With the help of Jasmine and Thor, I decorated a pole in Fruitvale with yarn. Blue and brown are not a usual palate for me, but I enjoy experimenting with color and the splashes of hot pink are fun. After I climbed down, we noticed it was inside out! HA! So up I went again to redo.
I met Jasmine at another yarn installation in SF and she exclaimed, “I want one!” Be careful what you ask for. Now she has her own public art to see every day.
Trying to leave the world better than I found it, one telephone pole at a time.
I drove past this tree stump for years on Santiago @ 22nd Ave. in San Francisco. It is on the property of Lincoln High School, an urban HS with many students of color, in a primarily white, Irish and Asian neighborhood. I wanted to offer some artwork to the children of color who venture to this end of the city for their education.
This is guerilla art, no permission was requested to install this piece, but I figured someday they are just going to tear the old stump out anyway, why not make it interesting.
The tree's position feels like it is coming up from the earth. Geb is the Egyptian God of the earth, an African God. Seemed like this was who wanted to be here, blessing the kids on their way to and from class.
This bench was commissioned by the San Francisco Women Artists Gallery as part of the Public Bench Project in the Sunset District of San Francisco. The bench is a favorite among locals and includes a few hidden animals (a monkey and a mouse) for children to find while their parents sit and enjoy a latte.
Guerrilla sidewalk art. A cultural statement to spread the truth. Repeated 60 times in different parts of San Francisco.
Public art is impermanent. This yarn bomb was shredded by racoons a few days after it was installed in 2015.
Public knitting project on Rivera St @ 41st Ave in San Francisco. Installed Dec. 2015.
This was a proposal for a playground mural. I didn't get the bid, but I do hope to paint this mural someday.
With the help of some fellow sunbathers, we created a large humuhumunukunukuapuaha, the state fish of Hawai'i. The idea was my friend Claudia's. The cabana boy lent us his bucket and 13 year old Matt Yancy was a great help. It lasted a few days on Kaanapali Beach. Very fun.
Knit Bombing is a very impermanent form of public art. I crocheted a bunch of pieces for another project and then changed my mind. So, I decided to make a sweater for a local tree near South Sunset Playground. Installed in January 2015.
Together We Will with the help of Brad Newsham, Gabriella Musaccia and Renee McKenna, organized a giant human banner with approximately 1000 people on Ocean Beach in San Francisco on 8/27/17 in response to the right wing hate group Patriot Prayer rally on Chrissy Field. The hate protest was canceled and peace prevailed.
Renee had the great privilege of leading the historic San Francisco Women's March on January 21, 2017. More than 5,000,000 people marched in over 700 marches worldwide. The SF team was recognized by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for Outstanding Community Service.
http://hoodline.com/2017/01/this-is-only-the-beginning-meet-sf-women-s-march-organizer-renee-mckenna
Art in Every Classroom Executive Director Renee McKenna installed the 15-foot tall metal sculpture titled “Tree of Life” at the 2013 Dia De Los Muertos celebration in San Francisco’s Mission District on November 2. The tree was part of the festival of altars and included the artwork of nearly 300 St.Gabriel School students, grades 1 through 5. The children made crosses, butterflies, hanging altars, candle holders, catrinas and painted sugar skulls on stones to honor their ancestors, relatives and pets who have passed away. Many of the young artists came to Garfield park to see their work displayed. – See more at: http://artineveryclassroom.org/#sthash.9S1E7cRA.dpuf
Renée was Executive Director of Art in Every Classroom, a San Francisco-based, nonprofit which brought art classes, grants and community art projects to San Francisco, Haiti and South Sudan Africa from 2009 to 2016. In seven years we granted over $75,000 to nearly 900 classrooms serving more than 25,000 children in the US and abroad. Renée designed and facilitated multiple public art projects in San Francisco, including the South Sunset Playground Mural and Mosaic, the Tree of Life in Garfield Park, a playground mosaic at Brendan's Elementary School and a Thank You Tree sculpture for Sunset Elementary School. Art in Every Classroom provided art classes and afterschool art education at St. Gabriel School, and public art projects at the Cole Street Fair, the Sunset Community Festival and multiple private corporate events. We provided materials and curriculum for the first art classes at St. Bakhita's School for Girls in South Sudan Africa and funded the first art education at the Mary and Jesus school in Haiti.