Photo by Bradley Jacob Cox
Hunter Franks creates ways for people to share introspections, hear other people’s stories, and reimagine social norms. His practice encompasses community-based public art, visual work, writing, and installation. He shares cultural commentary and conducts actions that display that we are all far more similar than we are different. As people begin to contemplate their own role in shaping culture, they begin to reimagine the possibilities present for connection, empathy, love, and joy within their own lives, their neighborhood, and their city.
His projects include a 500 person dinner on a freeway, a storytelling exchange to connect disparate neighborhoods, a swing on a subway, and a year of creative daily lists. His Neighborhood Postcard Project has been carried out in 26 communities around the world from Chennai, India to Santiago, Chile and he is the founder of the League of Creative Interventionists, a nationwide network of community catalysts using art and culture to reimagine their cities.
His work has been carried out in public spaces and venues around the United States including the de Young Museum, Mural Arts Program, Asian Art Museum, 111 Minna Gallery, Akron Art Museum, Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, and Detroit’s Eastern Market. His work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, the Guardian, Fast Company, Curbed, and Univision.
In 2014, Franks was named to GOOD Magazine’s GOOD 100, an annual showcase of individuals at the cutting-edge of creative impact. In 2016, he was chosen to participate in the Studio Residency Program at Root Division, a San Francisco arts non-profit. In 2017, Franks received a Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Fellowship to address equity. In 2018, his idea to transform a freeway into a forest won the Knight Cities Challenge, a nationwide call for civic ideas.
Franks is currently an Alumni Studio Artist at Root Division, serves on the Community Advisory Group for the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco (de Young museum and Legion of Honor), resides in Northern California, and speaks about his work around the country.
Before you check out my accomplishments, check out my list of Rejected Applications and Unfunded Ideas.
CONNECT
hf@hunterfranks.com
SELECTED PUBLIC PROJECTS
2022 Dodge Alley Street Mural, Tenderloin Community Benefit District, San Francisco, CA
2019 Neighborhood Postcard Project, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
Analog Night, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA
Fear Doctor, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
The Life of A Block, Dream Farm Commons, Oakland, CA
Fear Doctor, Rare Device, San Francisco, CA
Fear Doctor, Bodega Day Music and Arts Festival, Bodega, CA
2018 Broadway Cultural Gateway, Center for Craft, Asheville, NC
50-Year Future Visioning Workshop, SF Planning Department, San Francisco, CA
Everyone At The Table Community Meal 2018, Hammerer Plaza, San Jose, CA
Innerbelt National Forest, Akron, OH
Portola Neighborhood Flag Project, San Francisco Parks Alliance, San Francisco, CA
How To Start A Revolution, Startup Art Fair, San Francisco, CA
Fear Doctor, 15 Year Anniversary Performance at Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2017 Fieldwork, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts & Neighborland, San Francisco, CA
Everyone At The Table Community Meal 2017, Hammerer Plaza, San Jose, CA
200 Plates Community Meal, Akron, Ohio
Fear Doctor, Startup Art Fair, San Francisco, CA
Public Square, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Summit Lake Pump House, Akron, Ohio
2016 Temporary Monument to Self, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco
Self-Appointed Artist-In-Residence, Bay Area Rapid Transit Agency, San Francisco
Fear Doctor, UN Plaza Residency, San Francisco
Summit Lake Signs, Akron, OH
Fear Doctor, Parking Lot Art Fair, San Francisco
Sites Unseen Community Meal, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
2015 Bay Area Impact Challenge Awards, Google, San Francisco, CA
500 Plates, Innerbelt Freeway, Akron, OH
Neighborhood Postcard Project, GOOD + Sambazon, Nationwide
Secret Tiny Museum of ____, Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, San Francisco
Neighborhood Postcard Project, Zendesk, San Francisco
2014 Social Mural, Mural Arts Program, Philadelphia, PA
First Love Project, Asian Arts Initiative, Philadelphia, PA
Neighborhood Postcard Project, City of Akron, Akron, OH
First Love Project, Eastern Market, Detroit, MI
Museum of You, University City District, Philadelphia, PA
I Love Macon Wall, Historic Macon, Macon, GA
2013 Sunday Streets, Livable City, San Francisco
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 The Life of A Block, Dream Farm Commons, Oakland, CA
2017 threehundredandsixtyfivelists, Gallery 213, San Francisco, CA
Revolution, Madrone Art Bar, San Francisco, CA
2016 More or Less, Root Division Frank-Ratchye Project Space, San Francisco, CA
2014 First Love Project, Summit Artspace, Akron, OH
Neighborhood Postcard Project, Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018 Misfit Maker Toy Factory, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
Startup Art Fair, San Francisco, CA
Simmer, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2017 New Growth, Root Division, San Francisco,
Startup Art Fair, San Francisco, CA
2016 Meet Your Neighbors, American Steel Studios, Oakland, CA (with Ray Boyle)
2014 Califas Exhibition, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2013 Papergirl SF, Incline Gallery, San Francisco, CA
SELECTED HONORS/AWARDS/RESIDENCIES
2019 Community Advisory Group member, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Artist-In-Resident, Dream Farm Commons, Oakland, CA
2017 Knight Cities Challenge Winner, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Fellow, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Artist-In-Resident, Camp Grounded
2016 Studio Residency Program, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2015 Grant Recipient, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Urban Futures Think Tank, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2014 The GOOD 100, GOOD Magazine
Grant Recipient, San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Workforce and Economic Development
Grant Recipient, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
2013 Artist-in-Resident, Makeshift Society, San Francisco, CA
Grant Recipient, The Awesome Foundation, San Francisco, CA
SELECTED TALKS
2019 SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association) & WeWork, San Jose, CA
Project for Public Spaces International Placemaking Week, Chattanooga, TN
Lick-Wilmerding High School Day of Justice, San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Parks Alliance, San Francisco, CA
2018 Center for Craft, Asheville, NC
2016 Gehl Institute Act Urban Conference, Philadelphia, PA
San Francisco Design Week, San Francisco, CA
Knight Foundation Cities Challenge Winners Summit, Philadelphia, PA
City of Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
California College of the Arts Guest Lecturer, SF, CA
Immanent Urbanism(s) Lecture Series, SF, CA
2015 American Institute of Architects NEXT Conference, SF, CA
8-80 Cities, Toronto, Canada
California College of the Arts Guest Lecturer, SF, CA
American Institute of Architects Placemaking Summit, SF, CA
2014 University of Akron, Akron, OH
Urban Innovation Exchange, Detroit, MI (recap)
Causeway, Chattanooga, TN (watch)
TEDxGunnHighSchool, Palo Alto, CA (watch)
