Riverside Art Museum

MONOTHON 14 Workshop and exhibition

Workshop: July 18 - July 21, 2008
Exhibit: July 26 - August 16, 2008 - Members Gallery
Auction & Reception: Friday, August 1, 2008 6-9pm

The Monothon returns and it’s better than ever! To be held July 18 through July 21, 2008 the Monothon supports the creative endeavors of professional artists, emerging artists, students, and artists-for-a-day, while it provides an opportunity for art lovers and collectors from throughout Southern California to view and purchase fine original prints. Assisted by a staff of professionals, Ron Pokrasso, mixed-media artist, printmaker, and originator of the Monothon, will again conduct the five hour workshops. His printmaking and teaching expertise along with his warm and welcoming character insures that all participants will enjoy this unique printmaking experience.

At the conclusion of Monothon 14, one monotype will be selected from each artist and chosen for exhibition in the Members Gallery beginning July 26 through August 16, 2008. An opening reception and silent auction planned for Friday, August 1 will allow viewers to purchase the prints. The preview reception for sponsors and donors is from 6 pm until 7 pm. The silent auction for members and guests begins at 7pm. All proceeds help fund future workshops, exhibits and education programs.

This year, Micah Carlson, Marketing Coordinator collaborated with artist duo Jeff Soto & Jeff Ribaudo to design this year’s Monothon 14 branding using the museum’s presses to create a monotype. The design will be used on all promotional material as well as on limited edition t-shirt printed for Monothon 14. The Monothon is a major event that relies on the assistance of members of the art community; if you’d like to volunteer for Monothon this year, contact Lee Tusman at LTusman@riversideartmuseum.org.

RAM BUS TOUR!

Saturday April 26
Meet at RAM: 8:30AM
Return by dinnertime, 6PM

Join RAM staff and curators for an intimate tour of VISIONARY ART: The Watts Towers and Mor York Gallery in Los Angeles.

The Watts Towers, built by Simon Rodia, are a monument to one individual's unique vision. The Towers, standing 99 feet high at their tallest, are a landmark in the Watts area of Los Angeles. They are one of only nine works of folk art listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The site is one of only four US National Historic Landmarks in the city of Los Angeles. The site is now a unit of California State Parks and managed by the Los Angeles City Cultural Affairs Department.

The Watts Towers are a complex set of 17 separate sculptural pieces built on a residential lot in the community of Watts. Two of the towers rise to a height of nearly 100 feet. The sculptures are constructed from steel pipes and rods, wrapped with wire mesh, coated with mortar, and embedded with pieces of porcelain, tile and glass. Using simple hand tools and cast off materials (broken glass, sea shells, generic pottery and ceramic tile) Italian immigrant, Simon Rodia spent 30 years (1921 to 1955) building a tribute to his adopted country and a monument to the spirit of individuals who make their dreams tangible. After our docent tour of Watts Towers, we head over to Mor York Gallery, a giant art warehouse and fine art gallery run by Director Clare Graham. We will take a tour of the gallery and meet the artists exhibiting their work. The gallery specializes in fine art as well as art made from discarded materials. The enormous gallery is a unique artist-designed environment chock full of enormous and visually-breathtaking sculptures painstakingly handmade.

Tour meets at Riverside Art Museum at 8:30AM. We will return to Riverside by 6PM.
Cost: $50 (Includes admission to museum and galleries and snacks. We will take a break for lunch in a restaurant neighborhood.)

To sign up, please call the museum: 951-684-7111

Earwax Concert and Live Art Concert at Riverside Art Museum

Friday, April 18, 2008 @ 7pm with Tommy Hollenstein, Portland
Bike Ensemble, Amps for Christ

Riverside, CA: The Riverside Art Museum announces the next performance of Earwax, an interdisciplinary concert series, on April 18, 2008. The concert features a performance by legendary Claremont band Amps For Christ, the Portland Bike Ensemble, and artist Tommy Hollenstein, along with DJ ALASKA. The EARWAX series presents programs integrating an aural and visual art experience.

"This is going to be a sweet concert, sonically and visually," said Lee Tusman, Adult Education Curator of the Riverside Art Museum. "We are presenting artists and performers with a monumental raw vision who do something totally their own." The program for Friday, April 18 will feature a performance by Amps for Christ playing traditional acoustic instruments on altered amplifiers in an experimental folk performance. In a Riverside first, the Portland Bike Ensemble will be performing improvised avant-garde music on wired-up bicycles using bows and drumsticks. Their performance will feature a handful of real bicycles, music pedals and live projections. Riverside Undierocker DJ ALASKA will be spinning fresh tracks between sets. During the concert, artist Tommy Hollenstein will be creating huge abstract expressionist canvases with his wheelchair. A paraplegic, Tommy has designed a system of painting using his wheelchair as a brush and spinning around on the canvas to create gigantic paintings filled with movement.

Amps for Christ is a project of Henry Barnes, a longtime member of the experimental music scene. Playing for years in noise band Man is the Bastard, Barnes started Amps For Christ with the idea to combine death metal with his love for traditional folk music, classical composition, jazz and the influence of his grandmother, a church organist. The January EARWAX concert featured Bassist Mike Watt and Artist Raymond Pettibon performing for a SOLD OUT concert. Earwax concerts take place on the RAM rooftop. Admission is $10. Tickets can be purchased at the door on the night of the concert. Doors open at 7PM.

Riverside Arts Walk

First Thursdays of Every Month, 6PM - 9PM

The Riverside Arts Walk occurs on the First Thursday every month, rain or shine, with over 15 participating locations. See you there!

For the October Arts Walk reception of the Los Angeles Printmaking Society 19th National Exhibition, museum patrons are able to try their hand at a variety of printmaking techniques including rubber stamps, relief printing, and even potato stamp prints! Future Arts Walk events will include more workshops, dances, live music and more.