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Parkeology excavates social histories of civic space through public art projects. We think old places like parks or museums are grounds for new forms of intimacy. We treat museum collections as arenas for storytelling, and streets and parks as hidden archives.

Originating in Balboa Park, San Diego, Parkeology has developed performances, videos, and exhibitions throughout the United States and Europe with museums, guilds, nonprofits, community centers, and history centers. Founded in 2015, Parkeology is a nomadic institution that works with artists, activists historians, community groups, and scientists. All projects are free to the public and grant supported.

True to our our motto—“in dust we trust.” Dust can tell you a lot: it is the dandruff of monuments and castoffs. Our projects begin by digging through the many truths that form a dust cloud around one artifact, parking lot, or border fence. What emerges from this research can vary between an experimental concert for 500, a play for 1,000, or an intimate sound installation for 3.

Through our programs, we work to connect segregated communities and highlight narratives that often don’t make it into the historical ledger. We work closely with our collaborators—over the course of months to years—to develop projects that are sensitive and thought provoking.

Cloud Factory
Documentary Video,
2021

Cloud Factory is a short documentary video about the phenomena of hundreds of people growing up in a rural Washington town and believing their local oil refinery was instead a fairy city, a cloud factory, or Disneyland.

Mira Mesa Community Park Public Art Commission,
2019 - 2022

The Shadow Grotto project is a proposed public art project by Kate Clark, lead artist of Parkeology. The City of San Diego has commissioned Kate to create a site-specific artwork for the Phase II improvements to Mira Mesa Community Park.

What You Have Become
Public Art Commission,
2018 – 2020

We’ve been commissioned by 4Culture and The Washington State Convention Center to interpret the history of an artist lead design of a Seattle transit hub in the ‘80s. For the past two years, we’ve been salvaging tiles, light poles, planters made by these artists.