Riverside Community Arts Association
Starting out in 1989, the Community Arts Association of Riverside which is also called RCAA happens to be a non-profit organization which is located within Downtown Riverside and is quite involved in most art activities within the Inland Empire. It has grown from just a handful of artists to being more than 180 volunteers and artists during 2012.
The association has defined art as what an artist makes and intended to be art as well as recognizes the beneficial values of the local art and artists to the local community. They also believe that all objects of art can provoke feelings, create aesthetic skills, entertain, make a person think, helps people heal and can express feelings such as joy, hope, sadness and visions.
They also recognize that the membership in this organization is made up of those who all have a variety of organizational and artistic skills as well as those who seek to be involved within the community as a whole. There is a board of directors that oversee all of the operations, which is made up completely of local artists.
It has two main goals. The first being dedicated to showcasing, promoting, and exposing art of the members to the public on a very regular basis using sales and exhibits, and the providing opportunities for local artists to network with each other.
They help to organize events like art demonstrations, collaborative art projects, performances, and art exhibits at venues like county agencies, city agencies, and libraries as well as at art groups, local area schools, and PTA organizations. They also take time and stage fund raising events that help to enrich the local art organizations to help promote the positive power of art within the Inland Empire.
The funding comes from the exhibit fees, corporate sponsorships, business sponsorships, workshop fees, class fees, private donations, public donations, and association artist fees. All of the donations that are received by the Riverside Community Arts Association will be tax deductible.
You can visit this attration during open hours on Tuesday through Saturday from 11 am to 3 pm or you can schedule an appointment at a time that will work for you. It is located at 3860 Lemon Street within Riverside.
This is a huge part of the cultural fabric within the community and they have joined with other cultural institutions to make the downtown area of Riverside a great center for all art forms. There are special programs that feature workshops, demonstrations, and artist lectures that are offered to members as well as the public. A huge aspect of the organization is the role that acts as a base of operations for the community programming within libraries, local area schools and other centers.
The organization also partnered with the Universalist Unitarian Church and made over 100 hand decorated cloth bags that will filled with art supplies and they were donated by the general public and local artists and sent to children who were affected by Hurricane Katrina.