Presentation: Artist Spotlight featuring Fernando Martí
Channel: San Francisco Public Library
Date: 2022-10-05

SFPL celebrates the work of Fernando Martí, our ¡VIVA! Latinx Heritage Month Artist Spotlight for 2022. Martí discusses his artistic journey and shows his work. 

Fernando Martí is a printmaker, community architect, writer and poet based in San Francisco. His etchings, linocuts, screen prints, and constructions explore the clash of the Third World within the heart of Empire, and highlight the tension between inhabiting place / reclaiming culture and building something transformative. He brings his formal training in architecture and urbanism to his public projects, including his altar ofrendas. Fernando studied architecture and urbanism at UC Berkeley  and has taught design studios at Berkeley and the University of San Francisco. Today, he works on housing issues as co-director of San Francisco’s Council of Community Housing Organizations. Originally from Ecuador, he has been deeply involved in San Francisco’s community struggles since the mid-90s, creating art for and with many local organizations, including the SF Print Collective, the Center for Political Education, PODER, and the SF Community Land Trust. His art and poetry can be found in an occasional 'zine entitled Amor y Lucha and on his Facebook Notes. One of his biggest frustrations is keeping his houseplants happy.

Martí is part of the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, a decentralized network of 41 artists committed to social, environmental, and political engagement.