SAN FRANCISCO, July 28, 2025 — The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) and the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department are thrilled to announce the successful culmination of a yearlong Artist-in-Residence Program at India Basin Waterfront Park [2].  

Artists Afatasi the Artist and Conni McKenzie spent the past year embedded in the park's transformation, gathering stories, building community, and creating original works that reflect the culture, history, and everyday life of the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. Now, their projects—shaped by deep engagement and local voices—will be unveiled for the public for the first time to enjoy. 

Conni McKenzie: Roots, Tides, Leaves 
While primarily known for her work in dance and choreography, artist Conni McKenzie turns to photography for her culminating project Roots, Tides, Leaves.   

From August 9-16, an exhibition of images featuring Black residents of the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood in nature, and specifically at the India Basin Waterfront Park, Roots, Tides, Leaves celebrates Black presence, joy, and curiosity. In a world that often disconnects Black bodies from nature and the environment, McKenzie’s work seeks to reconnect and welcome home.  

McKenzie often talks about the importance of nature in shaping her life as an artist—she grew up going to a martial arts camp with her family every year since she was in the womb. It was experiences like this that informed her practice which she describes as “living at the intersection of environmental intimacy, visual storytelling, and the radical act of adventure.”  

Through this exhibition, and all of her work, McKenzie seeks to reclaim nature as a space for Black people and inspire curiosity and visibility through imagery that captures everyday Black presence in these landscapes, not as spectacle or subject, but as witness and participant. 

Roots, Tides, Leaves is presented in partnership with the EcoCenter at Heron’s Head Park [3], a unique facility combining environmental education, experience-based learning, and habitat restoration to the residents of Southeast San Francisco. A short walk from India Basin, the EcoCenter is a place where McKenzie's themes of environment, visibility, and justice resonate deeply. 

Afatasi the Artist: Finders Keepers 
On September 6, San Francisco-based artist Afatasi the Artist will present Finders Keepers, an interactive art experience that invites Bayview-Hunters Point community members to explore India Basin Waterfront Park and the surrounding neighborhood in a new and meaningful way.  

Recognized as a visual artist, curator, textile artist, metal artist, Afrofuturist, community organizer and activist, Afatasi turns to her practice as a metal worker for this project. A longtime member of the Box Shop [4], a local collaborative workspace dedicated to artists focused on metal and industrial arts, Afatasi will fabricate small scale, hand-welded sculptures and place them throughout the park for community members to find and take home. While searching the park for these hidden, one-of-a-kind treasures, participants will enjoy local music and food, community celebration, and a welding demonstration by the artist herself.  

Finders Keepers seeks to reclaim public space for creativity and community and pays tribute to Bayview’s legacy of skilled makers and artisans—especially Black women welders who worked in the shipyards during WWII. Their contributions to labor, art, and industry remain under-recognized and this project brings that history to the forefront through Afatasi’s contemporary metal sculptures.  

Through Finders Keepers, Afatasi affirms that art belongs in our neighborhoods and homes and uplifts the idea that Bayview residents are not just witnesses to art, but stewards and collectors of it. The project is a joyful reminder to the Bayview-Hunters Point community that despite the hardship it continues to face, art and opportunity belong here, too.  

A Residency Rooted in Community 
“We are proud that as part of our Artist-in-Residence program, artists like Afatasi and Conni are able to use this opportunity to create work that celebrates Black life and history in San Francisco and the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood,” said Ralph Remington, Director of Cultural Affairs. "As the City agency that champions and advocates for the arts, the Arts Commission is honored to support artists as they work to process complex and often painful truths into beautiful and poignant artwork centering community. The Artist-in-Residence Program not only provides a unique opportunity for artists to conduct research within other City departments but also encourages them to explore beyond the department and embed themselves into the neighborhoods and communities served by their work.” 

Since 2015, SFAC's Artist-in-Residence Program [5] (AIR) has provided artists a chance to step inside City departments, offering a rare opportunity to see how the City works and create art that responds to and reflects that experience.  

