ribbon cutting celebration
Thank you to everyone for celebrating the Dreamers of Dreams Mural with us!
Created by California Arts Council Artist Fellow Nico Berry and painted with the help of community volunteers, the mural features six large-scale portraits and honors nearly 70 arts educators selected by community nominations. The mural takes its name from the 1873 poem “Ode,” which celebrates artists as visionaries and change makers who shape culture and inspire the world, even in the face of adversity. The project was organized by the nonprofit foundation Friends of Ruth Asawa School of the Arts and made possible through a San Francisco Arts Commission grant whose funds were directed by voters in San Francisco’s District 7.
As we all gathered along Woodside Avenue, we enjoyed some jazz tunes by Dexter, Devlin, Dylan & Isaac from the Contemporary Instrumental Music Department at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts. Our host — Yzabel Lam, also a student at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in the Spoken Arts Department and a Student Delegate on the SFUSD Board of Education, kicked off the celebration and introduced artist Nico Berry, our city dignitaries and mural honorees.
Supervisor Melgar shared information about Participatory Budgeting, a program unique to District 7 in which community members propose projects and collectively decide how to spend part of a public budget. We were honored to have Nellie Wong, American Poet & Activist read the first three stanzas of “Ode” — the mural’s namesake. Artist Nico Berry followed up by sharing his inspiration for the mural and about his process. The mural honorees — Elvia Marta, Andi Wong, Monina Sen Cervone, Dr.John Calloway, Tara Siegel, Annette Ribiero — each spoke about their experiences in the classroom and their love of teaching. Ralph Remington, Director of Cultural Affairs from the San Francisco Arts Commission shared his own personal story of how arts education was an essential part of his education, life saving in fact! Gregangelo, a San Francisco native, highlighted the importance of supporting the arts, artists and arts education. Ron Machado, Director of the SFUSD Arts Department closed out the conversation emphasizing the importance of arts educations in our public schools.
Just before the actual ribbon cutting we had something better than a regular drum roll — Afro- Brazilian drumming by musicians in the World Music Department at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts! Then the moment we were all waiting for, the ribbon cutting photo op, made possible in part thanks to Wiley & Henry in the Architecture + Design Department. They crafted some beautiful ribbon cutting worthy scissors just for the occasion. We wrapped up the celebration with lots of smiles, cheers and hugs.
We love our arts educators!
Do you have an arts educator that made an impact in your life? We are still accepting nominations for names that can be added to this website! Just fill the form on the bottom of this page.
Ribbon Cutting Celebration Program
Jazz Tunes by musicians from the Contemporary Music Dept at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts
Yzabel Lam, MC + Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, Spoken Arts + BOE Student Delegate
Supervisor Melgar, District 7
“Ode” poem reading by Nellie Wong, American Poet
Artist Nico Berry
Arts Educators — Elvia Marta, Andi Wong, Monina Sen Cervone, Dr.John Calloway, Tara Siegel, Annette Ribiero
Ralph Remington, Director of Cultural Affairs, SFAC
Gregangelo, Gregangelo Museum
Ron Machado, SFUSD Arts Department
“Name of Piece” by musicians from the World Music Dept, Ruth Asawa School of the Arts
Ribbon Cutting + Photo Op
Do you have photos from the event? Please share with us or tag us #dreamersofdreamsmuralsf.
And be sure to visit again soon. We will be sharing more photos & a video produced by Affekt Creative Co.
Thank you to our community partners, supporting artists and individuals that helped bring Nico’s vision of the Dreamers of Dreams mural to life! Friends of Ruth Asawa School of the Arts • District 7 • Laguna Honda Hospital • Forest Hill Neighborhood Association • San Francisco Arts Commission • SFUSD Arts Department • Gregangelo Museum • The Asawa Family • SFUSD Teachers, Families & Students • Second District PTA • Rhonda Greenblat • Jurne • Wes Marks • Chlöe Thomas • Amelia L Balas • Suz Dehne • Sara Frisch • Jessica & Charles Anderson • Anne & Danny Yanow • Elliot Simone & Xander Berry • Anita Sen ~ Thank you!
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