Bio
Rebeca Garcia-Gonzalez is an award-winning visual artist and long-term resident of Richmond, CA.
Her interest in the visual arts began early, at a magnet school for the arts and the Art Students League of San Juan. She earned a BFA at the University of Puerto Rico, where she studied printmaking and painted murals. Rebeca came to the Bay Area to pursue a graduate degree in fine art at the San Francisco Art Institute, but instead studied graphic design at the Academy of Art. After a ten-year hiatus, she returned to art as a full-time working artist.
While Rebeca’s painting is best-known through her public art and her portraits of undocumented immigrants, her landscapes of the East Bay have earned awards and are part of many private collections. She shows her work locally.
Her 2018 solo show featured portraits of post-Maria Puerto Ricans, completed during a six-week trip to the island and financed via a Kickstarter campaign. She is currently working on a portrait series of Richmond activists.
Rebeca’s murals can be found all around Richmond, where she has painted with local youth in collaboration with several non-profits. Some have social justice themes, others respond to the needs of the community. She has been commissioned by the Friends of the Richmond Greenway, the Richmond Police Activities League, the Watershed Project, and the East Bay Community Foundation. We Found Joy in Art-Making can be seen at the Richmond Art Center’s 25th St entrance. This mural was commissioned by Blue Shield for the Richmond Art Center.
More recently and together with four other artist-volunteers, Rebeca founded Visual Artists of Richmond, an artist-advocacy organization. VAR is a fiscally-sponsored project of Intersection for the arts.
Resume
EDUCATION
University of San Francisco M. A., Ed. D. San Francisco, CA 1993-99
Academy of Art University Graphic Design coursework. San Francisco, CA 1986-88
University of Puerto Rico B. F. A. Printmaking. Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico 1980-84
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
Community Project Recipient. Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA July 6 2020.
People’s Choice. Plein Air Event. Maple Hall Gallery, San Pablo, CA Aug 25 2018.
Best in Show, The Art of Point Molate. Bridgemaker Arts Gallery, Richmond, CA Jun 20 2013.
Show Standout. East Bay Express Critic’s Choice, Oakland, CA May 27 2009.
First Place, Oil Category, Bold Expressions. Sacramento Fine Arts Center, Sacramento, CA Oct 22 2004
ART TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Cal Create Program Visual Arts Mentor. UC Berkeley 2017-2020
Studio and Art in the Community Teaching Artist Programs. Richmond Art Center 2010-2020
Visual Arts Instructor/Facilitator DeYoung Museum Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay Summer Program June 21-25, 2010
INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS
Richmond Art Center, Feels Like Home: Work by Rebeca Garcia-Gonzalez. Richmond CA. Jan 22- Mar 15 2022.
EBMUD Gallery, Island and Diaspora Resistance. Oakland, CA. Sept 12-Oct 16 2019.
Sánchez Contemporary, Portraits of Puerto Rican Resilience. Oakland, CA. Jul 5-Aug 30 2019.
Kensington Library, East Bay Landscapes. Kensington, CA. Aug 6-30 2018.
Berkeley Yacht Club, The Bay. Berkeley, CA. Feb 3 - March 30 2017.
ArtVale Gallery, East Bay Landscapes. Oakland, CA. Feb 1 - March 15 2017.
Compass Point Gallery, Undocumented: Latino Immigrant Portraits. San Francisco, CA. Aug 23-Oct 17 2008
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
NIAD Art Center. We Make Art in Richmond. Apr 5 - May 24, 2024.
Richmond Art Center. Point Molate. Jan 24 - Mar 16, 2024.
De Young Museum. De Young Open 2023. Sept 30 - Jan 7, 2024.
Berkeley Yacht Club. 15th Anniversary Show. Dec 18 - Feb 17, 2023.
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Art. Solo Mujeres, Mar 24 - May 6, 2022.
Berkeley Yacht Club, 12 Plein Air Painters. Berkeley, CA. Feb 20 - March 31, 2022.
Bridge Art Space Gallery. Bridge the Ballot. Richmond, CA. Sept 14 – Sept 25, 2020.
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Art. Mujeres Con Faldas De Serpientes y Talones de Águila. Richmond, CA. Mar 14 – Apr 15, 2020.
Richmond Art Center. Right Here Right Now: Richmond. Richmond, CA. Dec 17 – Mar 6, 2020.
Richmond Art Center. Califas: Art of the US Borderlands. Richmond, CA. Sept 6 - Oct 26, 2018.
Maple Hall Gallery. Plein Air Event. San Pablo, CA. Aug 25, 2018.
Richmond Art Center. Annual Faculty Show. Richmond, CA. Jul 2009-16.
Echoes Under Sunset Gallery. Mujeres con Faldas de Serpientes. Los Angeles, CA. Jun 2014.
Berkeley Art Center. Known Associates. Berkeley, CA. Jun 2014.
Mission Cultural Center. Solo Mujeres: Home Inside Out. San Francisco, CA. Mar 12 - Apr 18, 2014.
Firehouse Gallery North. Berkeley Seen. Berkeley, CA. Sept 20 - Oct 3, 2013.
Bridgemaker Gallery. The Art of Point Molate. Richmond, CA. Jun 20-July 12, 2013.
Firehouse Gallery North. New Places: Four Painters California. Berkeley, CA Jan 9-31 2011.
Maple Hall Gallery. Immigrant Neighborhoods. San Pablo, CA. Feb 26 - April 3, 2011.
PUBLIC ART.................................................................................................................................
Blue Cross and Richmond Art Center. We Found Joy In Art-Making, Richmond CA Jan 2022.
Richmond PAL. Family Portrait, Richmond CA July 2021.
East Bay Community Foundation. Essential Workers of The Pullman Neighborhood, Richmond, CA Oct 2020.
Richmond PAL. BLM BBQ, Richmond, CA Aug 2020.
Richmond PAL. After Mentoring, Richmond, CA Sept 2019.
The Watershed Project. Rain Gardens to Watersheds, Richmond, CA Oct 2018
Richmond Friends of Recreation. Richmond Dances and Grows, Richmond, CA Nov 2017.
Groundwork Richmond. Communities of Richmond, Richmond, CA Oct 2016.