Tag Archives: Riverside Metropolitan Museum

New Metropolitan Museum Exhibit to ‘Tell Riverside’s Story’

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Much of what makes Riverside such an interesting and beloved city is its deep-rooted culture and rich history. To help bring this community’s past to life and share “our” story, the Riverside Metropolitan Museum has announced a new museum exhibit “Telling Riverside’s Story in 50 Objects”.

50 objectsThe exhibit will be separated into two phases, the first installation will be on display from March 7, 2013 through January 4, 2015 and will cover the pre-history of the region and take us through 1930. The second installation will cover modern Riverside history from 1930 to present.

Inspired by the British Museum’s highly successful exhibit, “A History of the World in 100 Objects,” curators at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum have carefully selected a wide assortment of 50 objects to represent Riverside’s past. Alone, each object may not tell a story, but together they create a context which reveals the history of Riverside along the way. Mammoth molars, stage coach foot warmers, comal cooking stones, chinese medicine bottles, photographs, and more will tell the fascinating story of Riverside from pre-history to 1930. Highlights include: Spring Rancheria, Chinatown, John W. North, early transportation, the citrus boom, Harada family, water, police and fire departments, and more!

For more information and updates, check out the museum’s Facebook page or the exhibit’s official website.

Riverside Hosts National History Day California State Finals Competition

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The National History Day – California State Finals competition took place at the Riverside Convention Center from April 27 to April 29 with approximately 1,000 students, parents, and teachers in attendance at the competition.

The local committee, comprised of representatives from the Visitors and Convention Bureau, the Convention Center, the Riverside Downtown Partnership, and the Riverside Unified School District scheduled activities for the students on April 28th with a number of the events open to the public.

In conjunction with the Riverside Metropolitan Museum’s “Force of Arms: Riverside’s Participation in American Wars from 1861-2011” exhibit, the National World War II Museum displayed actual World War II footlockers filled with artifacts from “the war that changed the world.”  In addition, Walter D. Ehlers, the only surviving recipient of the Medal of Honor to have stormed Omaha Beach on D-Day, shared some of his war-time experiences.

The Culver Center of the Arts screened a special video about the history of Camp Anza, Riverside’s World War II staging camp, and host Frank Teurlay, author of Riverside’s Camp Anza and Arlanza, shared his thoughts on Riverside’s World War II camp.

Along downtown Main Street, between 6th Street and University Avenue, several groups re-enacted history through performances. The Sons of the American Revolution set up a recruiting tent, marched in formation, fired muskets and cannons, and shared their knowledge of Revolutionary War clothing, weapons and life with the community. Members of Soldados y Californios de Southern California and Yester Year Dancers demonstrated clothing, weapons, dance and music typical of the California Mission period.

 George Washington re-enactor Roger Cooper will present a program entitled “1775, decisions need to be made,” addressing the Continental Congress for support for the new Continental Army. Characters from Riverside’s own Dickens Festival were also present on the Mall.

Saturday evening featured a public talk by Martin Dugard, co-author of Killing Lincoln, before the announcement of the weekend’s History Day finalists. Mr. Dugard attended Riverside’s Notre Dame High School while his father was stationed at March Air Force Base.  The discussion was jointly sponsored by the RCVB, City of Riverside, Riverside County Office of Education, and the Riverside Unified School District’s Teaching American History Project.

Finally, on Saturday evening there was a screening of the movie, ‘Captain America’ in the Convention Center plaza sponsored by the Riverside Downtown Partnership in conjunction with the City of Riverside’s Parks and Recreation Department.

Hosting the National History Day California State Finals gave Riverside a unique opportunity to show off  the many intelligent and talented students as well as the culture of lifelong learning that can be found in the City of Arts & Innovation.

To learn more about the NHD program, visit the National History Day California web site at www.historydaycalifornia.org.

Downtown Construction Brings New Life Into Historic Venues

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Reproduced courtesy of the Press Enterprise:

Downtown Riverside is in the midst of a wave of construction.

