Jill McLennan – Ancestral Pathways
October 10 – November 15, 2025
- Oakland Style Week Tour: Saturday, October 11, 11:30- 12
- Artists’ Reception: Saturday, October 18, 3 – 5 pm
- Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, November 7, 5 – 9 pm
- Artists’ Talk: Saturday, November 15, 2 – 3:30 pm
Jill McLennan’s prints and poems depict humans and animals moving along ancestral pathways of migration. McLennan created this series while working as an Artist in Residence at Kala Art Institute in Berkeley. She printed her linoleum block images with haiku poems using the letterpress technique and a Vanderhoop Press. The series began with the story of a man who had escaped from Yemen to Africa on a rowboat with a cow. Inspired by her friend, Collin, and his song, Every Step you Take is a Migration, she began to seek out other migration stories. She discovered animal migrations that have been altered by humans due to habitat destruction, such as giraffes being transported by truck. She read stories of the people risking their lives to travel across borders seeking new homes. When the Klamath river dams were taken down and salmon began to swim up the river again, she carved the story of the Salmon People. “I am processing the shadows we have cast on our beloved natural world and sharing the stories of those who wander searching for light.”
Jill McLennan
Jill McLennan creates paintings, collages and prints inspired by her surroundings and the stories that she collects. She has been a member of Mercury 20 Gallery since 2007. She is an active member of her neighborhood, Jingletown Arts, Business + Community (JABC), organizing Open Studios as well as beautification projects. She recently printed a series of linoleum blocks with poems, telling stories of migration and climate change, through a residency at the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, CA. McLennan has completed two public art projects: Jingletown Birds at 401 Derby and Emeryville Perspectives at 65th and Christie Streets. Both are cut steel fences depicting the local shoreline with birds, designed by McLennan and executed by local metal fabricators. Her work was accepted to the deYoung Open in 2020 and 2023. As an artist and teacher, she is deeply invested in protecting her environment, inspiring the youth, and spreading hope and joy into the world.