The YBCA Fellows program brought together creative individuals from across the Bay Area–artists, activists, community members, and everyday people alike—to engage in a yearlong process of inquiry, dialogue, and project generation.

Past Fellowship cohorts explored and responded to a question that emerged from our annual YBCA 100 Summit and together they used art and culture to inspire community transformation. Together they developed projects that were open to the public to create participation, inspiration, and community. Fellows projects were presented during our Public Square and took the form of performance or visual presentations, writing, screenings, visual arts, workshops, etc. These projects provided platforms to share new ideas and information and drive new possibilities into the public imagination.

Public Participation Fellows Cohort 2019-20

How do we uplift and mobilize our public participation?

This was the central question of the 2019-2020 YBCA Fellows cohort. Through an open call in the fall of 2019, we selected 10 individuals whose work is deeply rooted in community practice to evolve an existing public-facing artistic project. Their proposals considered timely themes such as the 2020 Census, the upcoming elections, and how to participate safely while also uplifting our collective voices.

During the COVID-19 crisis, it took on an even deeper resonance, and our Fellows were responding, shaping the body of their work to the moment. In the summer of 2020, they shared their work as digital experiences for the people of the Bay Area and beyond.

Past Fellows

2018-19 YBCA Fellows

How might we pursue and sustain collective safety?

Tierra Allen – Theater Artist, Teaching Artist, Activist

Blyth Barnow – Preacher & Advocate

Renata Barreto – Thinker, Writer, Changemaker

David Brazil – Pastor

Jody Chen – Artist

Jules Cowan – Artist & Designer

Claudia Escobar – Artist

Jonathan Garcia – Community Engagement & Inclusion Associate, Chief-of-Staff of the SOCIAL CLUB, author

Jorge Garcia – Catalyst, Educator, DJ,Photographer

Marcelo Garzo Montalvo – Educator, Activist, Musician, Dancer and PhD Candidate UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies

Inés Ixierda – Artist, Bruja

Annie Jupiter-Jones – Executive Director Loco Bloco, Artivist, Arts Administrator & Educator, Writer, Producer

Diana Li – Artist and Arts Organizer

Eliza Ramos – Community Activist & Healer

Jacob Rine – Artist

Yakira Teitel – Physician, Artist

Siciliana Trevino – Filmmaker

Helen Shewolfe Tseng – Artist, designer, witch

Kristina Williams – Artist, Educator

Priscilla Yuki Wilson – Artist

How might we re-imagine political power?

JessalynAaland – Artist & Educator

Jess Cook – Community Arts Facilitator & Multi-disciplinary Artist

Amber Crabbe – Artist, Transportation Policy Nerd

Susana Eslava Sáenz – Artist

Nicole Garzino – Foundation, Social Impact Director & Arts Administrator

Najib Joe Hakim – Photographer

Beatriz Herrera – Lead Organizer and City College Instructor

Leah King – Music Producer, Vocalist, Educational Arts Instructor

Alexis Litzky – Professor and Public Debater, City College of San Francisco

Sky Lowe – Organizer, gamer, and student

Shylah Pacheco Hamilton – Professor and Filmmaker

Joshua Park – Young Person

Juan Carlos Rodriguez Rivera – Visual Communicator

Neeka Salmasi – Educator, Artist, Writer, Singer

Brian Singer – Artist & Designer

Lauren Spencer – Actor, Director

Tosha Stimage – Artist, Educator

Evelyn Thorne – Community Arts Organizer & Creative Facilitator”

Tanna Tucker – Artist, Illustrator

Natalia Vasquez – Design strategist at Net Impact, Filmmaker, Choreographer. Futurist

Naudika Williams – Writer

2017-18 YBCA Fellows

How do we find and empower truth?

Stella Adelman – Program Director, Dance Mission, Performer, Dancer

Annie Albagli – Interdisciplinary Artist

Larry Arrington -Dance-Artist

Christy Chan – Artist, Writer

Lorrie Chang – Program Associate for Arts, Culture, and Equitable Development

Raphael Cohen -Writer, Performer, and Arts Educator

Courtney Donovan – Associate Professor In Geography, SFSU

Johanna Hoffman – Designer, Associate, Urban Fabrick, Founder, SHIFTWORKS

Alejandro Jimenez Jaramillo – Interdisciplinary Storyteller, Facilitator and community builder

SamLew – Editor of the Street Sheet Newspaper

Erica Molesworth – Artist/ Educator

Nkechi Njaka – Neuroscientist, Multi-Disciplinary Artist/ Choreographer + Meditation Guide

Adrienne Skye Roberts– Organizer and Educator

Erik Schmitt -Partner and Creative Director at studio1500

Vivien Sin – Artist, Product Manager at LinkedIn

Jacinda Townsend – Novelist, Professor

Ania Troszkiewicz – Artist & Designer

Jeremy Villaluz – Artist and Lecturer (San Francisco State University)

Rachel Wyley – Vocalist, Songwriter, Composer, International Performer

Where is our public imagination?

