Color explosion and social commentary at Redlands gallery in July

Colorful, thoughtful and humorous original artwork by artist Rick Cummings is on display at the Redlands Art Association starting July 5.

“I’m really honored and excited to show some of my art there,” Cummings said.

The preferred medium for the Redlands-based artist is mixed media. Cummings likes to put unusual items into his paintings, like self-hardening clay, dirt, glue, strings, fabric and whatever will enhance the image he is trying to convey. He calls these elements sculptural.

His artwork has been displayed at galleries, museums and local colleges, and has been featured in magazines. He has made murals and done commissioned work. Recently his artwork was on exhibit at Ontario Museum of History and Art, a place where he got 1^st place a decade ago for a painting titled Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

In 2008, his piece Crazy Weather 1 was the Purchase Award Winner at the National Orange Show International Juried Exhibition and is now part of the show's permanent collection.

The deep empathy and social responsibility he feels for people different from himself has always been a red line not only through his work life, but also in his artistic life.

Professionally, Cummings worked for thirty years as the program art director in San Bernardino, creating art programs and teaching developmentally disabled adults at the School of Hope. Today he is semi-retired and works as an assistant manager of one the Redlands homeless shelters.

“I’ve been kind of painting homeless people for over 30 years, so it’s kind of funny I work at a homeless shelter now,” he said.

He began painting the homeless because they started to appear near his art studio in San Bernardino back then. “I kind of developed some relationships with some of the folks and painted them,” he said. That artwork was published in magazines, now defunct, in the 1990s. A time when an unhoused person stood out, not so much today.

“It is an important issue now, and I paint them in such a way that it does pop out,” he said.

“I try to bring across the humanity of these folks because they are pretty wonderful and compassionate people and often times I find, they would give their shirt off their backs for their fellow citizen. They really try to help each other out,” he said.

He has also painted immigrants, restaurant workers and people in bad weather, for example in a tornado. “I kind of paint the human condition,” he said.

Once he made giant papier-mâché cars that were displayed at San Bernardino Valley College, that was when he had an industrial warehouse studio space close to the National Orange Show.

Even though Cummings has worked with art all of his adult life, he calls himself self-taught. “I was always kind of an artist,” he said.

He found his personal style in his late 20s and has always been part of artists’ communities, galleries and art organizations ever since. These days he is part of the city of Redlands Cultural Arts Commission.

His art has gotten good responses at the Redlands Art Association. He likes his art to say something or make you think. “Either the environment or the political situation,” he said. His latest series had his subjects wear gas masks, thinking about the recent fires and air quality.

He calls the style he uses as tragi-comic.

“I try to put a little sense of humor into it,” he said.

What he hopes to do with his art is inspire other artists and show how art can touch people’s lives. “As I’ve gotten older I realize the human connection to art is way more important than any other success you can have,” he said.

When he is not in his home studio or working at the shelter, he helps watching his grandson.

“[Art] has given me a lot of meaning and purpose,” he said. “I think everybody has some kind of talent and something that gives us satisfaction. If you are lucky enough to find something that makes you happy and gets you up in the morning, you’re very fortunate.”

That is what art has done for Cummings throughout his life, and something he’s been happy to share in his professional career.

You can meet artist Rick Cummings at the open house event on Saturday, July 12 from 1 to 4 p.m. His featured art show at Redlands Art Association runs from July 5 to August 1. 

Redlands Art Association
Address: 215 E. State St., Redlands, CA 92373
Website: redlands-art.org
Instagram: @redlandsartassociation
Facebook: facebook.com/RedlandsArtAssociation
Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Closed Sundays)