In a new twist, the 2024 AIR program invited Afatasi the Artist, Conni McKenzie and curator Rhiannon Evans MacFadyen to spend a year in residence at India Basin Waterfront as it took shape in the heart of the Bayview.  

While in residence, the artists and curator spent every Wednesday working out of the park’s historic Shipwright’s Cottage classroom. This became a space for rich conversations about their art, their lives, and their experiences as Black women navigating the world, the city, and even the park itself. Over time, these Wednesdays grew into community days, drawing in curious park visitors, local artists, and neighbors. It was through these spontaneous connections that the artist’s final projects were born.  

“This residency is a powerful example of what happens when parks and art come together to tell a neighborhood’s story,” said Phil Ginsburg, General Manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department. “India Basin Waterfront Park is being built by and for the Bayview-Hunters Point community, and these projects reflect that vision—honoring the past, celebrating the present, and imagining a vibrant future. We’re proud to help bring that story to life through the voices of local artists.”

EXHIBITION DETAILS 

Conni McKenzie Exhibition Details 
Roots, Tides, Leaves  [6]
August 9-16, 2025 
EcoCenter at Heron's Head Park  
32 Jennings St, San Francisco, CA 94124  
Tuesday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. 
Free and open to the public 

Roots, Tides, Leaves Opening Reception & Artist Talk 
Saturday, August 9, 2025, 1 - 4 p.m. (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 

Afatasi the Artist Program Details 
Finders Keepers: Interactive Community Arts Day 
Saturday, September 6, 2025, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. (Welding Demonstration at 1:30 p.m.) 
India Basin Waterfront Park and surrounding area 
900 Innes Ave San Francisco, CA 94124 
Free and open to the public 

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About the Artists 
Afatasi The Artist is a mixed-media conceptual artist, futurist, proud native San Franciscan, and is a member of San Francisco’s only shrinking demographic. Her work is informed by her deep concern of the continued population decline of her community, affirming them through mixed-media textile, metal, and research-based artworks that are used as vehicles of disruption, exploration, and future-dreaming. Her artwork is a continuous exploration of the intersectionality of race, culture, gender, class, and geopolitics. Past injustices have shaped present-day realities, so what does this mean for our futures?  The mediums used to navigate this question include textile, metalwork, and mixed-media visual arts. www.afatasi.org [7]

Conni McKenzie is a San Francisco–based multidisciplinary artist working at the intersection of dance theater, video production, and photography. Her work explores themes of nature, memory, and community through immersive, site-specific experiences. In 2021, she debuted her first concept film, Set Me Free, which was featured in the San Francisco Dance Film Festival and screened at international festivals across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. In 2023, she directed Flow, an immersive performance and exhibition examining the convergence of nature, movement, and digital art. Most recently, she completed Borrowed (2024-2025), a two-phase, site-responsive project presented in Joshua Tree and the Bay Area, which investigated the links between environmental crisis and cultural displacement. Conni has been a resident artist with New Performance Traditions (2023), PUSH Dance Company (2024), BoxoPROJECTS (2024), and the International Association of Blacks in Dance (2025). She is also part of the inaugural Artist-in-Residence cohort at 900 Innes in partnership with SFAC Galleries and San Francisco Recreation & Parks. connimckenzie.weebly.com      [8]

About the San Francisco Arts Commission
The San Francisco Arts Commission is the City agency that champions the arts as essential to daily life by investing in a vibrant arts community, enlivening the urban environment and shaping innovative cultural policy. Our programs include: Civic Art Collection, Civic Design Review, Community Investments, Public Art, SFAC Galleries, and Art Vendor Licensing. To learn more, visit sfartscommission.org [9].

About San Francisco Recreation and Parks 
The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department’s mission is to provide enriching recreational activities, maintain beautiful parks and preserve the environment for the well-being of everyone in our diverse community. The Department administers more than 230 parks, playgrounds, and open spaces. In 2017, San Francisco became the first city in the nation where all residents have access to a park within a 10-minute walk, a direct result of the Department’s commitment to increasing and improving parkland in the city. To learn more, visit sfrecpark.org   [10]