Opening Reception & Artist Talk for Roots, Tides, Leaves

Saturday, August 9, 2025 | 1 - 4 p.m. (Artist Talk at 1:30 p.m.)
EcoCenter at Heron's Head Park, 32 Jennings St, San Francisco, CA 94124
Free and open to the public
Parking available
Join the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC), San Francisco Recreation and Park Department (RPD), and the Eco Center at Heron's Head Park for the opening reception of a new solo exhibition by photographer and dancer Conni McKenzie titled Roots, Tides, Leaves.
In 2024, McKenzie was one of two artists selected to participate in the SFAC's yearlong Artist-in-Residence program at RPD's India Basin Waterfront Park site in the Bayview-Hunter's Point neighborhood. Her culminating project, Roots, Tides, Leaves explores Black presence, joy, and curiosity in nature. Drawing from the artist’s own outdoor practice, the exhibition highlights the radical act of exploration in a Black body—especially for Black women, whose access to such spaces has historically been shaped by the intersecting forces of racism and sexism. Through photographs of landscapes, self-portraits, and community members engaging with nature, the exhibition looks at how the outdoors become a space for healing, introspection, and reconnection.
Light refreshments provided.
A short walk from the India Basin Waterfront Park, the EcoCenter at Heron's Head Park is a place where McKenzie's themes of environment, visibility, and justice resonate deeply. Roots, Tides, Leaves will be on view at the EcoCenter through August 16, 2025.
about the artist
Conni McKenzie is a San Francisco-based multidisciplinary artist with a primary focus in dance theater, video production, mixed-media, and photography. In 2021, she released her first full concept film “Set Me Free” which was included in the 2021 San Francisco Dance Film Festival and international festivals in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Simultaneously, she co-directed the short film "Lungs of the Earth," featured in the Bay Area Shorts Festival and showcased in the Thatcher Gallery. In 2023, Conni directed "Flow," an immersive performance and exhibition experience that explores the intersection of nature, dance, and digital art. McKenzie is a resident artist at BoxoPROJECTS in Joshua Tree, CA and is part of the 2023-2024 cohort of the Jacob’s Pillow Curriculum in Motion™ Institute. connimckenzie.weebly.com
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