Care in the Time of COVID-19

Curator, San Francisco Arts Commision: City Hall. October 2021 - April 2022

COVID Command Center Artists in Residence: Mabel Jiménez, S. Renée Jones, Ajuan Mance

CatchLight Fellows: Yesica Prado, Felix Uribe

Care in the Time of Covid-19, presented in partnership with CatchLight, is a two-part exhibition at San Francisco City Hall featuring photography and illustration that document disaster service workers, COVID-19 response and prevention efforts, and everyday life in San Francisco neighborhoods over the past two years. The work of CatchLight Fellows and the City’s COVID Command Center Artists in Residence highlights both individual and collective resilience, offering a nuanced portrait of how communities and city agencies adapted to unprecedented challenges. The exhibition is on view in the lower level and North Light Court of historic City Hall, free and open to the public.

From November 2020 to March 2021, San Francisco’s COVID Command Center (CCC), in partnership with the San Fracisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Public Library, produced the nation’s only artist-in-residence program within a pandemic operational headquarters. Located at Moscone Center, the CCC coordinated the efforts of over 12,000 City Disaster Service Workers providing housing, food, testing, vaccination, and public health information. The residency engaged local photographers and illustrators in three-month terms, granting unprecedented access to the CCC’s operations. The exhibition features three of the Artists in Residence, whose work documents the mobilization of city resources and the intersections with community organizations, healthcare providers, and residents, providing an intimate and comprehensive view of the city’s coordinated response.