2024 Clarendon Pedestrian Bridge Mural

Muralist Anthony Jimenez

Anthony Jimenez is a multidisciplinary San Francisco-based artist with a current focus on mural painting. His mediums also include acrylic on canvas, pencil/charcoal, and digital painting/illustration. He uses art to engage and educate his communities, with the goal being to create a dialogue about environmentalism, social issues, human condition, and vulnerability — by exploring themes of nature, politics, self-reflection, & imagination. He does this by creating colorful, dynamic imagery, using movement and shape to evoke an emotional response, with underlying themes when examined more thoroughly. Anthony is a second generation Latinx Mexican-American college graduate, and holds a B.A. in Visual and Public Art from CSU Monterey Bay. 

Anthony is the faculty mural artist at Youth Art Exchange where he facilitates learning with San Francisco public high school students, primarily youth of color, to build mural painting and design skills and develop a community-centered practice. Youth from YAX will participate in the painting of this mural, anticipated to fall within the summer internship program.

Key Collaborators

Midtown Terrace Homeowners Association obtained a participatory grant from District 7 Supervisor Melgar’s office to support a mural at the Clarendon Pedestrian Bridge. YAX has been in communication with George Wooding, the MTHOA Board Chair, during the mural development process and the MTHOA has unanimously approved the design. 

Clarendon Elementary School worked with Anthony to develop the design concept for the mural. Anthony facilitated workshops with the elementary school students to learn what they would like to see in a mural and how they would design it. The students came up with the iconic San Francisco landmarks and created whimsical animal drawings that are the inspiration for animals throughout the mural. 

San Francisco Arts Commission and Sutro Tower have provided funding for this project.

Mural Design

Anthony refined the mural design that was developed in collaboration with the Clarendon Elementary School students and when it was presented to the MTHOA and to school teachers for feedback, there was a request to incorporate landmarks representing the Japanese language and community of San Francisco because the school houses a Japanese Immersion program. The school also requested a husky be incorporated as the school’s mascot in blue. Anthony made these adjustments to the mural design and feels like the mural encompasses the students’ designs well.

2024 Ocean Avenue Utility Box Murals

YAX’s printmaking students, led by faculty artist Leonard Reidelbach, developed block prints and created multicolor collages depicting the bustle of public transportation along Ocean Avenue.

Participating Youth Artists:

Laura Chan, Cassidy Lee, Madison Lee, Marisol Lopez Arias, Douglas Lwin, Kelvin Yeung

Read more about this in the Ingleside Light here.

Excelsior Coffee Parklet

In partnership with the San Francisco Planning Department, the San Francisco’s Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and Excelsior Action Group, Youth Art Exchange’s Architecture Firm designed street furniture installations along the Mission Street Corridor in the Excelsior Neighborhood. 

The first installation is in front of Youth Art Exchange’s [x]space arts hub at 5137 Mission St. at Geneva Ave. The second installation relates to the first piece through similar design elements and has been installed at Excelsior Coffee on Excelsior Ave and Mission St.

Pictures coming soon!

Ocean Bloom Utility Boxes

Ocean Bloom Interdisciplinary Utility Box Mural Project

Black + white photography and silkscreened images were collaged and reproduced on vinyl wraps for a series of utility box murals along Ocean Avenue. The project’s first phase began in 2018 and second phase will continue with the design and installation of additional boxes anticipated in 2023.

Dimensions: 11 utility boxes that are approximately 36” wide, by 17” deep, by 60” tall
Year Completed: 2018; extension to be completed in 2023
Partnering Agencies: District 7 Supervisors Norman Yee + Myrna Melgar’s Participatory Budget Process, the Ocean Avenue Association, the San Francisco Arts Commission, SFMTA

YAX faculty and students researched native plants and flowers of the area to better understand the physical makeup and history of Ocean Avenue, while photography students took community members' portraits using black-and-white film, then developed them in the darkroom. The printmaking students then translated those portraits into silkscreened pieces with collaged native plants, to reflect Ocean Avenue “then and now." The final images were digitally transposed to vinyl and installed on the utility boxes by Clean Slate Group. The pieces also include statements about the project in English, Chinese and Spanish. The 2023 extension of this project will include additional murals and repair to the original murals with updates to the text and graphics as needed.

Read about the project on Hoodline.

2022-2023 Gateway to the Excelsior Billboard

Update September 2022:

We are excited to announce the first participating artists for our Gateway to the Excelsior project. Congratulations to Rasta Dave, Cristina Medrano, Reminisce Au, and Kari Orvik. Keep your eyes out to see their work go up on the billboard at the intersection of Mission & Hillcrest over the next year.

Please read more about the selected artists below.

