The community art space has been working hard to keep its doors open since 2020. The COVID shutdown forced all the center’s classes to an online format-- not an easy feat when the art center’s classes are mostly bilingual and intergenerational.
Now, the City of Richmond is pulling back some of their funding. The city’s Arts and Culture Department wants to fund all local art organizations equitably. The art center, also known as RAC, used to receive the lion’s share of funding, but that’s no longer possible with the economic downturn.
KALW spoke to Jose Rivera, RAC’s executive director. He had this to say.
“The soul of the RAC is the people who come to RAC and make it what it is because otherwise without the people all you have is a bunch of walls with art hanging and a bunch of empty classrooms.”
Last January, the center lost about a fifth of its funding from the city and some major donors. But the community of staff, volunteers, and supporters came together to close the funding gap.
Rivera said the RAC had to switch to Zoom, and saw lower enrollment rates, meaning less revenue. But the center adapted by creating hybrid classes and even setting up a drive-thru kiln for the ceramics students. And he’s hopeful that the center will find the funding to stay open, and even grow.
