Untitled (Morning Glory, Nasturtium, and Gardening Tools)

Kija Lucas is an artist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She uses photography to explore ideas of home, heritage, and inheritance, examining how these are passed on and how seemingly inconsequential moments can create lasting generational change. In this piece, she highlights two misplaced botanical specimens found throughout the Bay Area - one beloved and one maligned - to ask how we decide what is beautiful or useful. Alongside the morning glory and nasturtium, she includes gardening tools as a reminder of the labor involved in plant propagation.

For more information visit the artist website.

About This Installation

Description: Digital Print (13’ x 5’)

Installation Date: October 2025

Business Sponsor: Menlo Hardware

Location: Exterior wall on Chestnut Street near Santa Cruz Avenue

Building Address: 716 Santa Cruz Avenue

Art Exhibitions

Kija’s work has been exhibited at Oakland Museum of California, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, Headlands Center for the Arts, San Francsico Arts Commission Galleries, California Institute of Integral Studies, Palo Alto Arts Center, Intersection for the Arts, Mission Cultural Center, and Root Division, as well as Venice Arts in Los Angeles, CA, La Sala d’Ercole/Hercules Hall in Bologna Italy, and Casa Escorsa in Guadalajara, Mexico. Lucas has been an Artist in Residence at Montalvo Center for the Arts, Grin City Collective, and The Wassaic Artist Residency. Lucas received her BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and her MFA from Mills College.