Aaron de La Cruz, Around the Way and Lordy Rodriguez, Neo Balboa

Kapuso at the Upper Yard, San Francisco, CA, 2023

Aaron de la Cruz, Around the way, 2023

Power-coated aluminum plate

This site-specific work was created with one continuous line representing the thoughts and desires expressed by the community of the possibility of having multiple generations housed under the same roof. Home is not only defined by the roof over our head but also by the neighborhood we are raised in – a place where stories of the past, present, and future are shared and passed down over time.

As one pillar of inspiration, family is often integrated in Aaron’s work through colors, mediums, and abstract forms. In “Around the Way”, there are three signature silhouettes that represent the artist’s own three children who call this neighborhood home.

Lordy Rodriguez, Neo Balboa, 2023

Polyester Film

Balboa Park seems to be one of those neighborhoods in San Francisco that are changing in its demographic, urbanity, and identity.

“Neo Balboa” is a fantasy “map” that combines once gone water sheds and coastlines with a contemporary map of the neighborhood. Following the 1906 earthquake, most of Islais Creek, the main watershed that fed into Balboa Park, was filled in to make new land for urban development. A few blocks may not be recognizable since some have been broken or cut to make room for creeks, rivers, and coasts that are part of the water history of San Francisco.

“Neo Balboa” offers an alternative vision grounded in the idea that as the neighborhood grows and evolves, the direction of that change is a power that the local community holds.