Upstream is an artist-run micro residency located on the unceded lands of the Me-wuk (Southern Sierra Miwok), Chukchansi, Yokuts and Chikchansi, in a rural town close to Yosemite National Park. Held once a year by Meghana Bisineer and Charlotte Law, and founded by Pree and Maya Kolari, Upstream began as a conversation and an offer of time and space. Flush with enthusiasm this offer quickly shape-shifted into a bigger idea: to gift that time and space to others.
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Instead of taking a residency we made one.
Three years on, Upstream has taught us much and strengthened our connections along the way, with brilliant, creative minds joining as our selection committee, and as artists in residence.
As the world lurches in ways that destabilize us all, Upstream acts as a buoyancy aid and each year offers multiple reasons to keep going.
We’re so grateful to our founders, to the artists that come, and to those that apply but don’t quite make it too. When Upstream started we had a personal, dreamy wish, that friends would make it over from other places we’ve called home, instead Upstream has been a place where artists gather and build community, art and friends are made and our home expands.
Curated by Meghana Bisineer and Charlotte Law
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April 17th - May 2nd ​
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Three Years Upstream​​
Opening April 17th 5-9pm
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Closing May 2nd 12-6pm​​
Spanning Dream Farm Commons & the Annex space, this exhibition will be a celebration of the 20 artists that have joined us over the first 3 years of Upstream
Trans-disciplinary in spirit Three Years Upstream encompasses animation and moving image, beading, sculpture, works on and with paper, comics, theatre, field-work photography and spoken word, new media interactive experiences, instrument building, field recording and experimental sound.
For the closing Dream Farm Commons will host a special performance at 2pm by Teatro Almas Libres with a reading from their third play Motherland, followed by a q&a.
Motherland honors immigrant mothers, working mothers, ancestral matrilineal wisdom, and was written by the women of Teatro Almas Libres in collaboration by Jackie Katz during her residency in 2025.
Exhibiting Artists
Aabha Sewak (NYC, India, Animation)
Angie Amero (SF, Animation)
Anna Firth (Oakland, Animation and Sculpture)
Claire Rabkin (Oakland, 2d works on paper)
Emily Zullo (NYC, Comic)
Emma Fenton-Miller (Oakland, Handmade paper and pigments, within an artist book)
Gabi Orion (SF, Music and Sensory Installation)
Helen Shewolfe Tseng (SF, Drawing, New Media Interactive Experience and Animation)
Jackie Katz (Marin, Theatre)
James Thacher (NYC, Animation)
Jillian Blackwell (Detroit, Beadwork)
John Konrad (Tucson, Comic)
Kyungwon Song (Oakland, New Media Interactive Experience and Animation)
L Song Wu (Stanford, Drawing and Painting)
Mary Welcome (Palouse, Field Work)
Roger Kim (Oakland, New Media Interactive Experience and Animation)
Sarah Grace Graves (Belgium, Experimental Voice)
Vic Wong (SF, Instrument Building and Music)
Ximaps Dong (SF, Drawing and Sculpture)
Yasmeen Abedifard (Oakland, Comic)