African Diaspora Art

A satellite exhibition of Art of the African Diaspora was the focus of a reception held Feb. 27 in the El Cerrito City Hall upstairs gallery. It was the first time these Bay Area artists have displayed their art in El Cerrito.

El Cerrito resident Patricia Durham worked with city staff to host the reception for the artists, who talked about their work.

TheArthur Wright

TheArthur Wright’s art was created using a bamboo skewer to apply bleach to black paper and then overlay it with tiny dots of paint, he said. He’s been using bleach to make art for 25 years. His two featured pieces were about music and the “rhythms of the universe,” he said. In Celestia, he distorted a G clef until it looks like an instrument that is being played by the hint of a person under a hat.

TheArthur Wright with Celestia.

Keana Dollar-Dickinson

Keana Dollar-Dickinson’s paintings of African American women and men are from her series “All I See is a Queen” and “All I See is a King.” She lovingly focuses on African American facial features, she said, and paints crowns over their eyes “so they can see themselves as queens and kings wherever they go.” The background shows "calm and chaos" - graffiti and flowers.

Keana Dollar-Dickinson with All I See is a Queen

Virginia Jourdan

Virginia Jourdan displayed four prints of her original paintings which she had reproduced on aluminum, then hand-embellished with tiny dots of 3D paint. She adds a heart or sunflower or dove to represent love, joy, and happiness.

Jourdan’s The Tree of Life centers on a Black man’s figure standing tall behind a tree that symbolizes Africa being the mother of civilization, she said. In Jourdan’s Ghetto Bird, a police helicopter flies over children playing. The heart shows the love they share. Not shown here are Marching for Freedom, inspired by the 1965 civil rights march to Selma and Teach Them to Fish, inspired by an African proverb.

Virginia Jourdan with The Tree of Life and Ghetto Bird.

Kin Folkz

Kin Folkz of the Queer Healing Arts Center said her picture, Liberty Reclaimed, honors activist Marsha P. Johnson with a reconfigured statue which has a crown that is jagged and broken.

A Way to Reflect and Celebrate

Council member Lisa Motoyama, who attended the event, later thanked Patricia Durham for her work in bringing the artists and hosting the reception.

"It was a great way to honor local artists, reflect on African American perspectives and gather in celebration at City Hall," Motoyama said.

Closing Reception at Richmond Art Center

For those who want to see more, the main Art of the African Diaspora exhibition is at the Richmond Art Center until Saturday, March 22. A closing reception is planned for 2 to 4 p.m. that day.

This story was updated on March 1, 2025.