Category Archives: Creativity

Inaugural ‘Riverside Startup Weekend’ Hailed as a Great Success

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Riverside’s first ‘Startup Weekend’ proved that the community is indeed a ‘Catalyst for Innovation‘, bringing together nearly 100 participants, advisors and judges to develop 10 new businesses in less than three days.

The winning Fetchit team poses with the judges at Startup Weekend. From left, UCR students Daniel Langridge and Chris Manghane, incoming UCR students Darrell and Daniel Peeden, Riverside Mayor Rusty Bailey, Inland Empire Tech Coast Angels President Molly Schmid, and Rajan Kasetty, CEO of Terrafore, Inc. (photo by Conley Read; source: UCR Today)

Startup Weekend is a global program that brings 54-hour events to select cities where “developers, coders, designers marketers, product managers and startup enthusiasts come together to share ideas, form teams, build products and create startups.”  Typically half of the event attendees have technical backgrounds while the other half have business backgrounds.

Riverside Startup Weekend organizers Benjamin Mueller, Conley Read and Mike Kennedy put the 54-hour event together with the help of several sponsors and supporters, including the City of Riverside, Cal Baptist University and local startup companies Signature.io and StopTheHacker, as well as many volunteers who donated their time to support the participants. The event was held at the Culver Center at the University of California in Riverside’s ARTSblock, further inspiring creativity amongst the participants.

“The whole weekend is spent on defining a problem, creating a set of solutions (assumptions), validating those assumptions with people through online surveys, or face-to-face discussions, pivoting and iterating on the idea, developing a business model that has a monetary return on investment, as well as discussions on how to properly scale and attract/build your user base,” explained Alan Roy, a user interface designer at C&C who served as an adviser during the weekend. “In the end, these individuals from backgrounds in development, design, marketing, business, and law come together to create an ‘minimum viable product’ to present to the judges on Sunday.” (source: UCR Today)

To read the full recap as published by UCR Today, including highlights of the winning teams and projects, click here.

Fox Theater Foundation Helps Connect Community with Performing Arts

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(Includes excerpts from the April 5, 2013 story written by Jennifer Dean and Jose Marquezthe as published on PE.com)

The Fox Riverside Theater Foundation was established in late 2008 to support the work of the Fox Performing Arts Center, the landmark theater that was reopened in January 2010. The Fox Cultural Arts Fund was then established with The Community Foundation to provide financial backing to the theater foundation.

“The mission of the foundation is to support the Fox Performing Arts Center and enrich the community by inspiring participation in the life of the Fox through community-focused performances, community outreach and fundraising,” said Cynthia Wright, Fox Riverside Theater Foundation executive director.

The foundation’s mission is important to the region because it helps the entire community — even those with limited resources — have access to the theater.

“The Fox produces some shows that are very affordable, such as the Humphrey Bogart film series last summer and the holiday showing of ‘A Christmas Story,’ ” Wright said. “On the foundation side, we increase access through such programs as Students on Broadway, through which we provide tickets to high school students (primarily) to Broadway shows.”

Riverside high school students pose after watching a performance of Fiddler on the Roof in late March (photo source: Fox Foundation’s Students on Broadway Blog)

The theater foundation also partners with the downtown arts organization, First Sundays, through its Family Fun Days, in which free arts activities for families are available.

“My favorite recent example … was the March 14 presentation of ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ an American Theater Arts for Youth production for elementary schools,” Wright said. “Schools from around the region sent 1,200 elementary school students to the Fox that day and the foundation covered the cost of 500 of those tickets.

“It was a crazy, wonderful day and the teachers couldn’t say enough about what the experience meant for their students.”

By providing connections and exposure to the performing arts as well as to the Fox Theater, a repurposed historic structure, the Foundation enables the community to experience all that Riverside has to offer as a ‘Location of Choice‘ that provides an abundance of opportunities to be amazed, inspired and entertained.

Click here to read the full article as published on PE.com.

For more information on the Fox Foundation, click here.

Riversiders Take Home the Cake on Food Network’s ‘Cupcake Wars’

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‘Innovative‘ doesn’t always refer to technology or science. In the case of Desiree Massei and her cousin Alicia, their cupcakes define the term – original and creative: polenta cheddar maple cupcake with mashed potato frosting and topped with bratwurst; pumpkin espresso; and goat cheese cherry and lemon raspberry habanero, to be precise.

Design Cupcakes

Desiree Massei, Design Cupcakes

The interesting out-of-the-box creations inspired by their Italian culinary heritage won the pair of Riverside bakers the title of ‘Cupcake Wars’ champions and $10,000. Timothy Guy, Press-Enterprise, reported that this was the second time the cousins were on the Food Network reality competition, but it was their ability to go beyond their comfort zone in this second round that enabled them to walk away victors.

