Are there public viewing hours for the art exhibition?

We host one Art Exhibition Open House about every quarter. Advanced registration is required. Please see the calendar on the home page for dates and a link to register.

Can I exhibit my art at the CZI Community Space?

Artists who are invited to exhibit their work at the Chan Zuckerberg Community Space in Redwood City must respond to the Call for Art. The Art Advisory Work Group, comprised of community members, review the responses to the Call for Art and select the artists to be invited to exhibit their artwork. The Call for Art opens in October and will be posted on the website.

How can I apply to be a member of the Art Advisory Work Group?

The application will be posted on the website in August.

How can I get more information or ask questions?

Send us an email or call. Contact information is in the footer.

Call for Art

The Call for Art is open until December 3, 2026.

Theme: Origin Story. This exhibition invites artists to explore the people, places, experiences, beliefs, and forces that have shaped who we are and how we see the world. It may come from the work we do, the communities we belong to, the challenges we have faced, or the symbols that bring light into our lives.

Click HERE for the Call for Art.

Haz clic aquí para ver la convocatoria de arte en español.

Click HERE to apply.

Meet the Current Cohort of Artists

The Foundation is excited to be working with the current cohort of artists who are exhibiting their artwork at the CZI Community Space through March 2027.

Join us for an upcoming Art Exhibition Open House: November 9, 2026

Advanced registration is required. Click HERE to register.

To learn more about an artist, watch a video by clicking on their image.

Artist Mariana Acosta Burns

Mariana Acosta Burns is a Mexican multimedia artist and designer driven by a deep passion for Latin American representation in arts and entertainment, working at the intersection of cultural research, visual storytelling, and narrative development. Her creative practice spans story development for animation and digital arts, visual design for Latin American and tradition-driven independent films recognized at festivals across Mexico and the United States.
With professional education in Corporate & Executive Image and Film/TV Animation, she bridges ancestral traditions and techniques like the tlacuiloli with contemporary digital media, creating space for diverse voices through work that honors cultural authenticity while reaching global audiences. She is dedicated to ensuring that our communities see themselves reflected with dignity and nuance in the stories that shape our world.
Inquiries: www.themarianaac.com

Artist Gunnar Cheetham

Gunnar Cheetham
has been been doing art since he was young, but has been developing his skills in oil painting over the past five to six years. He’s always studied portraiture and figurative work and is most interested in painting people. As a long-time fan of Baroque painters and American illustrators, he’s taken aspects of their work and has attempted to implement them into his own; however, he also tries to display small aspects of modernism by not fully rendering his paintings and leaving some areas intentionally underdeveloped. Gunnar has studied art abroad in Italy and Austria alongside his father, who has taught drawing and painting professionally for the last 20 years. Gunnar is also the guitarist and lead singer in a band. To him, music and art have always been intertwined, as they are both about being creative and are a big outlet for emotions and expression.
Inquiries: gunnarcheetham@gmail.com

Artist Beth Grossman

Beth Grossman is an “Artist at Large” whose social art practice uses visual art and participatory performance as a method to question interpretations of history, authoritative documents, and our place in nature. Her artworks are invitations to unexpected and shared experiences that bring people together for conversations, to challenge assumptions, and foster civic engagement. Collaborating with universities, parks, corporations, non-profits, and museums across the U.S. and internationally including Russia, Ukraine, China, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Finland, and Norway, she builds relationships and community as an integral part of her artist process.
Inquiries: beth@bethgrossman.com, bethgrossman.com

Artist Swee Choo Oh

Swee Choo Oh is an internationally acclaimed photographer known for her fi ne art and commercial architectural work. Her images are shaped by a strong sense of light, form, shadow, and texture. Whether photographing architecture or street scenes, Swee creates visual narratives that evoke emotion and hold the viewer’s attention. In 2023, she exhibited her work at the Xposure International Photography Festival in Sharjah, UAE. She won the Hasselblad Masters Award in the Architecture category in 2016 and was also awarded First Place at the Sony World Photography Awards. In 2020, she was named a Hasselblad Heroine. Swee’s work has been featured in both print and online publications locally and internationally, including
the Hasselblad Masters book, Dodho Magazine, Luxurious Magazine, Medium Format Magazine, ND Magazine, and Camerapixo. Her photographs have been
exhibited at Somerset House in London.
Inquiries: oh.swee88@gmail.com, www.sweecoh.com

Artist Gabriela Romero

Gabriela “Gabi” Romero
is a visual artist born and raised in the Bay Area. In her senior year of high school, she is taking studio art, where she continues to learn and experiment as a young artist, pushing herself to try new things, most recently through a mural project at the local nonprofit where she works.
Gabi has always valued art and captures the world around her through drawings, paintings, photography, and mixed-media art.
Her medium of choice is acrylic paint on canvas, and she explores themes of identity and community in her artwork. Gabi is excited to follow her passion for art, challenge her own creative limits, and see where her work takes her.

