Artists in Residence at SF COVID Command Center

Curator: COVID Art Projects for SF COVID Command Center 

Artist in Residence Program at SF COVID Command Center and in diverse communities across SF

Mabel Jimenez, photographer, focused on the Mission District's Latino community

S. Renee Jones, photographer, focused on the Fillmore and Bayview Districts' Black community

Ajuan Mance, illustrator, focused on creating portraits of City of SF's fontline workers

In January 2021, two photographers and one illustrator became the only Artists in Residence in the country embedded inside of a major COVID-19 municipal prevention and recovery operation. During their 12-week residency the artists were provided unprecedented access to document operations inside of San Francisco's COVID Command Center (which was off-limits for the press), meet Disaster Service Workers, follow municipal efforts in neighborhoods and also interface with community leaders and organizers working hand in hand with the City.

Each Artist in Residence chose their own story to tell and decide how to tell it. The resulting photography and illustration portfolios were entered into the SF Public Library’s COVID Community Time Capsule and will forever be part of how future generations understand this unprecedented moment in history. This project supports and celebrates the BIPOC Artists in Residence who centered cultural heritage communities in their work, ensuring that the images and stories of diverse residents are represented in our historical records. The resulting works were also exhibited at San Francisco City Hall in 2022.