Lance Rivers
b. 1967, San Francisco ∙ CE artist since 2002
Photo by Elliot Busch-Wheaton
Lance Rivers’ (b. 1967, San Francisco) art practice visualizes his assertion of the local as monumental. "My work is about landscape, architecture, bridges, tunnels, and transportation. I am inspired by BART, MUNI buses, streetcars, and trains. I like nature, too. These things are interesting to me," Rivers explains. His work reflects his lifelong love of the Bay Area, the beauty and complexity in simple industrial compositions, and the elements of functional architecture that make up a city.
When Rivers travels, he can usually be seen carrying his point and shoot camera, ready to capture the beauty around him. When he’s not behind the camera, he begins his artistic process by researching specific types of architecture or transportation, then finds a suitable reference photo to sketch. Rivers often practices his sketches by tracing over the reference itself several times and in several sizes, a technique for perfecting the scaling and perspective of his pieces once he transfers them to the blank page. His pencil drawings are enlivened by layers of colored pencil, which reflect the hues of the natural scene he is referencing.
Rivers has been working at Creativity Explored for over twenty years, and has been featured in over fifty group exhibitions throughout his illustrious career. In 2016, he was nominated for SFMOMA’s prestigious SECA Art Award. Rivers’ work has been exhibited internationally, including in prominent exhibitions such as the People's Biennial at Museum of Contemporary Art, in Detroit, Michigan, in 2014; and Create, a traveling exhibition that first opened at UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in 2011. His work can be found in the permanent collections of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive and the Oakland Museum of California.
Select Exhibitions & Projects
2026
“Pretty City,” Creativity Explored, SF, CA
2025
“Limitless,” Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
2023
“Into the Brightness,” Oakland Museum Of California, Oakland, CA
“Old Friends/ New Friends,” Creativity Explored, SF, CA
2021
“Blackiful,” Creativity Explored, SF, CA
2020
The park "a darling walk for the mind", Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Local Lens, Rare Device, San Francisco, CA
2019
Cityscape, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
We The City: Architecture and the City Exhibition, American Institute of Architects, San Francisco, CA
Creativity Explored at Cutting Ball Theatre, San Francisco, CA
2018
Faces and Places in the City, Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Library, San Francisco, CA
Way Bay, UC Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
Transcendent, San Francisco Zen Center, San Francisco, CA
"From" All Over the Place, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, San Francisco, CA
5 and 2 Others, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2017
Secret City Exhibition, AIASF and Center for Architecture + Design Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Lance-scape Architecture, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2016
Tabula Rasa, Creativity Explored , San Francisco, CA
2015
Here, There and Everywhere, Sheffer Gallery, Sydney, Australia
A Beautiful Place To Be, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2014
People's Biennial, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Detroit, Michigan
A Curious Menagerie, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Create, Museum of Art at Washington State University, Pullman, WA
2013
Outsider Artists, Oakland International Airport, Oakland, CA
Outside In: The Art of Inclusion, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, Ireland
Create, Boca Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL
artMRKT, Fort Mason Center - Festival Pavilion, San Francisco, CA
2012
(Pre)Fabricators, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Fabricators, Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Spanning the Bay, Oakland International Airport, Oakland, CA
2011
Outlandish, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
SMALL, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Create, University of California Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
The Masters, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Black and White and Read All Over, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2010
Ritual/Habitual, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2009
"Science" Fiction, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
TV and Me, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Legend: Myth and Memory, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Tasty, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2007
Shadowshine, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2006
Sacred Places, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Vessels, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Notables, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2005
Mindful, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Wear to Go, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Aliens: the Green Ones, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2004
You Are Here, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Functionable, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Critters, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Heads n' Tails, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2003
Fired and Wired, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Japanese Rock n' California Roll, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
LIT: Lamps, Lanterns, and Shadow, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
