Arts Corner
Arts Corner – Riverside Artswalk – Artist Spotlight – Cynthia Huerta
Contributed by Rachael Dzikonski, Executive Director, Riverside Arts Council
Fall has finally arrived in sunny Riverside, right in the midst of the holiday season. The city has been bustling with festivals and the Festival of Lights is just around the corner. This has been a busy time for artists who are participating in an array of events and stocking up on new artworks for holiday shoppers. We start November off with the annual Day of the Dead event hosted by Division 9 Gallery, and this year marks the first 2 day extravaganza after over 2 decades of celebrating the holiday with our community in Riverside. We then have Riverside Artswalk on November 7th with new exhibitions to peruse at the participating galleries and museums and over 100 artists showcasing their artwork on Main Street. November’s Artist Spotlight, Cynthia Huerta, will be busy with both events as she has been volunteering her time and expertise for the Day of the Dead events for 10 years, and will be unveiling her solo show at Division 9 Gallery during Riverside Artswalk.
Cynthia Huerta is a Mexican-American, first generation, Multidisciplinary Community Artist, Art Curator and Arts Advocate that has been exhibiting, collaborating, and serving the many Inland Empire communities for over 19 years. She was born in Los Angeles and moved to Riverside at 10 years old. Cynthia is proud of claiming the IE as her home. She is formally trained with a BA in Visual Studies with an emphasis on Art Education/Art Therapy from California State University San Bernardino.
In July of 2019, she was presented with the Arts and Innovation Honoree Award from the City of Riverside for her many years of Community Arts Advocacy. She has taught Art workshops for Cal State San Bernardino, UCR Undocumented Student Programs and Raza Assembly, Teaching Residents at Teachers College through Columbia University, Google Austin & San Francisco, Latinas at Google, Success in Motion, California Latinas for Reproductive Rights, Foodcorps, RCC Puente, Alvord Unified School District, Riverside Unified School District Hearts program and nonprofits throughout the Inland Empire.
Cynthia is inspired by her culture. Knowing the history of her Mexican indigenous ancestors has always been a huge source of pride and feels blessed to still have roots in her indigenous land in Tuxpan, Jalisco. Nature also inspires Cynthia and using this imagery has a way of helping her process her feelings and ground herself. She creates every day and is a full time artist whether creating an art curriculum for upcoming art workshops/events at RCC, UCR, or other organizations in the IE, or simply creating artwork for herself, to process life and to connect with others. In March of 2023, she started the Love With Joy Art Club with her sister Heaven Huerta, an affordable, intuitive and expressive art club in the Inland Empire that creates a safe space that is open to all. Cynthia was honored shortly thereafter to be selected as a grant recipient for the California Arts Council’s Creative Corps Program through the collaborative Creative Corps Inland SoCal to further her pursuit of using art as a vessel to heal and support communities in their needs.
For more information about Cynthia Huerta and her artwork, visit @lovewithjoyart or @lovewithjoyartclub on IG or lovewithjoyart.com. For more information on Riverside Artswalk visit www.riversideartswalk.com or @riversideartswalk on IG
