Press Releases

The Museum of Riverside Celebrates 100 Years with a Special Exhibition: Dear Riverside, a letter to our first love

The Museum of Riverside announces the opening of its centennial exhibition, Dear Riverside, a letter to our first love. This landmark exhibition, 100 years in the making, is on view from July 25 to January 5, 2025, at the Center for Social Justice & Civil Liberties (CSJ&CL).

The Museum of Riverside was established on December 12, 1924 with a generous donation from local resident Mary Elizabeth Rumsey in memory of her late husband Cornelius Earle Rumsey. Through this initial collection, the Museum was founded as an expression of high regard for Riverside and its people, and belief in its cultural and historical significance.

Over the past century, the Museum has grown and evolved, steadfastly serving the community through exhibitions and programs, as well as the care of its diverse collections and historic sites.

“While we continue to await the exciting future that will come when the main Museum reopens, we are pleased to offer a thoughtful exhibition that celebrates not only the Museum of Riverside’s first century but eagerly looks forward to the next century,” Museum Director Robyn G. Peterson said.

Dear Riverside distills the richness in the Museum’s collection while embracing a future of inclusivity and transparency in professional practices. It offers a mix of memories, self-reflection, and hope. The exhibition will feature items dating to the Museum’s founding alongside the newest additions, which were commissioned specifically for this exhibition.

Visitors will find significant pieces from history to nature, textiles to botanical specimens, paintings to documents — all collected over the last century from you, our community. The “love letter” that this exhibition embodies will examine honestly the ups and downs of a century of changing museum practices, and in return simply ask, “How can the Museum do better?”

The exhibition is supported by the City of Riverside, Dwight Tate and Kathy Wright, and the Riverside Museum Associates.

 

 

 

RDP releases Downtown Economic Impact Study.

Why an Economic Impact Study?

RDP believes that downtowns are not only ‘gathering’ centers but also economic and cultural centers, and that investment in downtown is necessary for continued growth and prosperity.

RDP commissioned the study to provide data on the financial contributions of the downtown economy to the city as a whole to provide the rationale for investment in Riverside’s downtown.

While RDP was the lead, funders included Raincross Hospitality Corporation, the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce Downtown Business Council, Overland Development, and the Raincross Group. The Riverside County Office of Economic Development provided the data for this study.

Key Findings:

Downtown Riverside employs more than 13,000 public-sector workers, roughly 34% of total government employment in Riverside.

Downtown Riverside is home to more than 11,000 private-sector jobs, which accounts for roughly 7.5% of total employment in the City of Riverside. Together, Education (private), Health Care, and Leisure / Hospitality account for nearly 60% of private employment in downtown.

After the pandemic, Downtown Riverside has added jobs at a faster rate (25.3%) compared to the state (23.6%) and national (16.4%) economies, yet a slower rate than the rest of the city (42.2% driven by warehousing and logistics).

Downtown Riverside is home to a greater number of higher-paying private-sector jobs than the rest of the city with the average downtown worker earning a wage nearly 30% higher than the citywide average. Since 2020, inflation-adjusted earnings in Downtown Riverside have grown 5.5% compared to 1.3% citywide and 1.8% across California.

Downtown Riverside is home to a disproportionately high share of the city’s highest-paying jobs, such as Professional, Scientific, and Management Services, as well as Information. Each job created in Downtown Riverside has a bigger impact on the city’s economy than jobs created elsewhere in the city because of the greater spending power.

Call to Action

There is a growing nationwide movement to revitalize city downtowns driven by factors such as the increasing importance of walkability and sustainability, the desire to create more vibrant and attractive urban spaces, and the need to attract young professionals.

Downtown Riverside can continue to become a vibrant and economically prosperous area that is attractive to people and businesses. Investment in public transportation, construction that favors mixed-use development, tax breaks, and other incentives for new and existing businesses — as well as support for arts and cultural institutions — can help revitalize Downtown Riverside into a place where people want to live, work, and visit.

Impact of Arts and Culture

In the City of Riverside, Arts and Culture generated $26.2 million in economic activity during 2022 — $12.2 million in spending by arts and culture organizations and an additional $14.0 million in event-related expenditures by their audiences.

Nonprofit arts and culture organizations supported 291 jobs and generated $2.8 million in local, state, and federal government revenue.

Attendees spend $40.85 per person per event, beyond the cost of admission. 25.9% of attendees are nonlocal visitors who traveled from outside Riverside County and spend an average of $46.50, and 72.5% of nonlocal attendees reported that the primary purpose of their visit was specifically to attend the performance, event, exhibit, venue, or facility where they were surveyed.

Areas of Future Growth

In Riverside, Education, Health Care, Construction, and Logistics have accounted for nearly 63% of net jobs added in the last decade, while Education, Health Care, and Leisure / Hospitality have accounted for nearly 86% of net jobs added in Downtown Riverside. Education and Health Care alone accounted for half of the jobs added in Downtown Riverside.

Beyond its importance to total citywide job growth, Downtown Riverside has been a contributor to the employment growth of several industries within the city. Notably, downtown has accounted for nearly 20% of the city’s employment growth in Leisure and Hospitality in the last decade (2Q 2012 – 2Q 2022).

Next Steps

RDP with others will meet with senior City and County officials to discuss the report.  Based on those meetings, additional work may be undertaken with Beacon Economics to refine the data.

Downtown Economic Impact Study – Final February 2024

Update to Downtown Economic Study Feb 2024