Welcome to Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, Emily chats with Ron Saunders, a landscape architect and artist in San Francisco. She visited Ron at his studio at the Minnesota Street Project, and he talked about becoming a landscape architect, why he likes public art projects, and starting a group for Black artists.About Artist Ron Saunders:Ron Moultrie Saunders, a co-founding member of the 3.9 Art Collective, is a photographic artist and landscape architect. Originally from Jamaica, Queens, New York, he currently lives in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco. He creates photograms: photographs that are made without the use of a camera. His art work is in the San Francisco Arts Commission Civic Art Collection for projects he completed for the San Francisco Library, Linda Brooks-Burton Bayview Branch, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, Laguna Honda Hospital and, Public Utilities Commission New Headquarters in San Francisco. He was commissioned to create works for VM Ware, Inc. in Palo Alto, CA and Dallas, TX and, for The San Francisco Travel Association (formerly SF Convention and Visitors Bureau) new offices. His art has been exhibited throughout the US including “The Secret Life of Plants”, solo shows (San Francisco International Airport and CordenPotts Gallery, San Francisco, CA), and group shows "Echoes of Bauhaus Photography Cast Long Shadows" at Ruth's Table, San Francisco, California (2020),“Self:Scape” at Middlesex County College, New Jersey(2012), “Exposed: Today’s Photography/Yesterday’s Technology” (San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art), “Measure of Time”(Oakland Museum of California at City Center). His work is published in several books including “Self Exposure: The Male Nude Self-Portrait” and “From Art to Landscape”. Recently he completed an artist-in-residence at STAR (Shipyard Trust for the Arts) in the Hunter’s Point Shipyard in San Francisco. His studio is located at Minnesota Street Project Studio in the Dogpatch area of San Francisco.Visit Ron's Website: www.RonMSaunders.comFollow Ron on Social Media: @RonMSaunders on InstagramFor more on the Black Space Residency, CLICK HEREFor more on the Three Point Nine Art Collective, CLICK HERE--About Podcast Host Emily Wilson:Emily a writer in San Francisco, with work in outlets including Hyperallergic, Artforum, 48 Hills, the Daily Beast, California Magazine, Latino USA, and Women’s Media Center. She often writes about the arts. For years, she taught adults getting their high school diplomas at City College of San Francisco.Follow Emily on Instagram: @PureEWilFollow Art Is Awesome on Instagram: @ArtIsAwesome_Podcast--CREDITS:Art Is Awesome is Hosted, Created & Executive Produced by Emily Wilson. Theme Music "Loopster" Courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 LicenseThe Podcast is Co-Produced, Developed & Edited by Charlene Goto of @GoToProductions. For more info, visit Go-ToProductions.com