Alan Llavore | Office of Marketing and Communications | (909) 537-5007 | allavore@csusb.edu
The Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art welcomed the campus and surrounding community to a new season of art while celebrating a milestone three decades in the making.
Held Saturday, Sept. 12 at Cal State San Bernardino, RAFFMA Community Day marked the museum’s fall opening and 30th anniversary. The celebration began with a reception for VIP guests from 11 a.m.-noon, followed by a community reception from noon-4 p.m.
Throughout the afternoon, visitors explored and interacted with the museum’s exhibitions at their own pace. Hands-on crafts offered another way for guests to engage with the art and enjoy the museum’s fall opening.
The event introduced visitors to two exhibitions – one looking back on the people who shaped RAFFMA and another inviting viewers to consider how light, materials and perception influence what they see.
The anniversary exhibition, “Gathered Here: Celebrating RAFFMA’s 30 Years of History,” honors the faculty, students, donors, staff and community members whose vision and support have helped the museum grow over the past three decades.
RAFFMA first opened to the public in fall 1996 and has since become one of the Inland Empire’s major cultural centers. Its collections encompass ancient and contemporary art, including one of the largest displays of ancient Egyptian artifacts in the western United States. In 2008, the museum earned accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums, the highest national recognition awarded to American museums.
RAFFMA Community Day also celebrated the opening of “To See Through,” a national juried exhibition curated by internationally recognized glass artist Katherine Gray, professor of art and chair of CSUSB’s Department of Art and Design. Gray has exhibited her work nationally and internationally and is known to television audiences as the resident evaluator on the Netflix glassblowing competition series “Blown Away.”
Featuring work across a range of media, “To See Through” explores transparency, translucency and opacity as conditions of discovery and understanding. The exhibition considers the space between complete visibility and the unknown – where filtered light, partial views and shifting perspectives ask viewers to look more closely at what may lie beneath the surface.
Members of the public will be able to vote for their favorite work as part of the exhibition’s People’s Choice Award. The selected artist will receive a solo exhibition in RAFFMA’s Mueller Gallery in 2028.
Together, “Gathered Here” and “To See Through” offered a fitting start to RAFFMA’s anniversary year: one exhibition reflecting on the relationships and shared vision that built the museum, and the other looking ahead through new perspectives and possibilities.
Both exhibitions will remain on view through Dec. 12. Admission to RAFFMA is free.
RAFFMA’s public hours are:
- Monday-Friday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
- Second Saturday of each month: 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
- Saturday and Sunday: Closed, except for the second Saturday of the month
The museum is located in the Visual Arts Center at Cal State San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway. Visits to the “Journey to the Beyond” Egyptian Gallery are available by appointment. For additional information, parking details or exhibition updates, visit the RAFFMA website.