To read the full PE.com article, click here. For more information on Desiree and Alicia’s cupcake business, click here.

State of the City 2013: “Imagine What We Can Accomplish By Working Together”

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On January 24, 2013, Riverside’s 17th mayor, William “Rusty” Bailey, delivered his first State of the City address to an audience of residents, business owners, fellow educators, current and past elected officials, several of his students, and his family. 

“Through my conversations of the state of our city, I discovered this: the state of our city is responsive and responsible, dynamic and sustainable, inclusive and intelligent. These are the words that I believe best describe and exemplify OUR city.”

Mayor William "Rusty" BaileyThat statement set the tone for the new mayor’s articulations of his commitments and vision for Riverside, and he referenced three themes that he not only integrated into his address and (per Bailey) will continue to refer to throughout his time in office: Gratitude, Leadership Philosophy, and Challenge.

“My philosophy on leadership is simple: lead by example and take care of your troops,” explained Bailey. “Integrity, vision, courage and passion are all characteristics that motivate me daily, and it is my mission that these characteristics will define Riverside’s leadership and for which Riverside will be known throughout the region, the state, our country and the world. If we all share the philosophy of a servant leader, imagine what we can accomplish working together in public and private enterprise.”

As his inaugural address, naturally this is the instance in which the mayor’s expectations of city employees are set.  However, the 6th generation resident added a slightly different and more personal touch for the audience to contemplate.  What would their role be? What are they doing to make their lives and Riverside a better place? What can they do?  Bailey acknowledged that Riverside needed the engagement, support and leadership of our community to make these things happen.

“Better together;” doing things “The Riverside Way”.

“We have our own style here, our swagger…but I call it, The Riverside Way,” to which Mayor Bailey described as

  • Collaborative…we are ‘better together’
  • Welcoming…we make new people feel at ease and at home; old Riverside accepts new Riverside like no other
  • Relational…meaningful conversations build meaningful relationships

“My challenge to you is to believe in the Riverside Way, and to commit yourself and to make yourself available to the Riverside Way in 2013. Available to serve your family, available to serve your neighborhoods, and available to serve YOUR city,” challenged Bailey. “To do this, we build upon the four pillars of our strategic plan, Seizing Our Destiny: Intelligent Growth, Catalyst for Innovation, Location of Choice and Unified City.” (Click here to read Riverside’s definitions for each.)

Bailey’s commitments for 2013 included:

Intelligent Growth

  • Leveraging our relationships with Sister Cities to create economic opportunities for Riverside
  • Making weekly school and business visits
  • Keeping the UCR School of Medicine Creation a top priority
  • Continuation of the Education Roundtable to continue the work of Completion Counts and create new approaches to ensure we are enabling our students to be the best and brightest
  • Organizing a Business Roundtable to create policy and programs that help Riverside businesses create jobs for our community

Catalyst for Innovation

  • Increasing green and sustainable programs and businesses in Riverside
  • Creating an Innovation Center on Main Street Riverside that supports new entrepreneurs and start-up businesses
  • Supporting the creation of the Riverside Entrepreneurial Academy with the four universities and colleges in Riverside to grow our own entrepreneurs

Location of Choice

  • Telling Our Story: “ensuring the Riverside we know and love becomes the Riverside that everyone knows and loves; we are a new side of classic California”
  • Developing a 21st century transportation network, including a streetcar plan to help college students have easier access to our retail centers and entertainment hubs

Unified City

  • Continuing Mayor’s Night Out and Walk with Mayor events
  • Spending time with each of the City Councilmembers in their Wards and with city staff in all departments
  • Continue building bridges and cultivating relationships to deepen our historic roots and promoting the Riverside Way
  • Promoting a healthier lifestyle for all Riversiders
  • Encouraging Riversiders to commit to helping others and the community

Mayor Bailey concluded his inaugural State of the City address with this challenge:

“What is your destiny in Riverside? This is YOUR city. This is YOUR moment. Whatever your destiny is, let’s achieve it together.  After all, THAT is the Riverside Way.”

To watch the full 2013 State of the City address, click here.

Students at UC Riverside Play Integral Role in Student Recreation Center Expansion Project

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(Includes excerpts from a December 19, 2012 article written by Ross French and published on UCR Today)

In December, UCR Today announced the start of construction on a $37.2 million expansion of its Student Recreation Center (SRC).  The project has been extensively student-driven, with both undergraduate and graduate students playing key roles in the research, development and execution of the expansion. Even the funding will come from a $149 per quarter fee that students approved in a referendum in 2010.

An artist’s rendering of the cardio area at the Student Recreation Center expansion. Source: UCR Today

An artist’s rendering of the cardio area at the Student Recreation Center expansion. Source: UCR Today

“From the beginning this has been a student driven project, and that’s why I think it has been a success,” said Jenni Deveau, a psychology graduate student and member of the Recreation Facilities Governing Board. “Students gave input on their experience at the current Rec Center and what they wanted for the future, they were given the choice through an election whether they wanted to implement these changes knowing the financial impact, and there has been student representation and input on all aspects of the design and construction of the new building.”

