Ann Meade, Luis Estrada, and Dorrie Reid

Roll Up Project is pleased to present works by Ann Meade, Luis Estrada, and Dorrie Reid. These three artists hail from NIAD Art Center in Richmond, a studio for people with disabilities that facilitates and promotes the work of over 60 artists.

The Harrison Street window features Ann Meade’s Two Cats. Painted in long, thoughtfully-placed brushstrokes with inky black paint, this mural is reminiscent of calligraphy. Only the most essential lines are used to depict the cats, and parallel lines that make up the whiskers, concentric circles for eyes, and triangles for ears create a rhythmic pattern within the composition. The two cats peer out of the Roll Up Project’s paned windows, looking squarely at the viewer with dainty smiles, just the way real cats might sit in the front window of a home.

In the windows on Third Street, NIAD gallery director Tim Buckwalter features sculptural works by Dorrie Reid, Luis Estrada, and Ann Meade. Dorrie Reid’s wall hanging includes text that reads “All Power to the Earth,” a phrase that appears in varying iterations throughout her work. Each letter is cut from cloth and embroidered onto the patchworked base with boldly colored blanket stitches. Pompoms, crocheted elements, sequins, and sheer layers add texture and draw the eye around the entire surface of the piece. Luis Estrada’s sculpture uses a found object as a canvas, imparting his signature notes and diagrams onto a dimensional surface. The word “foggy”, a sun with the number 63, and 60 TV are painted on the chair’s backrest. On the seat, sketches of traincars and numbers in white, blue, and pink stand out against the polished plywood surface.  Ann Meade’s ceramic sculpture echoes the mural in the Harrison Street windows. Once again, she uses a pared-down silhouette and gestural marks for the cat’s features. But here, Meade uses bright blocks of color to create an engaging artwork that complements the clay’s texture and heft.

About NIAD Art Center

Nurturing Independence Through Artistic Development (NIAD) is an art center in Richmond, California. Working with over 60 artists, the center fosters independence and offers a creative and supportive environment for people with disabilities. Their facilitators hold advanced arts degrees and work to ensure all artists are valued. Artwork is available for sale at NIAD’s gallery store and online.

About the artists

Ann Meade’s work moves between abstraction and figuration, and often features figures and cats painted in dazzling multicolored compositions. At times, her work references the classic illustrations of John Tenniel or celebrity publicity photos. Recent line drawings pare the figures down to a minimalist form, using only black ink on a white ground. Meade has worked in NIAD’s studios since 2000.

Dorrie Reid is best known for her sculptures and paintings of cats, both domestic and wild. Her color-infused abstract works often incorporate text and pattern to create dynamic compositions. Reid’s current work, although still frequently focused on animals, tackles animal rights, the environmental movement, civil rights and our current politics. She has worked in NIAD’s studios since 2003.

Luis Estrada’s work explores the way we communicate important information through diagrams, symbols, and shorthand text. While his main focuses are weather and transportation, he also includes imagery and slogans from professional wrestling. All three interests are given equal weight in his work, which should be read less as narrative and more as schematic. Estrada has worked in NIAD’s studios since 2004.

To learn more about their work, visit niadart.org.