Save The Bay Fellow Ruby Alvarado shares the inspiration behind her collaborative mural project, created as part of our Queer Affinity program. In this Bay Story, she reflects on the power of community and what she learned during her time with Save The Bay.
Hi! My name is Ruby Alvarado, and I’d love to share a bit about my Fellowship Project with Save The Bay.
This Fellowship Project is a chance for fellows to reflect on what they’ve learned, experienced, and expressed during their time in the program. At first, I struggled to figure out what I wanted to do. It sounds simple on paper, but trying to create something meaningful and original, especially something that previous fellows hadn’t already done, was a real challenge for me. I knew I wanted my project to be something visible, something that would last beyond my time here and show appreciation for self-expression and identity within Save The Bay. One of the things I’ve valued most during this fellowship is how welcoming and supportive everyone is, especially around self-identity. Most of my team, the Habitat Restoration Team HRT, is made up of BIPOC and Queer individuals. Being in that environment showed me just how important it is to show up as your full self. That realization inspired the core of my project so, I decided to create a mural.
I hadn’t done a large art project in over four years, so it was definitely nerve-racking and I was maybe even dreading it a little. But, I knew it would push me out of my comfort zone, and that made it worth doing. At first, I was hard on myself, unsure how it would turn out. But the excitement and encouragement from my team and others reminded me how impactful art can be. My manager Haymar Lim was incredibly helpful in figuring out the logistics, and my team was super supportive, constantly reassuring me that it was coming together great.
The mural is painted on a wood slab and will be hung on a wall of our Palo Alto Baylands nursery. It highlights native plants that the HRT team works with and reflects the identities of our team. I designed it as a paint-by-number mural so it could be a collaborative project. It was presented during one of our Queer Affinity programs in June, where volunteers were invited to take a break and help bring it to life through painting.
On the day we started painting, seeing everyone come together was honestly magical. People looked relaxed, joyful, and proud to be part of something communal.
This experience reconnected me with my artistic side and reminded me of how powerful art can be in building community and expressing identity. I’m so proud of what we created together.