Justin Carder – Designer, Founder at Wolfman Books

Sarolta Jane Cump – Conjuror at Chimera Obscura

Juliana Delgado Lopera – Writer/ Community-Organizer/ Historian

Samantha “SAMMAY” Dizon – Interdisciplinary Artist; Activist; Kinetic Storyteller; Founder of URBAN x INDIGENOUS

Courtney Ferris – Design & Engagement

Claire Fitzsimmons – Co-Founder and Director, Storefront Institute

Britney (Brit) Frazier – Actor/ Director/Educator

Yolanda Hippensteele – Social Change Strategist, Organizer and convener

Cynthia Hua – Artist and Researcher

Kayla Jones – Designer, Visual Artist & Art Director

Margaret McCarthy -Performance artist, San Francisco Neo-Futurist

Moksha Osgood – Designer and Builder of small dwellings

Paul Pillitteri – Designer, Contributor, Thinker, Maker

Jesikah Maria Ross – Media Artist & Senior Community Engagement Strategist, Capital Public Radio

Zoe Samudzi – Writer, PhD student in Sociology at University of California, San Francisco

Anna Sergeeva – Artist

Kate Spacek – Artist / Facilitator / Producer

Thuy Tran – Artist | Events Producer, Public Programs Coordinator, JCCSF

Alex Werth – Geographer & DJ

Can we make creative dissent matter?

Caroline Sinders – Designer, Researcher, Artist

Molly Dow – MPA Candidate, Columbia University

Imri Rivas – Anarchist Organizer and Writer

Rachel Weidinger – Artist, Researcher, Community Organizer

Gerald Henderson – High School Teacher

Karly Stark – Experimental Filmmaker, Curator, and Lecturer at San Francisco State University

Anna Xu – Designer and Activist

Anna Muessig – Founder of West Coast Women Unite, Project Manager at Gehl

Yula Paluy – Recovering academic and aspiring Renaissance woman

Raphael Villet – Artist, Publisher

Maia Nunes – Artist

Randy Reyes – choreographer-dance artist-curanderx

Sophia Sobko – Artist and Educator; PhD Student, Education, UC Berkeley

Ellen Pong – UC Berkeley

Jear Keokham – UC Berkeley

Ethan Silver – UC Berkeley

Kavleen Singh – UC Berkeley

Paige Davis – UC Berkeley

Julia Scheinman – UC Berkeley

Stacy Kellner – UC Berkeley

Stefanie McGinnis – UC Berkeley

Lieyah Dagan – UC Berkeley

Jennifer Brandel – CCA

Beatriz Escobar – CCA

Camilla Hammer – CCA

Misha Abbas – CCA

Jackie Katz – CCA

River Black – CCA

Xenia Moseley – CCA

Jamie Turner – CCA

Patricia Duarte – CCA

Juan Ocasio – CCA

Cynthia M Beltran-Islas – SFSU

Mary Petersen – SFSU

Austin Inman – SFSU

Maria Isabel Zamarron – SFSU

Holly Nguyen – SFSU

Mickey Belmer – SFSU

Allyson Fuentes – SFSU

Catia Romero – SFSU

Vanessa Zagaroli – SFSU

Yvette Marthell – SFAI

Barrett Cooney – SFAI

Katie Curry – SFAI

Julia Blume – SFAI

Carlos Alberto Mayer – SFAI

Chaye Pagel – SFAI

Joanna Ruckman – SFAI

Suzanne Russell – SFAI

Bradley Smith – SFAI

2016-17 YBCA Fellows

Can we design freedom?

Gerald Casel Dancer, Educator 

Sara Bahat – Senior Lecturer, Economics, California College of the ARTS DMBA, Founder, Good Money 

Liat Berdugo – Artist; Assistant Professor in Art + Architecture, University of San Francisco 

Keith Brower Brown – Musician for Trails and Ways, Bio Services, Director of Float

Brandon Brown – Software Developer 

Katie Bush – Installation Artist

Xxavier Carter – Head Artist & Engineer HA/E, G-D|100% FOR SURE 

Tongo Eisen-Martin – Poet

Lisa Evans Community Engagement Manager, California Shakespeare Theater, Co-founder, How Spirit Moves Us Project 

Stephen Funk – Creative Director, veteranartists.org

Ray Gilstrap – Information Technologist / Musician 

Kelly J Gregory Social Architect 

Jamil Hellu – Visual Artist 

Nicole Hirsch Dancer, PhD Candidate, Sociology, Harvard University

Veronica Jackson – Interpretative Exhibit Designer with an Emphasis on Visual and Critical Studies 