Earlier this month a project to refurbish the Riverside Metropolitan Museum wrapped up, and work is in full swing down the street at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium. New civic construction includes a fire station and Fox Entertainment Plaza, a multipurpose facility next to the Fox theater that will include parking, shops, museum exhibit space and a black box theater.

Work at the museum on Mission Inn Avenue, at $1.2 million, was the least expensive of the current projects. It included earthquake safety improvements, repair of roof tiles and gutters, a paint job and renovation of the blue-painted wood trim around the roof. Inside, lighting was replaced, some of the galleries were renovated, and there is now a handicap-accessible restroom on the building’s first floor, Museum Director Ennette Morton said.

“This is probably the first comprehensive maintenance that the building has really undergone in decades,” Morton said. “The building is almost 100 years old, so the work that they’ve done has really restored it to the look and feel of 100 years ago.”

The municipal auditorium, also on Mission Inn Avenue, is another historic rehab. The late 1920s building was intended as a memorial to Riverside soldiers who died in World War I.

A nearly $10 million project to renovate the auditorium, including a seismic upgrade, façade improvements and refinishing the interior, started about a month ago, city Development Director Emilio Ramirez said. Once the work is done, likely in June 2012, some events will be moved there from the convention center so that building can be expanded and renovated.

Not far away, at the corner of Lime Street and University Avenue, the frame of a new three-story fire station has taken shape. The $11.2 million building will replace the cramped, inefficient one next door, which was built in 1957.

The new station’s first floor will house equipment, the second floor will be living quarters, and the third will hold administrative offices. The building should be done in October 2012, Ramirez said. Discussions are beginning on how to reuse the old station.

The most expensive of the current city projects is Fox Entertainment Plaza on Market Street south of Sixth Street. The project is a multi-story facility intended to offer parking for Fox theater as well as complementary cultural and business uses. The Fox plaza price tag is $25 million, and it is expected to be done by the end of 2012.

The culmination of these projects will revitalize some of Riverside’s most notable cultural destinations while investing in a new era of entertainment venues in Downtown. 
 
To view the full article, click here. 

Family Village Festival Returns to Downtown Riverside on October 1st

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The Multicultural Council of the Riverside Museum Associates will present the Family Village Festival, an outdoor event for adults and children, in downtown Riverside on October 1, 2011.

The one-day celebration of cultures presents singing, music, dance, crafts, art and food from more than fifteen different cultures. Representatives from these cultures will entertain on stage as well as in “villages” so that visitors can learn more about the culture in an entertaining way. Cultures represented will explain and demonstrate traditional musical instruments as well as demonstrate ways to make some of them with re-purposed materials. Children will have the opportunity to learn songs from different countries such as Japan and China. The Festival will take place outdoors between Lemon and Orange Streets on Mission Inn Avenue from 10 am until 5 pm. Vehicular traffic will be closed on this block from 6 am until 6 pm.

The event is free to the public and this year’s Honorary Chair is the Honorable Mayor of Riverside, Ronald O. Loveridge. Mayor Loveridge has been a long time supporter of multicultural projects in the City. Along with the support of the Riverside Metropolitan Museum and the Riverside Museum Associates, the colorful event promises a variety of music – the theme this year is Music Around the World. Some of the cultures to be represented are China, Scandinavia, Peru, Samoa, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Japan and more. There will be craft activities designed for children and special projects such as the Passport to Culture for the first 500 children to sign up at the event.

This year a new feature of the Festival will be the eco-friendly aspect of its production. “The Family Village Festival believes that protecting the environment is an important step in promoting healthy families and communities.” Beginning with this year’s event, the festival will incorporate environmentally-responsible strategies and practices as fundamental and integrated components of the operations and programs of the Family Village Festival. The Family Village Festival is committed to partnering with others to make our community a more sustainable place to live, work and play.

The event has been designed and developed yearly since 1997 – with a hiatus between 2008 and the present – by the Multicultural Council, a cadre of volunteers interested in promoting a better understanding of the cultures represented in the community.

For more information contact Katherine Wilson,  Family Village Festival Volunteer Chairperson at (951) 283-4347 or email doplerkat@yahoo.com