Curator and art history instructor Kathy Zarur (Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner)
It’s funny when two stories I’ve worked on for a good while both wind up publishing on the same day, but that’s just how things work sometimes. In the case of these two pieces, the first on independent curator and adjunct arts instructor Kathy Zarur and the second on public art muralist Daniel Galvez, it turned out they compliment each other quite nicely.
One of the reasons I interview people and arts professionals is that I like them, they’re my people. In the case of Zarur and Galvez, it couldn’t be more the case. Both were extremely generous with their time with me, allowing me to probe into their personal and professional lives. They didn’t have to do that, especially not at a time when artists, professionals and everyday Americans from their respective communities are under extreme pressure.
Muralist Daniel Galvez.
(Ekevara Kitpowsong/CurrentSF)
Zarur is a born and raised, second generation Palestinian American who has devoted her life to studying the arts and passing on her knowledge as a college instructor. She also independently co-curates exhibits and installations. It’s a precarious way to make a living in San Francisco but she is committed. An interesting side note which did not make it into this week’s SFLives column but which demonstrates the intersections between all of us who live, work and maybe were even born here in San Francisco: Zarur’s family and my family were likely on the same block at the same time in the early ’70s. I hope to explore these intersections in a future project but until then, I’m just counting it as more evidence that we are all part of one human family.
Galvez, also native to California but from the Sacramento area, has made his home in Oakland for the last 30 some years. His father was Mexican American and met his mother who was from Mexico; he is the first person in his family to attend college and the first artist among them. Galvez’s public works can be seen coast to coast but there is one mural of his that I pass frequently in the course of my own work in San Francisco’s Mission District: He recently restored this work titled Carnaval, 
based on photographs by photojournalist Lou Dematteis. Someday, I hope to visit the Audubon Ballroom where Galvez created a permanent mural depicting the life of the late Malcolm X.
I have to say I feel a bit of pride in our Bay Area for supporting the work of artists and arts professionals, diverse people across generational, gender and cultural heritage lines. But jobs in the arts are becoming more scare here due to extreme gentrification and the high cost of living. I hope and actually, I pray, that people like Zarur and Galvez can continue to thrive and contribute to the arts and culture communities here so that future generations can enjoy what they and their families worked hard to make possible: A richer life for all of us.
Filed under: Arts and Culture, Latinx culture, adjunct, arts educator, Bay Area, college, Daniel Galvez, immigrant families, Kathy Zarur, Mexico, muralist, Palestine, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco news
Denise Sullivan 