Born in the San Francisco Bay Area and raised in the small town of Latrobe, CA, Joey Rose found his passion for public art upon moving back to SF as a student at California College of the Arts. During his last few years at CCA, he also gained construction experience installing living walls with Habitat Horticulture. He obtained a C-33 Painting Contractors license shortly after graduating with a BFA in Illustration in 2017. Joey has since turned his passion for large-scale murals into a full career, spanning multiple cities including both private and public commissions. Most recently, earning a commission with the City of Santa Cruz to paint eleven murals for the City’s new Children’s Crisis Center and winning Grand Prize at Noisy Waters Mural Festival in Bellingham, Washington.
Joey is also an accomplished community organizer with a mission to advocate for our oceans. Since 2019, He has worked with the non-profit Pangeaseed Foundation. First as an artist in Maui, then as an operational team member in Santa Cruz, and in 2022 as Co-Director and Producer of Sea Walls Emeryville: a mural festival consisting of 17 artists from around the world painting 15 ocean-focused murals spread across the city.
With nature and local ecosystems as his main source of inspiration, he combines his technical know-how, his art practice and focus on community to paint meaningful, site-specific murals that last.
EDUCATION
CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS
2013-2017
San Francisco, CA
BFA in Illustration with Distinction
MURALS
2016 BALDWIN HIGH SCHOOL, 1 Mural, Wailuku, HI
2017 CCA DONOR GALA, 4 Murals, San Francisco, CA
2017 SONNY VICK’S PAVING COMPANY, 2 Murals, Waikapu, HI
2017 BRYANT STREET APARTMENTS, 1 Mural, San Francisco, CA
2018 EMERYVILLE GREENWAY, 2 Murals, Emeryville, CA
2018 HOALOHA FARMS, 1 Mural, Waikapu, HI
2019 PANGEASEED FOUNDATION’S SEAWALLS: MAUI, 1 Mural, Wailuku, HI
2019 POPSOCKETS, 2 Murals, San Francisco CA
2019 KIPLING RETAIL, 1 Mural, Livermore, CA
2019 7 STILLS MISSION TAPROOM, 2 Murals, San Francisco, CA
2019 SUNNYVALE STATE OF THE CITY, 1 Mural, Sunnyvale, CA
2019 7 STILLS 100 HOOPER TAPROOM, 1 Mural, San Francisco, CA
2020 PRIVATE RESIDENCE, 1 Mural, Latrobe, CA
2020 PANGEASEED HOME 2020, 1 Mural, Emeryville, CA
2020 FRANCISCO ST APARTMENTS, 1 Mural, San Francisco, CA
2020 ARTWORKS DOWNTOWN, 1 Mural, San Rafael, CA
2020 LOKELANI INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL, 1 Mural, Kihei, HI
2021 USERTESTING, 10 Murals, San Francisco, CA
2021 HABITAT HORTICULTURE, 2 Murals, Berkeley, CA
2021 SEA WALLS SANTA CRUZ, 1 Mural, Santa Cruz, CA
2022 UPSIDE FOODS, 1 Mural, Emeryville, CA
2022 RENEGADE.BIO, 1 Mural, Berkeley, CA
2023 MCQUEEN RESIDENCE, 1 Mural, Emeryville, CA
2023 BAY CITIES PYROTECTOR, 2 Murals, Emeryville, CA
2023 GILMAN STREET FAIR, 1 Mural, Berkeley, CA
2023 DIPPED, 1 Mural, Emeryville, CA
2023 FISHERMAN'S WHARF, 6 Murals, San Francisco, CA
2023 UPSIDE FOODS, 1 Mural, Emeryville, CA
2024 MCCOMBS RESIDENCE , 1 Mural, Kihei, HI
2024 FISHERMAN'S WHARF, 1 Mural, San Francisco, CA
2024 SAVE THE SNAKES, 1 Mural, Sacramento, CA
2024 HONOR RESTAURANT, 2 Murals, Emeryville, CA
2024 FISHERMAN'S WHARF, 1 Mural, San Francisco, CA
2024 EMERYVILLE VISUAL ARTS GRANT, 1 Mural, Emeryville, CA
2024 NOISY WATERS MURAL FESTIVAL, 1 Mural, Bellingham, WA
2025 BOTANICA, 1 Mural, Sacramento, CA
2025 FISH EMERYVILLE, 1 Mural, Emeryville, CA
2025 SUNSET DUNES, 1 Mural, San Francisco, CA
2025 CHILDREN'S CRISIS CENTER, 11 Murals, Santa Cruz, CA
2025 ARTWORKS DOWNTOWN, 1 Mural, San Rafael, CA
2025 FRANCIS PLACE, 1 Mural, Bellingham, WA
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2017-Present Licensed California State Contractor C-33 Painting and Decorating #1036970
2014 Appnexio Graphic Designer
2015-17 Maintained and Installed Living Walls for Habitat Horticulture
2016 Collaborated with local artists for a mural at Baldwin High School, Wailuku, HI
2018-Present Contract graphic artist for Popsockets LLC
2018 Collaborated with U.C. Berkeley’s Essig Museum of Entomology to design and complete two public, large-scale murals and corresponding interpretive signs for The City of Emeryville’s Greenway Park.