“The students have been in charge of the program and the purse strings all along,” UCR Campus Architect Don Caskey said. “They were an integral part of the project management committee. They were there every step of the way, through the detailed project program, the student referendum, the space programming and architectural design, and even when we were reviewing the bids that came in.”

To meet University of California green-building requirements, the new Recreation Center has been designed to meet LEED Silver Certification. Its features include lower operating costs, reduced waste sent to landfills, and energy and water conservation.

Of the new amenities being added, for many students the best part of the new facility will be the extensive aquatics complex, which will feature a lap pool, recreation pool and a vortex pool, which is a round pool that features a slight current that can be walked against as an aerobic workout.

Involving the student population in the planning, design and project management of a large-scale LEED construction project demonstrates the caliber of educational opportunities in Riverside, proving once again this community is a trendsetter in inventive and multi-disciplinary approaches in learning.

To read the full article as published on UCR Today, click here.

New Riverside Bookstore, Cellar Door, Opens with Well-Developed Plans to Serve the Community

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(Includes excerpts from the article written by Elizabeth Knapp and published on Monday, Dec 17, 2012 on news.bookweb.org)

In early November Linda Nurick opened Cellar Door Books, a 1,745-square-foot general bookstore with a hand-selected inventory and big plans to engage the area’s entire community of readers.

“I knew my city needed an independent bookstore, and I saw that this was happening nationwide,” she said. “People were starting to regret, perhaps, the demise of the indie bookstore.”

CellarDoorStorefrontOn the flipside, Nurick also learned what she could about unsuccessful bookstores. She saw what happened to Borders in her own town, and began researching why. “And it made sense to me,” she said. “[Borders] didn’t give people that sense of community.”

From her 30 years of experience as a writing professor at Riverside Community College, Nurick noticed a disconcerting trend among young adults: many of them didn’t grow up reading books for fun, so “they hadn’t learned to love them,” she said.

“That’s where we come in,” she added. “As independent booksellers, we teach people to love books.”

Drawing on her past experience, Nurick plans to hold a variety of writing workshops in the store, and though she expects to see many college-age customers, she hopes to engage the community’s seniors as well. Early next year, Cellar Door will be holding a memoir workshop targeted towards older people. Nurick’s mother has beginning symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and her neurologist recommended writing from memory, as it would help exercise different parts of the brain.

“I thought that would be a great thing to do in the bookstore,” said Nurick, who plans to combine the stories into a book that each participant can give to their families.

By engaging the community in her business and love and appreciate of books and writing, Nurick is creating opportunities that continue to grow a culture of lifelong learning and an increased quality of life for Riversiders of all ages.

To read the full article as published on BookWeb.org, click here.

Riverside Woman Hopes to Inspire Youth through the Joy of Dance

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(As written by Press-Enterprise correspondent, Peter Fischetti, and published on December 27, 2012)  

Danielle Willis is a dancer whose passion for teaching young people has inspired her to take steps you won’t find in any routine.

Sometime early next year, Willis, 27, a Riverside resident, hopes to complete the paperwork to create a nonprofit dance company called Dancing on a Dream that would provide minority children of low-income families with the opportunity to “achieve their dreams” on and off the stage.

Willis, who was raised in Riverside and returned there after attending college in Maryland, teaches dance at the Riverside Arts Council and the Riverside YMCA, and also offers private lessons. Classes in ballet, contemporary, jazz and hip hop are available for children 6 to 17 years of age. The fees for lessons vary, but are kept as low as possible, she said.

Danielle Willis (second from left) with three of her dance students from Fremont Elementary School in Riverside.

Danielle Willis (second from left) with three of her dance students from Fremont Elementary School in Riverside.

The dance company, funded by donations and grants, would allow more young people to learn and perform dance.

After some of her students from Ramona High School performed successfully at the Riverside Arts and Innovation Mayors Ball in October, she thought, “Hmm, this is so cool. I feel so humbled to be a small instrument in their growth. What would happen if people got behind me?”

From that question, the idea for Dancing on a Dream emerged.

She is in the process of forming a board of directors for Dancing on a Dream, and is taking courses on forming a 501(c)(3). To promote the nonprofit, she has developed a Christmas-themed dance show titled “Love is Christmas.” The show was performed last week at the Mission Inn as part of the Festival of Lights, and it prompted “lots of compliments,” Willis said.

A second show at the Mission Inn will be held tonight, Friday, Dec. 28, from 6:30 to 7 p.m. The public is invited to enjoy the skills of 13 young dancers as they perform holiday routines. There is no charge.

