Street Artist Ricky Rat (S3E36)

Photography by Michelle KIlfeather

There's a battle going on in the world of San Francisco street art.

In Part 1, we get to know street artist Ricky Rat. Ricky's grandparents come from many different heritages. His parents moved to San Francisco, separately, in the '80s and met at a Halloween party in the Mission. Ricky spent some time with his dad (also a comic artist) in the Mission in the 1990s (fun fact—his dad took him to see Josiah Luis Alderete read poetry back in the day), but they moved up to Marin. In the podcast, Ricky shares what it was like to grow up there.

He went to UC Davis and graduated before returning to The City earlier this decade.

In Part 2, Ricky talks about his return to San Francisco after college. He talks about a few jobs he had leading up to the pandemic, when he started taking his cartoon art back to the streets. Ricky ends this podcast by sharing his hopes for the future of San Francisco.

Special shoutout to Uncle Damien for connecting us with Ricky.

We recorded this podcast at Fly Bar on Divisadero in September 2020.