Museums & Galleries: Nationally Recognized Works and Local Artisans

Riverside is the City of Arts and Innovation. We take this title seriously, with both publicly supported institutions and projects and a thriving organic, grassroots scene. Three universities and a city college with professional photography, fine art, and design programs give us an expanding roster of artists who bring their own versions of beauty to the city. 

On the first Thursday of each month, Riverside hosts ArtsWalk. Along with an opportunity for local vendors to sell their arts and crafts, all of the downtown galleries and museums participate by opening their doors at no cost to the public and hosting workshops, performances, and other special events. 

ArtsWalk has become a must-attend event for many Riversiders, and it isn’t a bad reason to start your Riverside Weekend a day early.

Art Museums

The Riverside Art Museum and the Cheech are juggernauts of an art institution in a suburban city. The multi-building campus houses permanent and rotating collections from artists from all over the world. Take an afternoon stroll through the galleries. Take special notice of the architecture at the Riverside Art Museum; it was designed and built by Julia Morgan, one of America’s greatest architects. She is also responsible for Hearst Castle in San Simeon. The ground floor of the Cheech houses the collection of comedian Cheech Marin. He has been an avid collector of Chicano Art for decades, and we are lucky to have him share his collection with us. 

UC Riverside’s arts and photography museums, namely the California Museum of Photography (CMP) and the Sweeney Art Gallery, house a variety of visual art that reflects historical, cultural, and technological narratives. The CMP holds half a million objects, including photographic prints, negatives, books, and a huge collection of vintage cameras. The museum features iconic works such as Ansel Adams’s Fiat Lux series, which captures the University of California campuses in striking black-and-white photography. 

The Sweeney Art Gallery focuses on modern and contemporary art, emphasizing Southern California artists since the 1990s. Its collections feature notable works from printmaking legends like June Wayne and Robert Rauschenberg, alongside sculptures from influential artists such as Isamu Noguchi and Roland Reiss. The diverse holdings also include paintings, drawings, and mixed media by emerging and established artists like Joe Biel and the Date Farmers. Together, these institutions at UCR ARTS offer the public a chance to explore the intersections of photography, fine art, and social history.

The Brandstater Gallery on the La Sierra University campus does several exhibitions, mostly for students, alumni, and faculty, each year. The student output is generally excellent, and the guest exhibitors are thoughtfully curated and of high quality. If you can make it to one of the opening receptions, make sure you stay for the seminar. It’s amazing to hear from the curators and artists about the psychological and technical aspects of the creative process. Also, check out the large-scale murals around the gallery. 

More of a studio than a gallery, Juan Navarro and his crew at Eastside Arthouse are creating an amazing scene and producing some incredible work. Check their social media for open houses and events so you can go see what they are doing. Most of the residents are working artists and there’s a good chance you’ve seen some of their work around town. 

Riverside also has several excellent small galleries, all within a block and a half of each other. These galleries offer rotating local and regional exhibitions and are excellent starting points for people looking to affordably enter art collections. Division 9 is the home of Cosme Cordova. He hosts and curates a high-quality gallery and isn’t afraid of getting a little weird. The Riverside Community Art Gallery RCAA is a bit more traditional. Local members and guest artists show their best works on the walls here. You can often find local themes and imagery. The RCCA Gallery is an excellent place to pick up a gift or a souvenir. PainSugar may have a bit of an edge. Your grandma may not like it, but it might get your teenager into something new. If it does, you can visit Urge Palette, the art supply store connected to the gallery, for anything you’d need to start creating. 

History and Natural History

The World Museum of Natural History on the La Sierra University campus has very limited hours, so make sure you check their website before heading out there. This small but well-built collection contains mounted animal specimens and a huge mineral collection, including one of the largest collections of mineral spheres anywhere. 

Museum of Riverside and the Heritage House. Our main municipal museum is undergoing a big rebuild and expansion project, and we look forward to seeing their amazing collection in their new home very soon. The Museum of Riverside also owns and operates the Heritage House, which is open and maintains a pretty active tour and special event calendar. The Heritage House is a Victorian estate trapped in time. It serves as a reminder of Riverside’s past as the most wealthy city in America at the turn of the 20th century. 

The Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California sits on Mission Inn Avenue just west of Market. Riverside, with its past in agriculture and proximity to major urban centers, has played a unique role in the battle for civil rights. The Civil Rights Institute hosts temporary and permanent exhibits that aim to bring attention to the people who have fought the good fight in the Inland Empire, the progress we have made, and the goals yet attained in forming the perfect union promised to everyone in our constitution.

A part of the Riverside Community College District Renaissance Block, the RCCD Center for Social Justice and Civil Rights is Riverside’s second museum dedicated to civil rights. The ground-level gallery hosts rotating exhibits and recently featured items stored by the Riverside Museum during their reconstruction. The upper level holds the retrospective collection of Miné Okubo. A Japanese American Alumna of RCC, Miné became one of the most important documenters of the Japanese-American struggle with internment and injustice during WWII and the post-war era. Unable to own or use cameras during internment, Miné used drawing and painting to document the struggles of Japanese Americans in the camps. Her art and accompanying writings are a poignant reminder of a shameful era.

Field Trip

Retired UCR professor David Eastmond started Riverside Murals Blogspot to document the emerging city-wide mural project. His blog is a great way to see the local murals and learn about the artists. He even gives the addresses so you can plan a Riverside mural tour of your own.