Mentor Deborah McConnell (right) and apprentice Natalie Scott (left) hold up their in-progress Jump Dance baskets. Photo courtesy of the artists.
︎ Role: Digital Media Specialist
︎ Skills: Feature Writing, Research, Cultural Storytelling
︎ Impact: 🧺 Highlighted intergenerational Native California basketweaving traditions
I wrote an in-depth feature on Native Californian basketweaving in Hupa, Wukchumni, and Pomo communities. The piece follows three mentor-apprentice pairs from ACTA’s 2024 Apprenticeship Program as they pass down weaving techniques, traditional ecological knowledge, and cultural responsibility. Drawing from field interviews and program archives, the article showcases these thriving and essential art forms, and explores how traditional art exists in relationship to land, community, and self.
The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) promotes and supports ways for cultural traditions to thrive now and into the future by providing advocacy, resources, and connections for folk and traditional artists and their communities.
Read the feature ︎︎︎
︎ Skills: Feature Writing, Research, Cultural Storytelling
︎ Impact: 🧺 Highlighted intergenerational Native California basketweaving traditions
I wrote an in-depth feature on Native Californian basketweaving in Hupa, Wukchumni, and Pomo communities. The piece follows three mentor-apprentice pairs from ACTA’s 2024 Apprenticeship Program as they pass down weaving techniques, traditional ecological knowledge, and cultural responsibility. Drawing from field interviews and program archives, the article showcases these thriving and essential art forms, and explores how traditional art exists in relationship to land, community, and self.
The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) promotes and supports ways for cultural traditions to thrive now and into the future by providing advocacy, resources, and connections for folk and traditional artists and their communities.
Read the feature ︎︎︎
︎ Role: Staff Writer
︎ Skills: Curation, Networking, Editorial
︎ Impact: 40K+ readers
I curate the Music and Nightlife Highlights for SF/ARTS, publishing bimonthly recommendations on local performances and evening events across the Bay Area, with a focus on local rising talent and cultural art forms.
SF/ARTS has a readership of~50,000, is distributed in digital and print, and is an insert in the New York Times Sunday issue in the Bay Area.
Read the June/July 2025 issue here ︎︎︎
︎ Skills: Curation, Networking, Editorial
︎ Impact: 40K+ readers
I curate the Music and Nightlife Highlights for SF/ARTS, publishing bimonthly recommendations on local performances and evening events across the Bay Area, with a focus on local rising talent and cultural art forms.
SF/ARTS has a readership of~50,000, is distributed in digital and print, and is an insert in the New York Times Sunday issue in the Bay Area.
Read the June/July 2025 issue here ︎︎︎
︎ Role: Digital Media Specialist
︎ Skills: Ghostwriting, Research, Cultural Storytelling, Graphic Design
︎ Impact: 🪷 Amplified the legacy of a South Indian dance tradition in the diaspora
I ghostwrote a feature article documenting Bay Area Kathakali master Roshni Pillai and her daughter Janhavi, based on site visit notes and follow-up interviews. I researched Kathakali’s history and aesthetics to weave a compelling narrative of cultural transmission across generations, and designed accompanying visuals for ACTA’s social media to extend the story’s reach.
The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) promotes and supports ways for cultural traditions to thrive now and into the future by providing advocacy, resources, and connections for folk and traditional artists and their communities.
Read the feature ︎︎︎
︎ Skills: Ghostwriting, Research, Cultural Storytelling, Graphic Design
︎ Impact: 🪷 Amplified the legacy of a South Indian dance tradition in the diaspora
I ghostwrote a feature article documenting Bay Area Kathakali master Roshni Pillai and her daughter Janhavi, based on site visit notes and follow-up interviews. I researched Kathakali’s history and aesthetics to weave a compelling narrative of cultural transmission across generations, and designed accompanying visuals for ACTA’s social media to extend the story’s reach.
The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) promotes and supports ways for cultural traditions to thrive now and into the future by providing advocacy, resources, and connections for folk and traditional artists and their communities.
Read the feature ︎︎︎
︎ Role: DJ, Designer, Illustrator, Event Producer
︎ Tools: Adobe Illustrator, ProCreate
︎ Impact: Contributing to a local music scene ︎
I DJ under the moniker Lil Sur, and often design posters for electronic, ambient, and rock shows around the Bay Area.
Listen to my mixes here ︎︎︎
︎ Tools: Adobe Illustrator, ProCreate
︎ Impact: Contributing to a local music scene ︎
I DJ under the moniker Lil Sur, and often design posters for electronic, ambient, and rock shows around the Bay Area.
Listen to my mixes here ︎︎︎
︎ Role: Content Developer, Editor, Communications Strategist
︎ Skills: Copy Writing and Editing, Video Editing, Graphic Design
︎ Impact: 📣 Amplifying the voices and histories of a historically underserved San Francisco neighborhood
Beginning in 2023, I worked extensively on content development and communications for the release of Sounds of California: Bayview—a bilingual digital archive launched in 2025 by the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) that honors the cultural life of San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point.
My contributions included:
〰️ Editing and refining nine oral history interviews with Bayview culture bearers, assisted by AI
〰️ Copy-editing and shaping web content for clarity, accessibility, and cultural sensitivity
〰️ Designing visual assets and executing a multi-platform media rollout (social, video, web, blog)
〰️ Supporting the development of site architecture and thematic tagging strategies to improve user experience
Sounds of California: Bayview captures themes of migration, immigration, and home through the music and voices of Bayview-Hunters Point and nearby Bay Area communities. In collaboration with community organizations, artists, and residents, the collection includes rich oral histories from Bayview’s artist-activists, a commissioned video essay on Bayview’s history, neighborhood fieldwork, and recordings from a 2018 concert at the Bayview Opera House.
Explore the microsite ︎︎︎
︎ Skills: Copy Writing and Editing, Video Editing, Graphic Design
︎ Impact: 📣 Amplifying the voices and histories of a historically underserved San Francisco neighborhood
Beginning in 2023, I worked extensively on content development and communications for the release of Sounds of California: Bayview—a bilingual digital archive launched in 2025 by the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) that honors the cultural life of San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point.
My contributions included:
〰️ Editing and refining nine oral history interviews with Bayview culture bearers, assisted by AI
〰️ Copy-editing and shaping web content for clarity, accessibility, and cultural sensitivity
〰️ Designing visual assets and executing a multi-platform media rollout (social, video, web, blog)
〰️ Supporting the development of site architecture and thematic tagging strategies to improve user experience
Sounds of California: Bayview captures themes of migration, immigration, and home through the music and voices of Bayview-Hunters Point and nearby Bay Area communities. In collaboration with community organizations, artists, and residents, the collection includes rich oral histories from Bayview’s artist-activists, a commissioned video essay on Bayview’s history, neighborhood fieldwork, and recordings from a 2018 concert at the Bayview Opera House.
Explore the microsite ︎︎︎