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The Ellen Noël Art Museum is proud to announce Cultural Currency: Contemporary Art from the Riemer Collection, on view starting September 4th – November 2nd, 2025.
Cultural Currency: Contemporary Art from the Riemer Collection presents the innovative ways artists use money as a medium to explore preconceived notions of value and worth beyond declared denominations. The artists in the exhibition investigate monetary value by meticulously repurposing bills and coins into exquisite, conceptually engaging artworks. The collection is the passion of Davis Riemer and Louise Rothman-Riemer, investment advisers from Oakland, CA, who began collecting money-themed art in 1995 to encourage new attitudes toward money’s intrinsic value.
The constant exchange of money for goods and services is core to our daily lives and has been for centuries. We rely on monetary transactions, a quintessential human act, to meet our needs and desires-from luxury purchases like high-end cars and clothing to essential items like food and shelter. Given this worldwide phenomenon, consumers rarely consider the aesthetic qualities of currency, which range in various colors and sizes and designed by artists. As artist Ray Beldner aptly points out, U.S. currency is “the world’s biggest ongoing print edition. Every bill is unique, and it’s numbered uniquely. It’s signed by the person that caused it to be made, the Secretary of the Treasury. It’s made from archival materials. It’s 100 percent cotton. It’s beautifully done.” Like Beldner, who realized money had been overlooked for its material qualities–the artists of Cultural Currency repurposed the art form of money and deconstructed it to address an array of issues, including race, capitalism, politics, national and cultural identities, and much more. However, the psychological toll brought on by monetary rule is a commonality shared by all artists in the show–from humor to fantasy to desperation–the emotional impact is palpable as money seems to be an abstract, illusive object for many. As collector Davis Riemer states, “The point of it all is to provoke thought about why people want and use money and why they want more. Our hope is that people will see these works of art and walk away with questions about themselves and money.”
This exhibition features 65 artworks by 38 artists, with work in a variety of scale and media, including sculpture, collage, textiles, paint, print, and international currencies.
Cultural Currency is a nationally traveling exhibition organized by Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, CA. For more information, visit:
