The city of Riverside, in partnership with the Riverside Arts Council, launched the Artists in Residency program (AIR) to spark creativity and strengthen community connections. Six artists were chosen by the arts council for the AIR program to help enrich the city with murals that reflect the district spirit of each neighborhood. This program is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) so that each artist can have the proper tools and equipment to create murals and host events for the community.
The six selected artist are:
Pavel Acevedo - Wards 1 and 2
Richie Velazquez (Deladeso) - Ward 3
Patrick Barwinski- Ward 4
Maryam Trebeau Crogman - Ward 5
Ronald Del Cid - Ward 6
Alejandro Mirande (Mano) - Ward 7
Richie Velazquez (Dela Deso), who is covering Ward 3, was shocked when he got an email saying that he had been selected as one of the six artists for the program.
“I was just sitting there and I got an email like months later, and I was like I got it,and I was like, what? That's crazy, cause I've never, like, I'm not used to like winning anything or like anything like that. It doesn't really happen. It was a happy moment for me.”
Velazquez was born and raised in San Bernardino, but has lived in Riverside for the last 12 years. He is responsible for pioneering the surreal, drippy, and jarring digital art style called Grime art. Being selected as one of the six artists in Riverside’s AIR program means something to Velazquez.
“I live here, so it's like, that's cool. They noticed what I'm doing, and I got selected because there was a lot of applicants. Then I saw the list of people and I'm like ‘ Oh, cool, like I know him. I was very proud for them too”
Each artist is responsible for holding at least 4 activity filled events for the community, and creating mural that will be a permanent piece that represents the community.
Velazquez expressed some of the difficulty of being part of the program.
“Now the responsibility is figuring out that community, that ward, which is ward three, which is Midtown. They're trying to revamp that whole thing too. Meeting with the councilmen. I got Steven Robillard and I met with him, and so we're kind of just introductions at this point and just figuring out what the next steps are in other council meetings. And so it is like, I'm starting to do the art thing where I'm getting overwhelmed and I'm like ‘Oh man, this is going to be hard, but it's not, it's just getting it all out there and just concentrating and just chilling and listening to the community, like filling out surveys.’ It's cause it's going to be a collaborative thing with the community. I'm assuming it's not just going to be fully me, but I'd like to find a happy medium to make everybody happy for sure.”
The artist has until December 2026 to fulfill the requirements, which includes completing the murals and hosting community events, to help enrich Riverside with art that represents each community within the seven wards.
With all these artists creating murals for the city, Velazquez hopes this program will also create more opportunities for the other local artists in Riverside.
“Hopefully it inspires other businesses to get involved and hire other artists to beautify that area as well, you know.”
Keep your eyes open as you drive through the city, maybe you’ll catch Richie or some of the other artists in the program working hard to beautify the city.