Arts and Culture
Current Art Projects, 2025Mural: University High School with Julie Engelmann
Mural: 730 Stanyan with Vanessa Shive Mural: Lamchin Center at Filoli with Amy Hosa Mural: San Francisco Public Library in coordination with the San Francisco Arts Commission (artist TBA) Mural: California College of the Arts (CCA) with CCA students 
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Art Awards2023YBCA 100. The ARO has been included in this year's YBCA 100! The annual YBCA 100 list celebrates artists, activists, and leaders who are committed to building regenerative and equitable communities.
Jacob Lawrence Award. Sandy Rodriguez received this years Jacob Lawrence Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Jonathan Cordero collaborated with Sandy on the art installation and art catalogue. |
The People's Palace
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2024
Conceived and directed by Joanna Haigood, The People's Palace, is being developed in collaboration with the ARO and many others. Aerialists and performers will be suspended in the air, flying through the rotunda, and interacting with the architecture and large scale projections, transforming these symbols into new, more inclusive narratives that more accurately reflect San Francisco's diverse and dynamic cultures and community. Through performance, music, storytelling, and immersive technologies, The People’s Palace invites the audience to be part of something magical and transformative as they actively engage these new narratives, seeing themselves within the broader context of the city and appreciating the richness of diverse perspectives. |
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Lamchin Interpretive Center at Filoli
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2024
The ARO created an interpretive center at Filoli at the former Sally MacBride Nature Center. Named after the original Lamchin tribe, the center will share Ramaytush Ohlone history and culture, especially our responsibility to care for all of nature. Included will be presentations on the adverse impact of colonization on the natural world and on the current work of the ARO. |
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Beyond Land Acknowledgement:
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March-May 2023
In collaboration with the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the ARO has put together a three-part series on Indigeneity in the Arts for arts and cultures organizations in San Francisco. The first part of the series focused upon Indigenous Protocol. The second focused upon Cultural Appropriation, and the third part focuses upon Native Spirituality in Art.
Redwood City Mural
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December 2022
Redwood City celebrated the Racial Equity Mural located along the underpass along Jefferson Ave near City Hall. Gregg Castro, Jonathan Cordero, and artist Rachel Wolfe-Goldsmith are pictured here (right). Gregg Castro will be featured in the mural (left)--Jonathan's image was used as a placeholder.
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ARO Mural on JFK Blvd
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2022
Jonathan Cordero, in collaboration with muralist ChiChai, have painted a mural on the roadway along JFK Blvd in Golden Gate Park. The mural project is being put together by Paint the Void and Illuminate SF.
The mural is entitled, "Care for Mother Earth," and emphasizes the interconnectedness and interdependence of human and nature. It shows half-human/half-plant hands caring for the earth and fostering harmony and health in the world, depicted in the sphere of a Native basket. |
ChiChai standing at the mural's edge. The mural is on the road immediately south of the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park.
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Pacifica Murals Project
2020-2022
The ARO is consulting with the Pacifica Murals Project on a four-wall mural--each wall painted by a different artist--that advocates for unity in diversity. "The Pacifica murals project was designed to help, heal and open the hearts and minds within our community. This project is aimed at creating a public art pieces that facilitate deeper thought and discussion about our native history, our environment, and the importance of inclusion within our community."
The ARO is consulting with the Pacifica Murals Project on a four-wall mural--each wall painted by a different artist--that advocates for unity in diversity. "The Pacifica murals project was designed to help, heal and open the hearts and minds within our community. This project is aimed at creating a public art pieces that facilitate deeper thought and discussion about our native history, our environment, and the importance of inclusion within our community."
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International Women's Dance Festival |
Intricacies of Art and Nature |
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2022
In partnership with Demonstration Gardens, the ARO is co-sponsored the International Women's Dance event in the newly renovated Federal Plaza on March 10, 2022. |
2022
The ARO will curate an art exhibition at the ODC Theater gallery between July and September of 2022. Whether simple or complex, our connection to the natural world shapes our lives in ways that are often intangible to our everyday consciousness. Three artists will explore the impact of nature on their and our lives in a variety of ways—aesthetic, biological, spiritual, and political—and draw out the unconscious connection. Artists include Anna Sidana, Sally Weber, and Heidi Quante. |
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Mission Bay Project2021
The ARO is consulting with Kat Covell on a series of interpretive bay panels that focus on the history of Mission Bay and biotechnology. Several panels of the first two bays include information about the history of the Ramaytush Ohlone in San Francisco. 
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WeAreWater (Heidi Q, artist)2021
WeAreWater is an immersive audio and video artwork illuminating the social and environmental history of SF’s relationship to water. The tour brings the sounds of submerged streams to life as well as the relationship to water of those living above these waterways. Diverse voices of the Mission community sharing their personal and cultural relationship to water all spoken in their Native Languages. 
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Mural at 16th and Dolores |
National Queer Arts Festival |
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2021
Artist Rachel Znerold has been asked by the Catholic Church to paint a mural along the blue wall surrounding the parking lot for St. Matthews Church at the corner of 16th and Dolores St. The mural will feature native plants and landscapes. Rachel is working with the ARO and the American Indian Cultural District to ensure Native participation in the creation of the mural. |
2021
Natalia Vigil of the QCC worked with the ARO to create an artistic rendering of a land acknowledgement for the National Queer Arts Festival May-June 2021 in San Francisco. The land acknowledgement recognizes many of the Bay Area tribal groups, including the Ramaytush Ohone. We appreciate the creativity! |
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East Palo Alto Mural Project
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2020-2021
The ARO is consulting with The Scape Martinez Projects Team on one panel of a multi-panel mural, part of which will feature the Ramaytush Ohlone across history. The mural will be located in East Palo Alto. Samples of Scape Martinez' work can be easily found online. |
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"Our Ancestral Homeland"
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“Concluding Thoughts:
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