The Civic Art Squad

The Civic Art Squad is an artist apprenticeship pathway from high school to creative professional and community development fields. Our Art Squad leaders are lead designers and community facilitators in all of our projects.

Each year, we maintain a 30+ person Art Squad network led by 6 Art Squad leaders/lead designers, collaborating with distinguished arts mentors, creative industry professionals and community leaders to make large scale impacts for communities in need in Oakland and across the Bay Area.

Sofia Lopéz

Civic 3D Designer - Builder/Drafter

Intern > Apprentice > Leader - 3 Yrs

San Francisco State - Interior Design 

JingYi Zhou

Muralist/Digital Designer/Builder

Intern > Apprentice > Leader - 4 Yrs

UC Berkeley in Art

Alana Landrum

Muralist/Digital Designer

Intern > Apprentice > Leader - 4 Yrs

Berkeley Community College Art

Lauryn Marshall

Sculptor and Painter

Intern > Apprentice > Leader - 5 yrs

Mills College Art and Psychology 

Tommy Wong

Civic Design Studio was founded and led by Tommy Wong, an Oakland-based, award-winning creative director and arts educator whose work is featured throughout the Bay Area. Tommy’s focus is on bridging city sectors to uplift underserved neighborhoods and communities. He curates and collaborates on hundreds of large scale permanent artworks, design builds and cultural celebrations across the Bay Area, and works closely with local schools and universities to blend education, art and community development. His work as a creative director and arts educator has garnered local, state, national and international honors, and was formerly inducted into the permanent US digital archives of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC. 

Tommy has also served for over a dozen years as Business District Director in 2 Oakland business districts, working with hundreds of small business owners, city and community leaders. For this he has received local, state and US Congressional honors. He is responsible for creating the current Oakland Chinatown Community Benefits District, as well as leading major capital and community campaigns across Oakland. He has been a lead advisor in the redevelopment of recreation centers, libraries, public spaces and schools, and is considered a leading cultural and educational ambassador in the Bay Area.

Myan Duong

Myan is the Operations and Finance Director for Civic Design Studio. She brings years of grassroots community development, administration and finance experience to our operations. Myan previously worked for Vietnamese American Community Center of the East Bay, where she was responsible for managing food and service programs that reached over 50,000 regional members. She oversaw local, county and state funding for the programs, and managed the Clinton Park Recreation Center in Eastlake Little Saigon in Oakland. Myan leads our fundraising and manages our portfolio of projects.

Civic Design Studio Production Crew:

Ariel Cabréra - Carpentry and Installations

Seth Marbin, Alex Uranga and James Forkum- CNC Technicians and Mentors

Civic Arts and Education Advisors:

Monica Ng, Tarika Lewis, Cece Carpio, Professor Clifford Lee, David Maduli, Angela Aguilar

Our Creative Community Partners: