Ridley Gallery

Ridley Gallery

A Cultural, Educational Hub for the Region

Ridley Gallery complements and expands the educational environment of Sierra College and the community by featuring an exceptional range of arts programming.

The gallery exhibits high caliber work of leading regional, national, and international artists, as well as faculty artists, alumni, and students in seven shows throughout the academic year. Recurring annual exhibitions include the Hallberg Award Exhibition, the Holiday Show and Sale, and the Annual Juried Student Exhibition.

Located on the Rocklin campus of Sierra College, this 1000-square-foot gallery was dedicated in the spring of 1998. The gallery is named in memory of Robert Ridley, an art professor who long believed a college gallery would enrich the cultural experience and understanding of students through exposure to local and nationally recognized artists.

An advisory board and part-time director administer the Ridley Gallery and coordinate planning and exhibits. Student workers and Sierra College Patrons volunteers provide staffing during gallery hours.

New Exhibit

Upstanding Citizen - Vinny Pacheco at Ridley Gallery

Upstanding Citizen: Vincent Pacheco Exhibition

The Ridley Gallery is pleased to reopen for the Spring 2024 Semester with Vincent Pacheco’s exhibition Upstanding Citizen.

Vincent Pacheco explores ancestral memories through an installation of hand-made piñatas. As a third-generation Mexican American caught between two worlds – an oppressed minority, and an upstanding citizen in white society – Pacheco uses this traditional craft to forge new cultural understanding. He embeds each piñata with familial memories, akin to a totem, and aims to forge new connections about his family’s crime-ridden past, their involvement with drugs, gang violence, and the Mexican mafia. Through this work, Pacheco reconciles with his fading knowledge of ancestry, and his place in the world.

Visit the Exhibition

Location: Ridley Gallery in LR-102 on Rocklin Campus

Hours: Monday – Thursday, 11am – 3pm, or by appointment

Exhibition Dates: Jan. 30 – Feb. 23

Opening Reception: Thursday, Feb. 1, 4 – 6pm with an artist talk beginning at 4:30pm

Some of the content of this work deals with addiction and substance abuse; sensitive viewers be advised.

About Pacheco

Pacheco is a full-time instructor in the Applied Art and Design Department at Sierra College. He is an artist, graphic designer, and educator, living and working in the Tahoe National Forest of California, just outside of Nevada City. Pacheco has exhibited his art both nationally and internationally, and recently completed artist residencies at MASS MoCA and Verge Center for the Arts. He is the principal creative of Vincent Pacheco Design Co., a branding and illustration studio with a client list that includes Kinfolk magazine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Elle magazine, Disney, Hennessy, and the Nature Conservancy.