Cecilia Cissell Lucas – Social Justice Educator, Artist, Activist, Seekr 

Reetu Mody – Equire 

Hope Mohr – Choreographer and Curator 

Keenan Norries – Professor, Editor, Writer 

Leslie Rabine – Professor Emerita, Women’s Studies and French, UC Davis 

Vivian Sming – Artist

Heather Smith – Co-Founder, Shipping + Receiving, Staff Writer at grist.org

Brett Snyder – Architect/ Designer, Partner, Cheng+Snyder and Assistant Professor, UC Davis 

Ernesto Sopprani – Executive Director, AIRspace Queer Performance Incubator 

Shushan Tesfuzigta – Interdisciplinary Artist & Designer 

Eduardo Valadez-Arena – Teaching Artist and Creative Practitioner 

Weidong Yang – Scientist, Director, Kinetech Arts

Pilar Zaragoza – Creative Technologist and UX Researcher

What does equity look like?

Shalini Agrawal – Director, CCA’s Center for Art + Public Life

Kristy Alfieri Higares – Director of Administration and Strategic Initiatives, The Crucible

Trisha Barua – PhD Candidate, Cultural Studies, UC Davis

A’Darius Bell – Artist, Musician, Innovator, Entrepreneur

Alex Bledsoe – Writer, Co-Founder, Breaktide Productions

Katherin Canton – Co-Director, Emerging Arts Professionals/San Francisco Bay Area; Organizer, Arts for a Better Bay Area

Fay Darmawi – Founder and Executive Producer, SF Urban Film Fest

Ugo Edu – Postdoctoral Fellow, Health Equity Institute; Playwright

Saideh Eftekhari – Musician & Educator

Hunter Franks – Artist; Founder, League of Creative Interventionists

Noah Frigault – Policy Analyst, San Francisco Human Rights Commission; Tenant Representative, Oakland Housing Residential Rent and Relocation Board

Malcolm Gin – Activist and Writer, Technical Worker/Strategist

Juan Carlos Ibarra – Attorney / Mediator / Consultant / Educator

Niema Jordan – Journalist and Filmmaker with an MPH

Mansi Kakkar – Change Warrior, Curious Nomad, Amateur Goddess

Joan Tarika Lewis – Visual Artist / Jazz Violinist

Eli Marienthal – Poet, Scholar, Youth Mentor

Hoi-Fei Mok – Environmentalist, Artist, Changemaker

Rebecca Novick – Theater Director

Fran Osborne – Artist, Independent Curator and Exhibition Designer

Mariah Rankine-Landers – Educator at Large, Director of the Integrated Learning Specialist Program, Co-founder, Canerow

Candace Roberts – Singer/Songwriter/ Filmmaker/Performance Artist

Jennifer Tacheff – VP of Business Development & Partnerships @ Women Who Code

Lauren Marie Taylor – Social Practice Artist

Justin Warren – Creative Strategist, Experience Designer, Multimedia Storyteller

Marvin K. White – Public Poet, Preacher, Artist and Theologian

Chelsea Wills – Artist, Writer, Educator

Why citizenship?

Luiza Berthoud – Art Historian, Writer

Lukas Brekke-Miesner – Writer, Educator, Oakland Culture Keeper

Yueqi Chen – Curator, Writer,  Artist

Roberta D’Alois– Playwright and Artistic Director of Jump! Theatre

Amelia Evans – Filmmaker and Human Rights Lawyer

Maria Faini – Artist, PhD candidate in Ethnic Studies and Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley

Cristiana Giordano – Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Davis

Rufaro Gwarada –  Development & Communications Manager, Mobilize the Immigrant Vote; Writer

Chris Hamamoto – designer

Chris Hambrick – Reporter/ Producer

Sabereh Kashi – Documentary Filmmaker/Digital Content Producer

Paul Loper – Mover, Performer, Facilitator

Candi Martinez – Carthen – Event Producer, Publicist, Community Organizer & Curator

E. “Oscar” Maynard – Artist, Educator

Marléna Mendoza Mendoza – Artist, Activist, Poet

David Moren –  Bay Area Executive Director Generation Citizen

Takeshi Moro – Artist, Curator; Assistant Professor in Studio Art, Santa Clara University

Lex Non Scripta – Artist, Agitator

Rebecca Ora – Artist/performer/filmmaker/scholar; PhD Candidate in Film and Digital Media, UC Santa Cruz

Katina Papson-Rigby – Educator & Interdisciplinary Artist

Devon Sampson – Agroecologist and Food Systems Researcher

Dorothy Santos – Artist, Writer, Curator

Suzanne Schmidt – literary scholar of craft, professor, writer

Jonel Seon – Community Projects Facilitator

Sameena Sitabkhan – Architect

Emma Tramposch – Writer, Producer, Archivist, Managing Director of La Pocha Nostra

Shamsher Virk – program designer and communications strategist, ZERO1 American Arts Incubator

Miriam Wolodarski – Artist and Organizer