In 1991, Riccardo founded ARENA, a contemporary gallery for new and emerging artists, at 128 Wooster Street in Soho. Two years later, ARENA moved to a brownstone apartment at 313 Clinton Street in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, where it functioned as a salon style gallery space for six years. There, ARENA presented the first solo shows of Ann Agee, Karen Arm, Tanyth Berkeley, Margaret Curtis, Joanne Greenbaum, Rachel Harrison, Giles Lyon, Jason Middlebrook, Paul Henry Ramirez, Jovi Schnell and Calvin Siebert.

While exhibiting art in Brooklyn, she co-organized (with John Good) The Art Exchange Show, a contemporary art fair utilizing 9 floors of abandoned office space in Lower Manhattan that combined art galleries with live performances in 1996 and 1997. After being featured on the cover of The New York Times Magazine for the article “Neo-Dealers” and on City Arts, a PBS cultural magazine on television, ARENA moved to Williamsburg to join forces with Feed Gallery and became ARENA@Feed.

In 2002, ARENA relocated to Chelsea to a space designed by Stephen Holl in the renowned Chelsea Arts Building at 526 West 26 Street. In 2003, Riccardo established ARENA Projects as a nomadic gallery, continuing to promote the work of emerging artists by organizing independent exhibitions for galleries and institutions. Recent projects include Paper Chase (2004) at Axel Raben Gallery, New York; Orchard (2004), an exhibition in a former midtown store for the Big Apple Fest, a citywide public art project; Word (2004), at the Bronx River Arts Center; Me Myself & I (2004) at Florida Atlantic University Galleries, Boca Raton, Florida and Me, Myself & I: Video Remix (2004) in Miami's Design District during Art Basel Miami Beach.

Since its conception, ARENA has focused on the work of young and emerging artists. Other artists ARENA has had the pleasure of working with early in their careers include: Chuck Agro, Heather Allen, Tim Barber, Larry Bamburg, Rande Barke, Leslie Brack, Chris Caccamise, Laura Carton, Fritz Chesnut, Megan Cump, Matthew Deleget, Sara Eichner, Jane Fine, Lino Fiorito, Jill Galarneau, Megan Gerety, Deborah Grant,Theresa Hackett, Malcolm Hill, Eric Hongisto, Joanne Howard, James Hyde, Erick Johnson, Jennifer Karady, Rajkamal Kahlon, Jennifer Karady, Beom Kim, Shin-il Kim, Margaret Lee, Charlene Liu, Greg Lamarche, Cotter Luppi, Frank Magnotta, Fabian Marcaccio, Adia Millett, Marilyn Minter, Doug Morris, Wangechi Mutu, Vik Muniz, Bryan Osburn, John-Paul Philippe, Jessica Rohrer, Jon Rosenbaum, Aaron Spangler, Diana Shpungin & Nicole Engelmann, Wendy Small, Bill Smart, Shinique Smith, Molly Smith, Charles Spurrier, Mette Tommerup, Vargas-Suarez Universal, Ken Weaver, Frank Webster, Tad Wiley, William Wood, Angela Wyman and Tamara Zahaykevich. The mission continues…