Dear Friends,
As I finally sit down to write my first newsletter of the year, I reflect on why I haven’t written sooner. My intention is to compose our foundation newsletter when I have accomplished a substantial number of projects to be proud of in which to share with you. The challenge this year is that I divide time between my philanthropic endeavors and the activities of exhibiting my father’s artwork. In the last 12 months, I have assisted our galleries with exhibitions in Paris (3 exhibitions), Hamburg, Cologne, Zurich, New York, Sacramento, and Oakland. I was also thrilled to approve the reproduction of my mom’s photographs in two impressive raisonnés, that of Jay DeFeo and Roy Lichtenstein. It is so important that I continue to share the collection of their work for others to enjoy. I believe they would be delighted if they were still here.
My dedication to the foundation this year has also been rewarding and very successful in finding respectful ways to honor my parents and benefit others. In my process of continuing to carefully sort through their belongings, I am finding so many recipients who welcome their treasures. We have made a few truckloads of donations to the Oakland Museum; a substantial gift of various artists’ works to the Crocker Art Museum and a few lithographs to The Crayon Initiative’s fundraising efforts to deliver new art supplies to children in hospitals throughout the United States.
We have donated art books to libraries, vintage clothing to young students studying fashion, photography equipment to UC Berkeley’s Photography department and financial donations to a handful of organizations. I have shared their home and studio in Oakland and the studio in Spain. The doors are always open for students and artists to work in the spaces and hopefully find a little inspiration. However, it is the simple gifts that I think would make my mom and dad the proudest.
I had the pleasure of meeting a brilliant student at Cal State East Bay when they were selected as one of the recipients of the Mel & Leta Ramos Annual Award at the end-of-year ceremony. We have since developed a lovely friendship, and they shared with me the challenges that the University has due to budgetary shortfalls which in turn has affected their ability to learn and practice art. When my father was a professor there, he was very generous with his time and talent. Now that it is my turn, I invited them to the studio to work and use the materials that he left behind in his beloved space. My father was very thrifty and saved a cornucopia of materials, tools, building and art supplies which now are being used in my new friend’s sculpture project this semester. Eric, another talented neighborhood artist who paints in the studio from time to time, volunteered at a charity fundraiser for a non-profit we support. He offered his time to give a live painting demonstration during the event and then donated the painting to their benefit auction. He needed an easel for his demonstration, so I loaned him the easel my dad painted on for decades. It was only fitting afterwards to give him the easel as a posthumous gift from my dad in hopes it provides him a little inspiration for the years of enjoyment it inspired my dad. As I work my way through the 55 years of accumulated treasures, I am devoted to paying it forward. I had a blessed childhood, with plenty of love and creativity. My mom made our clothing, dressed us in vintage pieces accessorized with antique toys she found at flea markets then made postcards from photos she developed in the darkroom my dad built her in our basement. The clothes, the toys and the photography equipment have now found new homes and my hope is that they will be repurposed into new creativity and shared love.
As the holidays approach, I am thankful for the opportunity to give.
With love and gratitude,
Rochelle
Spotlight
This year we were able to gift awards to 7 incredible students at Cal State University East Bay and U.C. Berkeley. K.C. Kirksey was the recipient of the Mel & Leta Ramos Teaching Opportunity Award, selected by the CSUEB Art Department Faculty. K.C. was recognized for his dedication to his fine art practice and his commitment to the requirement of teaching 4 lesson plans to students at Tyrrell Elementary School in Hayward, CA.
He taught Introduction to Printmaking and instructed the 6th-grade students how to make cyanotypes, gel plates, and screen-prints on t-shirts in his self-designed lesson plans.
K.C. with his painting “Don’t give me that look” at the Rising Award Ceremony
Student’s cyanotypes
Screen-print of class logo on t-shirts
Dej Summerville (left) received the “Leta Ramos Award” for Traditional Art/Printmaking, and Patricia Li (middle) received the “Mel Ramos Award” for her Traditional Art pencil drawing. Both students received a financial gift and certificate during the Rising Award Ceremony presented in April at Cal State University East Bay.
Additional Grants made during 2023
Pickleberry Pie: Hospital Concerts for Kids uses the healing power of music to help kids feel like kids again!
Community Presbyterian Church: Mexico Trip to build homes for families. Our foundation sponsored a high school student to travel and participate in this invaluable mission.
Crayon Initiative: recycles used crayons and donates them to hospitalized children.
