William Rhodes: TRIBUTE

Transmission Gallery is pleased to present William Rhodes: Tribute, a solo exhibition of recent quilts and threaded drawings, on view in our Small Space from September 19th through November 9th, 2025.

Rhodes’ work in the show pays tribute to his ancestors, both little known family and community members as well as publicly recognized leaders who have inspired him across the decades. Rhodes’ father, William C. Rhodes Jr., was the publisher of the Black Times Magazine from 1968-1978, a magazine that featured articles on Civil Rights activists and other Black heroes at a time their experience was largely minimized or excluded from main stream publications. Featuring a reproduction from the magazine as the centerpiece, the Angela Davis quilt honors both Davis and Rhodes’ father as activists and leaders. Encircling the Angela Davis image are Rhodes’ hand drawn and painted portraits of members of the community he serves as Intergenerational Community Arts Program Director at Bayview Services in San Francisco. Also in the exhibition, Free the NY21, a quilt produced in collaboration with Emory Douglas whose iconic imagery served to highlight oppression and police misconduct in Black Panther party publications from the ’60s and ’70s.

A series of small portrait drawings embellished with hand stitched red thread accompany the quilts. Honoring the leadership and accomplishments of those who came before him, Rhodes ties the past to present and future through the sewing stitch taught to him by his grandmother.

Originally trained in traditional woodworking and furniture design at the Baltimore School of Fine Arts and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Rhodes work blends fine art, craft and design with meaning and function. His public art works include four Bayview history quilts (San Francsico Arts Commission) and his work is included in the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Incorporating art in his role as a community activist, Rhodes co-founded the 3.9 Collective in San Francisco, and created an intergenerational art program in San Francisco’s Bayview. Recently he hosted a series of quilt workshops and interviews with seniors in Bayview/Hunters Point salvaging their stories and recognizing their contributions serving the country in the shipyards at Hunter’s Point. The culmination of this yearlong project with Stacey Carter is on view through October 5th, 2024, in the African American Shipyard History Quilts exhibition at the Hunter’s Point Shipyards, open Saturdays September 21, 28, and October 5, from 1 -5 p.m. Stacey Carter and William Rhodes will discuss the project at the Talk with the Artists, Saturday, October 5, 2-4 p.m. To RSVP for Free Tickets and for more information about the project: www.shipyardartists.com/african-american-shipyard-history-quilt-project/

Tribute will be on view in the Small Space at Transmission Gallery September 19th through November 9th, with the gallery open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, from noon to 5pm.

All are welcome to join us for the Artist’s Reception and a special Oakland Style Week event with William Rhodes on Saturday, October 12th, as designer Najee Strickland will be unveiling Blue Gold, a new collection of designs crafted from recycled denim. Inspired in part by Rhodes work, this collection aims to highlight the issue of overconsumption in fast fashion and the environmental impact reflected in the mountains of clothing found on the shores and in the oceans of Accra, the capital of Ghana. Stop in any time between 1 and 4 to greet Rhodes and Strickland personally and see their work, with a special Style Week Bus Tour stop scheduled for 4 pm when Strickland and Rhodes will each speak about their work to those gathered at the gallery. Want to get on the bus?! Click the link below for more info about the bus tour, or take your own transportation and check out any of the special Oakland Style Week events and exhibitions.