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Carve marks and textures into clay tiles at this all-ages YBCA workshop, inspired by an exhibition exploring earthen and reclaimed materials.
All times are local to the venue · America/Los Angeles
The handwork stays close to the surface: participants learn to carve marks and textures on clay tiles, then take their artwork home. The Nov. 4 workshop takes its inspiration from an exhibition where Oakland studio Rael San Fratello brings earth and recovered materials into architecture and design.
The connection to “Rael San Fratello: Prototypes and Provocations” is an invitation to think about material, not a promise to learn the studio’s construction or 3D-printing methods. YBCA describes this workshop as carving clay tiles; the exhibition follows a much broader body of work by the Oakland architecture and design studio, founded in 2002 by Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello.
The exhibition moves from early experiments combining clothing and construction to projects focused on the U.S.-Mexico border and work that joins 3D printing with traditional earthen materials. Its centerpiece, “Sanctuary,” is a cylindrical structure 3D printed onsite from soil, straw and water. A display of printed objects also explores materials that are sustainable, upcycled or recovered from waste, including salt, Chardonnay grape skins, coffee grounds, clay, sawdust and ash from California wildfires.
The studio’s 2019 “Teeter-Totter Wall,” a series of bright pink seesaws installed along the U.S.-Mexico border, brings a social and political dimension to the material questions. The project invited exchange across the border, while the exhibition considers how architecture can shape social life and express or challenge power. That context offers a larger point of comparison for a workshop focused on what hands can do to a piece of clay; it does not mean the tile activity takes up the same subject.
Further reading: Free Art Workshop: Clay Tile Textures - YBCA ↗ · Rael San Fratello: Prototypes and Provocations - YBCA ↗
YBCA names Hitoshi Shigeta, Rea Lynn de Guzman, Gabby Severson and Brandi J Ynocencio as teaching artists, but does not identify which one will lead this session. Their biographies offer context about the artists, not a guarantee that their other practices will feature in the tile workshop.
Shigeta is an artist, art teacher and cartoonist whose teaching has reached visitors from school-age children to seniors. De Guzman is an interdisciplinary artist, curator and educator working in painting, print and sculpture; her work engages identity, cultural assimilation and the Filipinx diaspora, drawing on her experience as a Filipina immigrant. Severson, a mixed Indigenous visual artist and member of the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians, works across photography, beadwork, basketry and sculpture, with themes including identity, memory and culture. Ynocencio is a printmaker and painter who teaches art.
Further reading: Free Art Workshop: Clay Tile Textures - YBCA ↗ · Hitoshi Shigeta - YBCA ↗ · Rea Lynn de Guzman - YBCA ↗ · Gabby Severson - YBCA ↗ · Brandi J Ynocencio - YBCA ↗
This date in YBCA’s all-ages drop-in workshop series focuses on carving marks and textures on clay tiles. Materials are provided, and participants may take their artwork home.
YBCA lists one workshop session on this date.
The address is 701 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103.
YBCA describes the series as drop-in, but marks this session as free with registration. Use the event’s ticket link to register.
YBCA says materials will be provided and participants may take their artwork home.
YBCA describes the workshop series as welcoming participants of all ages.
“Rael San Fratello: Prototypes and Provocations” is scheduled to be on view Sept. 25, 2026, through Jan. 31, 2027. YBCA lists Wednesday gallery hours as 11 a.m.–8 p.m. and gallery admission as free on Wednesdays. That gallery policy is separate from the workshop’s registration requirement.
Rael San Fratello: Prototypes and Provocations - YBCA ↗ · Visit - YBCA ↗
YBCA says all public entrances are accessible. The Gallery & Forum Building has electric push-button doors at its 701 Mission Street and Garden Esplanade entrances, and elevators serve both buildings. Wheelchairs are available first-come, first-served; large-print exhibition guides are offered. Sign-language interpretation is available for YBCA programs with three weeks’ notice, and one caregiver accompanying a visitor with accessibility needs is admitted free.
Breastfeeding and bottle-feeding are allowed in public spaces. ADA service animals are welcome when leashed and under their handler’s control; pets, emotional-support animals and therapy animals are not permitted. These are venue-wide policies, not workshop-specific arrangements.
The workshop is in the Grand Lobby of YBCA’s Gallery & Forum Building. YBCA identifies 701 Mission Street as the main entrance for its galleries and forum; the theater entrance is at 700 Howard Street.
Free Art Workshop: Clay Tile Textures - YBCA ↗ · Visit - YBCA ↗
YBCA says the site is accessible by public transit, car, bicycle or on foot. Its visitor information does not list route-specific transit or parking details; use the linked map to calculate directions from your starting point.
Yes. YBCA lists the workshop as free with registration; use the event’s ticket link to register.
Materials are provided, and YBCA says participants may take their artwork home.
The exhibition is scheduled to be on view through Jan. 31, 2027. YBCA lists Wednesday gallery hours as 11 a.m.–8 p.m. and free Wednesday gallery admission; those terms are separate from workshop registration.
Rael San Fratello: Prototypes and Provocations - YBCA ↗ · Visit - YBCA ↗
701 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Map search by venue and address. Check the organiser’s entrance details before travelling.
Images from the linked sources. Each caption identifies the context of the image.
Event, planning and background information checked 2026-11-01 against the linked sources.