Artist Faina Shpiler

Faina Shpiler is a multidisciplinary artist based in Foster City, CA. Practicing since 1995, her work explores joy and seriousness, playfulness and vulnerability, through subjects ranging from whimsical animals and intimate portraits to abstract compositions, landscapes, and cultural narratives. Working
primarily in acrylic, she is known for bold underpainting, vivid and unexpected color relationships, loose brushstrokes, and expressive contrast. Shaped by her experience growing up Jewish in the former Soviet Union and later embracing her LGBTQ identity, her work centers themes of visibility, resilience, belonging, and the quiet power of joy.
Inquiries: fshpiler@gmail.com

Artist Carrie Tillie

Carolyn “Carrie” Tillie
is a culinary historian, author, artist, and curator whose work explores the rich intersections of food,
art, and history. She co founded Bay Area Culinary Historians (BACH) and frequently curates talks and art exhibitions that weave together culinary heritage, aesthetics, and material culture.
She is known for engaging lectures on diverse topics such as Impressionist-era café culture, oysters, food as an art form, and the evolution of the silver industry and dining traditions.
Her multidisciplinary approach brings a unique perspective to food history, inviting audiences to consider how taste, craft, and culture have shaped human experience across time. She is a member of the illustrious Les Dames
d’Escoffi er and is author of
Oysters, A Global History
and Feast Your Eyes: Food Art from Apple to Zucchini.
Her writings have appeared in Edible SF, Gastro Obscura, Metalsmith, Hugh Johnson’s World of Fine Wine, and Gastronomica.
Inquiries: carrie@carolyntillie.com, www. carolyntillie.com

Artist Lesly Vazquez

Lesly Vazquez is a Bay Area-born and raised artist whose work is shaped by her experiences as a first-generation, queer Xicana woman and daughter of immigrants. She studied film photography in Guadalajara, Jalisco, before returning home to complete her BA at UC Berkeley. Vazquez uses charcoal portraits to center underrepresented bodies, communities, and
untold stories. Her art is a narrative process grounded in family, community, and place, making visibility central to her work.
Inquiries: leslyvazquezart@gmail.com

Art Advisory Work Group Members

The Foundation created an Arts Programming Plan for the Chan Zuckerberg Community Space and established a thoughtful process to help set a vision for ongoing creative community engagement. Each year the Foundation works with an Art Advisory Work Group, composed of San Mateo County residents from different backgrounds who serve a one-year term, to implement the Arts Programming Plan which includes selecting the exhibition theme, issuing the Call For Art, reviewing applications, choosing the artists who will participate in the exhibition, serving as liaisons with the artists, conducting community outreach, hosting an annual art exhibition, and art open house events.

The main purpose of the art exhibitions is 1) to promote San Mateo County artists by exhibiting their artwork at the CZI Community Space and 2) to provide an opportunity to bring the community together through art to promote education, awareness, and understanding.

The 2026-2027 Art Advisory Work Group members are:

Mariana Acosta Burns

Mariana is a Mexican multimedia artist and designer driven by a deep passion for Latin American representation in arts and entertainment, working at the intersection of cultural research, visual storytelling, and narrative development. Her creative practice spans story development for animation and digital arts, visual design for Latin American and tradition driven independent films recognized at festivals across Mexico and the United States. With professional education in Corporate & Executive Image and Film/TV Animation, she bridges ancestral traditions and techniques like the tlacuiloli with contemporary digital media, creating space for diverse voices through work that honors cultural authenticity while reaching global audiences. She is dedicated to ensuring that our communities see themselves reflected with dignity and nuance in the stories that shape our world.

Charlotte Anthony

Charlotte Anthony is a filmmaker, visual artist, and animator from California and a first year college student. Through her interdisciplinary work in animation, illustration, and fine art, she aims to tell stories exploring themes of human connection, memory, and self-discovery that allow others to feel understood in their experiences. Charlotte is particularly drawn to filmmaking because it allows her to synergize all her artistic passions and engage audiences to tell emotionally impactful stories.

Chris Rasmussen

Chris Rasmussen is a retired law enforcement professional, nonprofit leader, author, and artist with more than three decades of public service. His creative work includes scratchboard art an explores storytelling, symbolism, imagination, and the experiences and influences that shape us. Chris brings a community focused perspective to the Art Advisory Work Group, shaped by his background in public service, mental health advocacy, nonprofit leadership, and the arts.

Common Questions & Answers

Check out our previous exhibitions:

April 2022

October 2022

Call for Art

Meet the Current Cohort of Artists

Art Advisory Work Group Members

Common Questions & Answers

Are there public viewing hours for the art exhibition?

Can I exhibit my art at the CZI Community Space?

How can I apply to be a member of the Art Advisory Work Group?

How can I get more information or ask questions?

Check out our previous exhibitions:

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Contact Us!

info@rwcpaf.org

650-241-8337

Redwood City Parks and Arts Foundation