The Museum of Riverside Celebrates 100 Years with a Special Exhibition -- Dear Riverside, a letter to our first love
Published: 7/16/2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 16, 2024
Contact:
Robyn G. Peterson
Museum Director
(951) 826-5792
The Museum of Riverside Celebrates 100 Years with a Special Exhibition Dear Riverside, a letter to our first love
Riverside, CA – The Museum of Riverside announces the opening of its centennial exhibition, Dear Riverside, a letter to our first love. This landmark exhibition, 100 years in the making, will be on view from July 25 to January 5, 2025, at the Center for Social Justice & Civil Liberties (CSJ&CL). The opening reception from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. July 25 is open to the public.
The event will feature a blessing by Michael Madrigal and bird singing by CAHUILLA BIRD inside the CSJ&CL gallery, with remarks by Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson, City Manager Mike Futrell and other community leaders at 6 p.m. at the adjacent Riverside College Culinary Arts Academy Restaurant.
The Museum of Riverside was established on December 12, 1924 with a generous donation from local resident Mary Elizabeth Rumsey in memory of her late husband Cornelius Earle Rumsey. Through this initial collection, the Museum was founded as an expression of high regard for Riverside and its people, and belief in its cultural and historical significance.
Over the past century, the Museum has grown and evolved, steadfastly serving the community through exhibitions and programs, as well as the care of its diverse collections and historic sites.
“While we continue to await the exciting future that will come when the main Museum reopens, we are pleased to offer a thoughtful exhibition that celebrates not only the Museum of Riverside’s first century but eagerly looks forward to the next century,” Museum Director Robyn G. Peterson said.
Dear Riverside distills the richness in the Museum’s collection while embracing a future of inclusivity and transparency in professional practices. It offers a mix of memories, self-reflection, and hope. The exhibition will feature items dating to the Museum’s founding alongside the newest additions, which were commissioned specifically for this exhibition.
Visitors will find significant pieces from history to nature, textiles to botanical specimens, paintings to documents -- all collected over the last century from you, our community. The “love letter” that this exhibition embodies will examine honestly the ups and downs of a century of changing museum practices, and in return simply ask, “How can the Museum do better?”
The exhibition is supported by the City of Riverside, Dwight Tate and Kathy Wright, and the Riverside Museum Associates.
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ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF RIVERSIDE The Museum of Riverside, a department of the City of Riverside, holds a large multi-disciplinary collection relevant to the history, culture, and natural science of the region. The Museum has a proud history of exhibitions, programs, and publications foregrounding local and regional achievement. Sites include the downtown Riverside main museum, Heritage House, Harada House, and the Harada House Interpretive Center (forthcoming). All sites except Heritage House are temporarily closed for renovation or rehabilitation. Heritage House is open Friday-Sunday for guided tours; pre-registration for tours is required via Eventbrite.
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ABOUT THE CENTER FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE & CIVIL LIBERTIES at RIVERSIDE COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT The Center was born out of the bequest of Miné Okubo (1912-2001), a Japanese American woman artist and Riverside City College alumna who documented the lives of mid-20th-century Japanese Americans in the U.S. Her artwork, outspoken commentary, and publication of Citizen 13660 brought her to the attention of many. The Center continues to host exhibitions and programs on social justice-related themes. Visit www.socialjustice.rccd.edu for current programs and hours.
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