Willis’ desire to use dance as a way to increase the quality of life for youth that may not otherwise have the opportunity is yet another example of Riverside’s caring and compassionate nature, and the connected spirit created by sharing an appreciation for the arts and culture that permeate throughout the community.

Click here to read the full article as published on PE.com.

New Youth Music Arts School To Open In Riverside

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As written by Alicia Robinson and published in the 11/29/2012 Press-Enterprise:

Riverside officials are preparing to launch a variety of classes for youth in music, dance and other arts in a first-time endeavor for the city’s Eastside neighborhood.

Councilman Andy Melendrez and parks Director Ralph Nunez helped put together the program that will be offered at the Cesar Chavez Community Center and will formally open in mid-December.

Dancers perform in the Ballet Folklorico program at Riverside's Reid Park in 2008. The program will be expanded to Cesar Chavez Community Center as part of a new music and arts school on the city's Eastside. Photo via Press-Enterprise

Dancers perform in the Ballet Folklorico program at Riverside’s Reid Park in 2008. The program will be expanded to Cesar Chavez Community Center as part of a new music and arts school on the city’s Eastside.
photo via Press-Enterprise

A guitar teacher already has begun lessons, the parks department’s nonprofit foundation will buy a piano and an instructor is being sought to teach brass instruments. Drama also is expected to be among the offerings.

The school was set up with a budget cobbled together from parks funds and private donations. Scholarships will be offered to reduce the cost of classes for students who can’t afford them. Officials hope the school eventually will become an independent, nonprofit endeavor.

“Our goal is to try to keep it as affordable as we can for the children that are looking to participate,” Nunez said.

For information about signing up for classes, or to donate or volunteer to help with the school, call Randy Solis or Noemi Lopez at the Cesar Chavez Community Center at 951-826-5746. To view the original article, click here.

As the City of Arts & Innovation, providing new opportunities for artistic and cultural enrichment for the youth in the community furthers Riverside’s efforts to being a center of creativity with news ways to learn, experience, celebrate and enjoy the arts.

Riverside’s Art & Murals Featured as SoCal “Departure” by KCET

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Riverside’s passion for being a center for creativity and innovation while embracing its rich history and culture continues to peak the interest of travel and lifestyle feature writers.

In his November 16, 2012 KCET Departures article, journalist Ed Fuentes writes about the experience visitors can have in Downtown Riverside, highlighting the city’s artistic murals painted on several building facades.

Fuentes describes Riverside’s mural program as

"Ballet" mural in Downtown Riverside; photo by Ed Fuentes, KCET

“Ballet” mural in Downtown Riverside; photo by Ed Fuentes

“a delicate balance of public art being used as straight-forward rebranding of a city’s reputation, with a subtext of a former citrus hub rediscovering its history.”  He later adds, “If anyone treks into Riverside to see the Mission Inn Festival of Lights at night, you can fill the day by using those two murals [“Opera” and “Ballet”] as end points in a walk that will take you on a tour of early 20th century architectural gems, built on an intimate grid of streets. You will also be able to explore some museums.”

Click here to read the full November 16 KCET article.

Click here to read more about the author, Ed Fuentes.

Riverside Named #2 Top Digital City in Nation

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For the sixth year in a row, the City of Riverside was named a Top Digital City in the U.S. Coming in at #2 for 2012, Riverside beat out several notable cities such as Boston, MA; Seattle, WA; Sacramento, CA and others. Mayor Ron Loveridge commented on the recognition as, “…not only a welcome acknowledgment of Riverside’s creative culture, but also one that generates results.”

Digital Cities Logoe.Republic’s Center for Digital Government, a national research and advisory institute on information technology practices and best practices in state and local government, leads the survey through its Digital Communities Program. Cities are ranked based on their use of technology, operating efficiencies and realizing strategic objectives despite current fiscal constraints. Examples of accomplishments from top ranked cities were a reduction in overtime by using new technology, embracing a new concept called “bring your own device” where employees are allowed to access data with a personal device to reduce hardware costs, and development of an app that keeps track of what users are doing to reduce power and fuel consumption.

“Cities that are investing in technology are seeing huge cost savings that are critical to operations and their ability to meet higher demand for services,” said Todd Sander, Executive Director of Digital Communities. “These cities are true innovators and we applaud them as they work in the spirit of collaboration to provide extraordinary value to constituents despite budget setbacks.”

The Top Ten ranked cities will be honored at a special awards ceremony concurrent with the National League of Cities annual conference on November 30.

This ranking is yet another example of Riverside continuing to lead the way for best practices in technology implementations and innovations. Riverside’s creative use of technology to increase efficiencies was a key contributor to the City’s title as the #1 Intelligent Community.

Click here to read the full press release from the City of Riverside.

Click here to see the full listing of award winners on the Center for Digital Government website.