Oh hey, it’s already September! My birthday is this month, a time I generally get a little mopey, but at least it’s a prime number year. That portends weirdness, right? I am tired but a good kind of tired.

CURRENT HAPPENINGS

I’m back in printmaking class at Laney. I’m just getting going there (and about to start a biggish wood block), but I’m already having fun on campus. Taking inspiration from other alternative exhibition spaces (and the closure of the Laney gallery), I commandeered locker #163 in the art building so our art club can throw shows whenever we want. The first show at Gallery 163 features exquisite tiny paintings by Michele Petherick through October 8.

UPCOMING

Material as Witness at Oakland Photo Workshop opens October 2. It features work by Sam Kober, dani lopez, Lucy Puls, Sarah Sanford, Gabby Severson, Shirin Towfiq, and Amy Yoshitsu, rockstars all. Will I see you there? The reception is 6-9pm.

I will have a paper weaving at Fort Wayne, IN gallery/residency space Kinhouse in their quilting-themed exhibition Patchwork. It runs October 2 - 30.

My delivery driver photo book Your Package Has Been Delivered and Banana, a zine I made with my friend Knoa’s photographs, are in Paradiso, an all-Riso exhibition that accompanies Riso-Rama in Texas. It also opens October 2.

Kearny Street Workshop’s APAture 2026: GENERATION visual arts showcase features 27 artists, including me! It opens October 17 in SF from 6-9pm. You can RSVP for the opening, the closing reception/artist talk on December 12, or the literary arts and film showcases (October 21 and 27 respectively) here.

LOOKING FORWARD TO

• Being a craft nerd and checking out Objects: USA at the Museum of Craft and Design. My friend Doug is in this! I showed Doug’s work last fall at Root Division.

• Maaaaaybe doing a reading group or workshop this fall at Bather’s Library. My proposals are in, stay tuned.

• Writing about a thought experiment I had 5 years ago called the Anything Machine. Considering where we are with AI now, it sure is hitting different.

• My first time doing East Bay Open Studios. I will be hanging a bunch of work all December in my building’s gallery space, which is a lot cleaner and neater than my studio...but for those of you who like process (and messes), my door will be open Dec 5 and 6.

• Teaching paper weaving at Mendocino Art Center in 2027. Any excuse to go up to Mendocino is alright with me. I enjoy doing workshops, if you want me to come to your art space, school, or organization, let me know. We can do weaving, zines, Tetrapak intaglio, cyanotypes, marbling — I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve :)

xo, Rena