artist curator designer educator filmmaker journalist photographer writer
Beltran was born on June 22, 1977, in Sacramento, California, and has developed her professional and artistic career in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work has connected studio practice with public art, civic cultural policy, education, journalism, and environmental sustainability.
Beltran earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Oregon, a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her education combines scientific, legal, and fine-arts training, a combination reflected in her later work across art, design, public policy, and sustainability.
Beltran began exhibiting professionally in the 1990s and has worked across visual art, design, photography, filmmaking, writing, curating, and education. Her practice includes interactive installations, public art, video projections, short art films, photography, and collaborations involving digital technology and materials. Notable projects include the interactive Magic Story Table, the Downtown Mirror public-art installation in San Jose, the Evolution film commissioned for the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time project, and the Cinema Snowglobe series created with Scott Minneman. Her work has been presented at or associated with institutions and exhibitions including the Walker Art Center, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the de Young Museum, the Exploratorium, the Getty Institute, Ars Electronica, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and international venues in Russia, China, Belgium, Austria, and Italy. As a journalist and writer, she has contributed art, design, and culture criticism to SFGate, the Huffington Post, Visual Art Source, and Fabrik Magazine. Beltran served on the San Francisco Arts Commission from 2009 and was its president from 2011 through 2018; during that period she participated in cultural-policy, grants, public-art, education, and conservation initiatives, represented Mayor Edwin Lee at the 2013 World Mayors Economics and Culture Conference, and helped develop a public-art trust and the Yerba Buena Community Benefits District Master Art Plan. From July 2011 to January 2012 she served as interim director of cultural affairs for the commission. She was faculty at the San Francisco Art Institute from 2001 to 2018 and directed its City Studio youth arts-education program from 2011 to 2018, raising $450,000 from foundations and donors. She taught and directed programs at California College of the Arts, including founding and directing its Center for Impact from 2017 to 2019. Since 2022 she has taught design at San Francisco State University. In 2019 she founded and became director of the Center for Creative Sustainability, a consulting initiative focused on collaborations, education, legislation, and sustainable materials and practices. In 2025 she became a co-founder and co-executive director of Art + Water, an artist-residency and exhibition initiative in San Francisco.
Created the Downtown Mirror public-art installation in San Jose, named one of the most outstanding public artworks in the United States in the 2009 Public Art Network Year in Review.
Created the Cinema Snowglobe interactive-media series with Scott Minneman, an internationally exhibited work combining video, design, and physical interaction.
Developed the Magic Story Table interactive installation, selected by ID Magazine in 2010 as one of the top international interactive-media projects.
Authored and curated the Yerba Buena Community Benefits District Master Art Plan for downtown San Francisco.
Raised $450,000 in foundation and donor funding for the City Studio youth arts-education program at the San Francisco Art Institute from 2011 through 2018.
Founded the Center for Creative Sustainability to develop collaborations, education, legislation, and sustainable-materials initiatives.
(Beltran co-authored the foreword, authored the postscript...)
2013Beltran’s documented professional work emphasizes the use of art, design, education, and civic collaboration to address social and environmental challenges. Through the Center for Creative Sustainability and related academic and cultural initiatives, she has focused on sustainable materials, climate-change education, creative reuse, and the relationship between cultural activity and public life.
Beltran has participated in professional and civic arts organizations throughout her career. She served as a commissioner and later president of the San Francisco Arts Commission, held board and committee roles connected with the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, and has been associated with the Recology Artist Residency Program and San Francisco Design Week. She is also a longtime member of the San Francisco Writers Grotto.
Longtime member.
San Francisco Writers Grotto , United States
Commissioner, executive committee member, visual arts committee member, vice president, and president.
San Francisco Arts Commission , United States
2009 - 2018
Board member and vice president; chaired the marketing committee.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts , United States
2007 - present
Member of the Exhibitions and Public Programs Committee.
Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture , United States
2015 - 2019
Quotes from others about the person
Beltran has been publicly recognized for her contributions to San Francisco’s arts community. Mayor London Breed proclaimed December 3, 2018, “JD Beltran Day in San Francisco,” honoring her service as president of the San Francisco Arts Commission.
Beltran has collaborated with artists, designers, writers, educators, scientists, civic agencies, and cultural institutions. Her documented creative collaborators include Scott Minneman, Dave Aju, Nick Lally, neuroscientist Bevil Conway, artist Leah Rosenberg, and her son Sebastien Bachar. She co-founded Art + Water with writer Dave Eggers and co-directed the initiative with René de Guzman.
Collaborated with Beltran on two short films exhibited at the 2017 Anima Mundi exhibition in Venice.
Co-founder of Art + Water.
Collaborated with Beltran on the Cinema Snowglobe, Portable Portraiture, and other interactive works.