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Rasta Dave - Dubbed the "hood historian, " Rasta Dave was born and raised in San Francisco, California's vibrant Excelsior District. His captivating and unapologetic candid street scenes and portraits give viewers an inside view--not always pleasant--of whats really happening on these California corners. As he uses the City Life as his art and the streets as his canvas he gives you a taste of reality. His motto : one camera, one lens, no studio no rehearsal...strictly REAL street life and culture. With street credentials that span from the Bay down LA, Rasta is able to document neighborhoods on few outsiders get to see.

My connection to Excelsior goes back with my family. My grandma, Mom, Aunties, and Uncle lived on Lisbon in the 70s moved to Geneva and Edinburgh and that's where i grew up. I went to Luther Burbank middle school and Balboa High School same school as my parents. My Parents actually met at 14 at Luther Burbank and still together today. I protected my friends in the neighborhood and they protected me. I shed blood and tears for this neighborhood. I been to jail protecting this neighborhood. Im actually on the mural at Excelsior Park that i helped paint in 1994 (red pants fila shirt). I still wear clothing with Excelsior District printed on it. My entire teenage years was spent at Excelsior Park Playing Basketball, Football, Ping Pong ,Tennis, Etc. My kids Godparents are from Excelsior. My photos and videos of Excelsior are unmatched. I lived for Excelsior and watched people die for Excelsior. I've been going to Crocker Park, Mclaren Park, Excelsior Park since a kid. Ive been eating baby burritos at Don Chuy's when it was called Azteca's. My Crocker Park Excelsior Comrades done decades in Prison got Excelsior Tatted in their flesh and on their heads for the love of this community and i got the same love for the "E" and the neighborhood loves me back. My photo being on this billboard would mean alot not just to me but my friends and thier kids in Excelsior. It shows that i came from the struggle and pushed and fought with my Art to have big accomplishment which i think it is. Ive seen this billboard as a kid coming home or when my parents ordered a pizza from bravos so we go to the Geneva drive in. This s my connection the E. - Rasta Dave

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Cristina Medrano - “I am an emerging painter from the Excelsior that comes from a lineage of artisans and entrepreneurs. I draw my inspiration from the beauty and magic of plants and the many facets of my Salvadoran heritage, as well as the glamour of my queer community. I make reflective pieces that begin with an investigation into themes like generational trauma and survival, because ultimately these are conversations I value having and I want to make connections with other artists that explore these realities. Ultimately, however, I would say that my pieces are about stillness and ingenuity borne from reflection.

I was born and raised in the Excelsior. When my parents immigrated from El Salvador they decided to start a family in this neighborhood because there was a growing Central American community here, and there were more affordable ways of living here as working parents. I grew up surrounded by neighbors that also had immigrant backgrounds, something reflected in the thriving small businesses, community advocacy groups, and celebrations in nearby green spaces like McLaren Park.

I’m proud of this neighborhood and its people for finding a way to stay in SF especially through the massive waves of displacement and gentrification over the last decade. I recently moved back home after living away for a couple of years and am thrilled at the support I see in arts spaces in the neighborhood, something I am hoping to grow into as an emerging artist.” - Cristina Medrano

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Reminisce Au - Reminisce was born and raised in San Francisco and Daly City, exposing them to the city’s natural ability of diversity and art. She started seriously getting into art around 2020 as the pandemic seemed to motivate her to get into creative hobbies such as sewing, drawing, and painting. She practices many mediums such as sculpting from recycled materials, using paint inspired by collage, and drawing comics for some fun. Her art is heavily inspired by the environment that has raised her and the complexity of street art. 

“My art helps me express a side of myself that I had always been scared to share while growing up. I never honestly thought that I would be so dearly in love with creativity, but through motivation and precision, I’ve been able to create something for myself and others. The amazing part of using different mediums can create endless possibilities, which has helped me expand to using both “art supplies” and items that can be found throughout everyday life. I wish my art to be used for the community and to represent a community that's shedding through the fog of gentrification and displacement. 

The Excelsior has always been a passing drive that I’d have with my dad growing up. I attended Bayshore Preschool and in order to get there, we’d go through Geneva. Before I would go to preschool, my dad and I would stop by Geneva Bakery, and I would get so excited to get a bite of a freshly made sesame ball with red bean paste. During my years in middle school, I transferred to a school on the Excelsior and it was a new way of seeing the environment that served me tasty Asian baked goods. I remember on my first day, my mom took us to check out a Filipino restaurant that recently opened. After some hot sizzling chicken sisig, we ended the meal all by getting a cup of Buko Pandan each and the was the best first day of 7th grade I could ask for. Now that I work under Youth Art Exchange, under the Youth Advisory Board, I’ve been able to consciously see Excelsior not just for the food, but for what it offers to its people. Being right next to a bus stop, I get to see the 14 and the 14R pickup passengers of all backgrounds and all capabilities of life. I think to myself that the Excelsior seems to be one of the last bits of San Francisco to truly be a melting pot, and the fact that many local businesses are still intact gives hope to keeping this everlasting hope.” - Reminisce Au

