The Peoples of the Canal

The People of the Canal

A Story of Thousands of Years

about the project

What’s the story?

San Rafael’s Canal, meeting the S.F. Bay shoreline, may have been visited or occupied by humans for tens of thousands of years, migrating from the north, most recently by the Coast Miwok for over ten thousand years, and today by more recent descendants of European, Asian and Pre-Columbian cultures. It is a story with hidden chapters. We propose to create it over two miles of the San Rafael Shoreline Path, an interactive timeline, a history of the people and their relation to the land and water, in the voices of its occupants, through archeology, written and spoken evidence, and creative imagination. This will be a collaboration of historians, scientists, artists, writers, and poets, and the living community of the Canal.

spotlight

Key Features

The story will be told at twenty interactive interpretive stations along the San Rafael Shoreline Path – in English and Spanish – to both adult and youth readers, with text and illustration, audio and video. The timeline will be logarithmically compressed, giving more space to recent than to ancient times.

Path Start

The journey begins at the southern end of the 2-mile path at the Jean and John Starkweather Park beach and parking area near the Marin end of the Richmond-San Rafael bridge.

Path End

The final station is at the Albert J. Boro Community Center and Pickleweed Park/Library with the present and a vision of possible futures for the Canal.

Rich Storek

Founder/Director The Canal Arts

The idea of balance in the landscape is important to this project. The lessons that we have to learn from the native population here and what they remember of it – the remainder of what used to be a very thriving population in all of California – was one of balance. They did not use the landscape. They lived in it, lived with it, and respected it”

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years of history

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interactive stations

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community partners

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miles of path

behind the scenes

Watch the video

Soar over the San Rafael Shoreline Path and see a simulated version of the signage installed.

upcoming

Imagine the Future

Slide to see the future exterior.

The People of the Canal Mural

A mural by Oscar Morales and Vladimir Cuevas, selected in an international competition, combines two mural projects into one image to depict the Canal’s history, immigration, cultures, and future. It will enliven the front exterior of the Albert J. Boro Community Center and Pickleweed Park/Library – the final station of the People of the Canal timeline.