Past Residencies

The 2024 King Artist Residency: Artist Aleo Landeta

Aleo Landeta (they/them) was the 2024 King Artist-in-Residence. Aleo Landeta is a trans and mixed-race visual artist and educator who centers queer joy as liberation through drawings, paintings, site-specific installations, and public programming. Their work reflects their lived experiences while celebrating the communities that have held space for them to live authentically. Landeta's background as an educator has taught them how to incorporate culturally responsive and developmentally appropriate frameworks for facilitating social practice art—whether that’s through a collaborative framework for individual portraits, interactive installations, or community workshops.

For their King Residency project Aleo Landeta focused on the lived experiences of the LGBTQAI+ community members residing and/or working in Palo Alto with the goal of sparking conversations about inclusion, equity, a sense of belonging and bringing Palo Alto’s diverse communities together through better understanding and compassion. The artist concluded the community engagement phase of their residency with a presentation for the Public Art Commission on January 16, 2025, and delivered a comprehensive project report along with Palo Alto Resources for the LGBTQ+ Community (can be accessed below). The culmination of the project was for Landeta to create a site-specific sculptural installation for the City Hall King Plaza which was installed June 2025.

Toward the Then and There, 2025. Aleo Landeta in collaboration with Kit Robbins. Hand-etched stainless steel, LED light, refurbished payphone with audio testimonies of queer and trans Palo Alto community participants. On view through Summer 2026. 

Toward the Then and There offers a place to pause, listen, and witness—holding ephemeral yet powerful stories that invite all visitors into the ongoing act of remembering, imagining, and becoming. As visitors walk the coil they see hints of their reflections mingling with gestural drawings on the exterior of the sculpture inspired by reference images from the Queer Silicon Valley Archive as well as through studio visits and conversations with queer and trans community members living and working in Palo Alto today, these figures are anonymous yet present, hidden yet seen. Lifting the phone receiver reveals oral testimonies collected through the Queeries Hotline, a voicemail created to gather responses to the prompt: “What do you wish residents of Palo Alto knew about your experiences as a member of the LGBTQ+ community?”

For their King Artist Residency project, Landeta explored themes of queer and trans presence, protection, and collective memory through this site-specific installation on King Plaza. Inspired by queer theorist José Esteban Muñoz’s idea of queerness as a horizon—a space of potential beyond the “here and now”—the work serves as both sanctuary and mirror, inviting visitors to reflect on their place within Palo Alto’s LGBTQ+ histories and to imagine a more inclusive future. Artist Kit Robbins joined the project as a key collaborator, offering conceptual insight and vital material expertise in developing and constructing the installation. The installation features a retrofitted payphone at its center, surrounded by a spiral path wrapped in polished stainless steel.  

The 2023 King Artist Residency

Artist Kirti Bassendine was the 2023 King Artist-in-Residence, focusing on diverse underserved communities residing and/or working in Palo Alto and experiencing socio-economic or housing instability. Kirti conducted her research phase and worked with Palo Alto Renters Association, Move Mountain View, Alta Housing, Karat School Project, Avenidas, and the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park to engage their communities in storytelling about housing and belonging in Palo Alto. Over the course of her six month community engagement period, Kirti Bassendine held workshops with residents of Buena Vista Mobile Home Park, Alta Housing, Move Mountain View, Avenidas, and the general public. Bassendine's Creative Community Engagement Report(PDF, 115KB) outlines the artist's project scope, methodology, and findings from her outreach.  

The 2022 King Artist Residency

Artist Rayos Magos, a San Jose-native Latinx mixed media artist, was approved by the Public Art Commission as the first Artist-in-Residence with the City of Palo Alto Public Art Program. His residency, Rituals of Resilience, included a six month community engagement process sparking conversations about culture, identity, belonging, and resilience, with a special focus on amplifying voices of Latinx and BIPOC community members and mental health service providers.

Rayos' documentation of personal stories and learned experiences has resulted in a final temporary sculptural artwork called Te Veo, Te Escucho, Te Honro (I See You, I Hear You, I Honor You) and will temporarily remain on view on King Plaza through the beginning of 2024. Artist Rayos Magos created a free downloadable Rituals of Resilience Artbook(PDF, 4MB). Use this artbook to color, draw, or express your thoughts about your rituals of resilience.