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Kari Orvik - “I am a photo-based artist and educator. Through film and found materials, my work is often site-specific, and engages ideas of presence and absence, exploring what we hold onto, what we let go of, and where we place value.  A resident of the Mission for over 20 years, I became a photographer while working as support staff in affordable housing. This experience was a catalyst to wanting to archive and celebrate moments of the city’s history that don’t make it into official records. My portraiture practice honors these relationships that are meaningful and often fleeting in the daily life of living in the city. 

My work has shown at the SFO Museum, Oakland Museum of California, the Petersen Museum in LA, and the Berkeley Art Museum, where it is also held in its permanent collection. I have had residencies at Recology SF and the Headlands Center for the Arts, and have taught photography at City College of San Francisco, Stanford University, San Francisco Art Institute, and UC Berkeley. I currently operate a tintype portrait studio in the Outer Mission/Excelsior neighborhood of San Francisco. 

My ongoing photographic series Geneva offers a glimpse into the Outer Mission/Excelsior neighborhood at the corner of Mission Street and Geneva Avenue, the location of my tintype portrait studio for the past 8 years. A resident of the Mission for over 20 years, I’ve built relationships with residents and other small business owners, photographing them both on the corner and in my studio.

Over time, the photographs have also become a document of the neighborhood, parts of which remain and parts of which are already no longer there. Amidst the uncertain times of this pandemic, the images acknowledge the resilience of small businesses, some of which have had to close as a result, and the daily relationships and interactions that hold each other up and help one another to get through challenging times.” - Kari Orvik

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CALL FOR ARTISTS (NOW CLOSED)

Youth Art Exchange (YAX) invites artists who live or work in the Excelsior District of San Francisco to submit an application for the upcoming Excelsior Gateway Billboard Project. The Excelsior Gateway Billboard Project is funded by a Community Challenge Grant. The Excelsior Gateway Billboard Project is a limited duration art installation on a 14’ x 48’ billboard on the border of Daly City and San Francisco, focused on welcoming people or saying goodbye to the Excelsior through large scale visual pieces inspired by or connected to the Excelsior. Digital versions of the pieces may also be on display through YAX and other partner websites and related social media channels. 

We are seeking 4 artists or artist teams (a collaboration of one or more artist) to participate in this project. A new artist or artist team their artwork will be featured every 8-10 weeks.  Established, emerging, and student artists are encouraged to apply.

Artist Compensation: Artists or artist team will receive $4500 for their participation if selected.

For more information on this opportunity, the request for proposals is available here:

• English

• Spanish

• Chinese

Please circulate in your networks.

2021 Holiday Window Project

About the project

Youth Art Exchange & San Francisco Office of Economic & Workforce Development SF Shines program are collaborating with Excelsior-based businesses for a storefront holiday window project to encourage local shopping and neighborhood beautification. The project includes large-scale, colorful temporary vinyl installations on windows and doors and giveaways.

A special thank you to the Excelsior Branch of San Francisco Public Library for participating as a storefront window and providing a wonderful holiday book list reflective of the Excelsior’s multiethnic and multilingual communities and their holiday stories and traditions: Winter Holiday Books | San Francisco Public Library | BiblioCommons

Thank you to:

• Excelsior Branch of San Francisco Public Library

• Bravo Pizza

• Geneva Eye Care

• Nameless Tea & Cafe

• A-1 Geneva Bakery

• Geneva Laundromat & Dry Cleaning

• Teazzert Pho

• The Cobblers Number 2

• Daniel’s Pharmacy

• Amazon Barbershop

2021 Youth Voices Matter: Our Silence is Not for Sale Social Justice Billboard Project

In Spring 2021, Youth Art Exchange’s Youth Advisory Board (YAB) led the project: Youth Voices Matter: Our Silence is Not For Sale. Youth Art Exchange’s youth artists, all public high school students, created artwork about social justice issues and YAB chose four of these pieces to be featured on two billboards in San Francisco that will be installed in May 2021 at Bayshore and Sunnydale and Mission and 14th Street.

Why did YAB decide to create this project?

