Five years ago, my artist residency began… but I didn’t realize the anniversary had passed until today.

I still can’t believe it happened.

Six years ago, I wasn’t even calling myself an artist. The “A” word. Don’t you need special training to be an Artist? Or a degree or something?

But I was deep into making butterfly automata. You know, just for fun. One day, I told Susan Ryan I wanted to teach a class on them. She was the director of Playland at 43rd, a community center in the Outer Sunset.

She said, “Why don’t you apply for the artist residency here?”

I was stunned. Me? An artist in residence? What would I even show?

But I was also fired up. I promised myself, if I could make four kinetic art pieces inspired by the Sunset District, I’d apply. So I spent most of 2019 doing just that.

I built a model of the Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park. A kinetic sculpture of a chaotic intersection, based on Nextdoor complaints. A fortune teller named after our local weather, Karl the Fog.

And the centerpiece: Sunset in Motion. A model streetcar rolling past watercolor postcards of Sunset homes.

I wasn’t quite finished when I applied. But I got in.

Six weeks. Starting January 16, 2020.

I had two months to finish everything. Could I pull it off?

Find out in Part Two tomorrow.