Event designer Stanlee Gatti is known to throw some of the biggest parties in San Francisco (the Mayoral Inaugurations of Gavin Newsom and Willie L. Brown and receptions for likes of Elton John) featuring some of his amazing floral arrangements. So it wasn’t a huge stretch that the Conservatory of Flowers invited Gatti to be the first artist to create a large-scale, site-specific installation in their Golden Gate Park facilities.

Spark visited with Gatti as he explained his intent behind “ONE: An Earth Installation,” which ironically happens to be composed without using a single living organism except for a small grouping of cattails. His inspiration for this exhibit came from his reverence for nature and admiration of Native American culture.

Although Gatti has spent years building a name for himself within the San Francisco social scene, “ONE” marks his first public exhibition. However, Gatti is no stranger to the public art world either since he served as the president of the San Francisco Art Commission for nine years, starting in 1996.

Stanlee Gatti, a New Mexico native started out studying music, physical education, and art at the University of Northern Colorado. After some self-reflection he redirected his studies to the University of Oregon where he studied architecture and art history.

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