“Our project is inspired by the many young activists currently advocating for social and political change; these youth-led organizations, such as those advocating for Vote16, raising awareness about climate change, etc., remind us of the power and influence that youth have. Our goal is to encourage members of the community, particularly youth and BIPOC, to start conversations and enact change regarding the injustices they are passionate about. The billboards will include artwork and designs, centered around the theme of social justice, by YAX artists. Through the virtual billboard launch party, we will be able to showcase the billboards and the process of setting it up; the YAX artists who contributed to the billboards will be able to present their designs and the significance behind them. In having YAX artists contribute to the billboards and share their art, we hope to give them an opportunity to speak about the issues that are important to them. The workshop and interactive portion of the virtual event will hopefully empower others to create their own art and start conversations.”

This project is supported by BLING.

2021 Mobile Ocean Avenue Parklet Installed Permanently at Breakfast at Tiffany's

Mobile Parklet on Ocean Avenue (In 2021 was permanently installed at Breakfast at Tiffany’s in the Portola)

Wood on movable steel frame, drought-resistant planting
Dimensions: 144 square feet 
Year Completed: 2014
Commissioning Agency: City of San Francisco’s Invest in Neighborhoods Program, Supervisor Norman Yee, the Ocean Avenue Association, The Seed Fund, California Arts Council

In Spring 2014, YAX architecture students designed, built, and installed a modular mobile parklet, led by architecture faculty member Craig Hollow. This parklet could be easily moved and was shared by various businesses along the Ocean Avenue commercial corridor for 6 months at each location. The first location of the parklet was in front of Fog Lifter Cafe (1901 Ocean Avenue). The mobile parklet was recently moved and reinstalled at Breakfast at Tiffany’s in the Portola. This parklet was the first of its kind in San Francisco, providing a model for other shared parklets in communities and commercial areas. 

2021 Excelsior Street Furniture Project

Wood, Metal, Tile, drought resistant planting
Dimensions: 5’4” Width x 19’6” Length x  7’ Height
Year Completed: 2021
Commissioning Agency: San Francisco Planning: Ground Play

The Youth Architecture Firm class had the unique opportunity of designing and building an urban street/sidewalk installation in the Excelsior neighborhood. During the design phase of the project, students led a community outreach process and determined an appropriate response to neighborhood input. They developed their own design ideas through drawing, modeling, and full-size mock-ups. Ultimately, they are in the process of building street furniture that incorporates lighting, seating and greenery for 3 sites on Mission Street as a pilot for permanent street furniture.

2020 Youth Voices for Vision Zero Ad Campaign

Printmaking & 2D Media
Dimensions: Ads for 16 - 47”x 58” transit shelters and 35-7 3”x 30” Muni Buses
Year Completed: 2020
Commissioning Agency: SFMTA, Vision Zero, Supervisor Yee & District 7 Participatory Budget 

Youth Art Exchange printmaking students designed a District 7-specific fun visual street safety campaign focusing on 10 strategies for pedestrian and street safety. High school youth printmakers developed a series of easily read, graphic posters to promote street safety featuring District 7 priorities and neighborhood safety concerns to people of all ages and backgrounds. They are installed on 16 transit shelters and 35 Muni buses.

2017 John O’Connell Mission Pipelet Parklet

2" galvanized alum tube/EMT conduit, cedar decking, drought-resistant planting (white and purple feather grass) 
Dimensions: 180 square feet
Year Completed: 2017
Commissioning Agency: Umpqua Bank, California Arts Council

YAX Architecture students worked with architecture faculty member Kali Gordon to create the John O’Connell Pipelet Parklet, the first of its kind in San Francisco. Students designed and built the parklet in collaboration with the John O’Connell High School and San Francisco Pavement to Parks, and is located at Folsom Street and 20th Street adjacent to the current bus bulb out. The parklet encourages public gathering and commerce while beautifying the neighborhood. This demonstrates the high caliber, real world projects that our students and faculty navigate together.

2017 Art/Lit Living Innovation Zone

Art/Lit Living Innovation Zone (LIZ)

Steel base and platform, wood
Dimensions: 18-foot dragon structure, spanning three rows of trees in the area to the right of the Asian Art Museum on Fulton Street. Includes 30-foot long gallery space, a slide for children, and a turf area.
Year Completed: 2017
Commissioning Agency: Asian Art Museum, San Francisco Public Library, SFMTA

The Art/Lit LIZ collaboration began in the summer of 2015 with architect Craig Hollow, aspiring to strengthen a sense of community and collaboration in the Civic Center. YAX architecture students were invited to create a public art experience that would engage passersby and encourage new interaction. Through frequent meetings, public events, prototyping, and a series of design-review panels, our students designed a sculptural installation evoking a dragon form with a changing mural canvas. The 18-foot dragon installation is stylized into a blocky, origami-like shape, and is decorated with a myriad of patterns found on artwork in the collections of the Asian Art Museum. The body of the dragon features a 30-foot long canvas for a changing program of mural art. Through 2021, the intended life of the project, the sculpture and area around was programmed with regular activities and new mural openings.