2018 Led and organized a team of Artists for the creation of a compost center mural on Hoaloha Farms, Waikapu, HI
2019 Chosen as a guest artist for Pangeaseed Foundation’s Seawalls: Maui. Donated mural for ocean awareness and education, Wailuku, HI
2019 Live mural painting for Sunnyvale’s State of the City 2019 Co-curated the 2019 CCA Illustration Alumni Gallery Show
2020 Assisted Edwin Ushiro at Pow! Wow! Mural Festival’s 10-year Anniversary
2020 Featured Artist and Panelist in Pangeaseed Foundation’s HOME 2020 Mural Festival
2020 Public Art project for the City of Dublin’s Butterfly Knoll Park with an emphasis on Community Engagement and native butterflies
2020 Judge for Bow Seat's Ocean Awareness Youth Art Competition
2020-21 Core Team member for Pangeaseed Foundation’s Seawalls Mural Festival: Santa Cruz
2021-22 Co-Director and Producer of Sea Walls Emeryville: Artists for Oceans: a Mural Festival featuring 17 international and local Artists
2022 Created label illustrations and graphics for Seven Stills full line of Canned Cocktails
2023 Designed core branding including logo, illustrations, label designs, type guidelines, and vehicle wraps for Boring Rose Brewery and Nursery
2024 Live Painting for Save the Snakes Festival
2024 Participating Artist in 111 Minna Gallery's Lust For Life Show
2024 Awarded Emeryville's Visual Art Grant
2024 Awarded Grand Prize at Noisy Waters Mural Festival
2025 1 of 10 Artists selected to paint a ground mural at San Francisco's Sunset Dunes Park
2025 Painted 3 Exterior and 8 Interior murals for the City of Santa Cruz's first Children's Crisis Center.
2025 Commissioned to paint a large-scale mural in Downtown Bellingham for Francis Place - a low income housing facility.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
The City of Emeryville, CA
The City of Wailuku, HI
The City of Santa Cruz, CA
PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA
CCA News Room. “CCA alumni captivate a local city with new public art and a bold message” California College of the Arts, 25 Oct. 2022, https://www.cca.edu/newsroom/alum-bring-sea-walls-to-emeryville/
Irizarry, Alyssa. “Meet a Wavemaker: Artists Alexandra Underwood & Joey Rose.” Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs, Bow Seat, 27 Feb. 2019, bowseat.org/news/meet-a-wavemaker-artists-alexandra-underwood-joey-rose/.
Tanji, Melissa. “Painting Wailuku town in ‘Sea Walls.”’ Maui News, 29 Jan. 2019, www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2019/01/painting-wailuku-town-in-sea-walls/
Oboyski, Peter. “Ascend with Bay Area Insects.” Essig Museum of Entomology, 10 Oct. 2018, essig.berkeley.edu/ascend/.
Towne, Erika. “Sunnyvale's State of the City Address a Breath of Fresh Air.” The Silicon Valley Voice, 18 Sept. 2019, www.svvoice.com/sunnyvales-state-of-the-city-address-a-breath-of-fresh-air/.
Streetartsf. “Riding with Insects.” Street Art SF, 27 June 2018, streetartsf.tumblr.com/post/175289666439/riding-with-insects-joey-rose-west-by-midwest.
GRANTS AND AWARDS
2013 El Dorado Arts Council Scholarship
2013-17 Lucille Knutson Leslie Scholarship
2024 Visual Art Grant - City of Emeryville
2024 Grand Prize - Noisy Waters Mural Festival
TEACHING
2016 Hui No’eau Camp Kaluanui Teaching Assistant, Makawao, HI
2016 Ponderosa High School Art Program Guest Speaker, Shingle Springs, CA
2016-17 Robert Hunt Teaching Assistant CCA Illustration Department, San Francisco, CA
2018 Professional Practice Guest Speaker CCA Illustration Department, San Francisco, CA
2019 Professional Practice Guest Speaker CCA Illustration Department, San Francisco, CA
2020 Professional Practice Guest Speaker CCA Illustration Department, San Francisco, CA
2022 Guest Speaker at The University of San Diego, San Diego, CA