The Aspen Institute and Artist Endowed Foundation’s Initiative to Advance the Next Generation of BIPOC Leaders in Visual Art (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color)
The JOY of Giving
Congratulations to the recipients of the U.C. Berkeley Ramos Foundation Awards 2023
Isaiah Acosta, Julia Kerley, Angel Albie Anjos, and Kahalla
Here Lies is a power and deeply reflective exhibit that explores themes of cultural retrieval, historical legacy, and institutional power. The exhibit features physical installations and live performances by artists Angel Albie Anjos (BA’22) and Kahalla (BA’22), who received the Ramos Foundation Award in 2022. The exhibit also pays tribute to living Queer and Trans relations who hold roles as creators, healers, disruptors, abolitionists, archivists, and culture-keepers, including those who have been disconnected, incapacitated, and imprisoned via state-sanctioned violence. Finally, the exhibit celebrates trans-diasporic Ancestors who walked before us in the traditions of waymaking, placemaking, and wake-work.
Dej was invited to the Ramos home studio to use the items they needed for their sculpture assignment at CSUEB. I have been able to share my dad’s space and asked Dej to write a brief introduction.
“Hi all! My name is Dej Summerville, and I am from Riverside, CA. I have only been a committed artist for a few years now, but I’ve been doing creative things my entire life. From performing arts to fine arts, I’ve been all over and have tried everything under the sun that was available to me. I love printmaking and dancing with my entire heart. I am Black, queer, and disabled and I enjoy advocating for my communities through my art. Being a part of these communities has enabled me to be compassionate, patient, and supportive of other communities in return.”
Superman goes to Washington D.C.
To bring attention to our foundation, we reached out to Congressman Robert Garcia to see if he would like to hang a lithograph of my dad’s “Superman” in his office in D.C. His team replied positively! I loaned an elegantly framed piece on behalf of the Foundation, and it will hang in the United States Capitol Complex. He caught out attention after learning that “A self-admitted comic book nerd, Garcia credits comics with helping him learn to read and write English.” Garcia borrowed the first issue of the superhero’s comic book series from the Library of Congress for the swearing-in ceremony. Congressman Garcia had Superman by his side for this occasion. And in addition to the classic bright blue and red suit, the superhero wore a protective Mylar covering and traveled with a Capitol Police escort.
Congressman Garcia believes in defending out democracy, leveling the playing field with progressive education policy, addressing the climate crisis, supporting working families with increasing wages, and fighting to expand and protect essential rights for women, immigrants, and the LGBTQIA+ community. He is married to Matthew Mendez Garcia, a professor of political science at California State University, Long Beach, and is proud to serve as the first openly LGBTQIA+ foreign-born member of Congress.
Thank You to our donors for helping us achieve our initial goal!
Our PRIDE AND JOY is The Virtual Education Center, and it is in full bloom.
The Mel and Leta Ramos Family Virtual Education Center at the Crocker Art Museum is a comprehensive resource for teachers, parents, homeschoolers, and other educators looking to integrate art into their classroom, home, or community. Through the Education Center, we provide lesson plans, art education coaching, curriculum reviews, professional development, and more. The site currently has 32 lesson plans (see examples below) and is on track to develop additional plans to include 100 lessons by 2024.
Our current fundraising goal is to translate the lesson plans into Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi and more by mid-year.
Figure Silhouettes- A lesson plan
After exploring figurative work in the collection, students work together to draw silhouettes of the human form. A decorative background puts the finishing touch on this creative exploration.
Pattern Play Collage-A lesson plan
The perfect introduction for students interested in discovering the building blocks of art, this session explores the elements of art and principles of design through study of the Crocker’s contemporary collection. Finish off the session with a mixed-media collage project sure to bring excitement and creativity to any classroom.
Clara Driscoll and The Tiffany Girls- A Lesson Plan
Students will analyze the transformation of the American economy and the changing social and political conditions in the United States in response to the Industrial Revolution including working conditions and labor movements.
Abstract Collage- A lesson plan
Students will create an abstract collage that represents an emotion.
A school poster created by Sacramento artist Mel Ramos while he was a student at C.K. McClatchy High School in Sacramento shows his early skills in typography.
Our family foundation relies primarily on donations from like-minded friends and family who believe in the importance of arts, education and supporting those keeping creativity available to all.
We have improved the ease in making a donation by adding PayPal and credit card options on our website.
Checks are graciously accepted, payable to: “Ramos Family Foundation” and mailed to the address below.
Ramos Family Foundation, 5941 Ocean View Dr. Oakland, CA 95618
“Art is the activity by which a person, having experienced an emotion, intentionally transmits it to others.” Leo Tolstoy