“(We want to) really give people some magic,” says artist and metal fabricator Cjay Roughgarden.

And that’s exactly what she’s doing with her interactive art installation, “Naga and the Captainess“, which opened in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park in July.

Smashing the myth

“Naga” is a 100-foot-long, 25-foot-tall sea serpent–with a story around him. He blows bubbles, inspires oohs and aahs when he lights up at night, and is designed to challenge the “evil sea serpent” mythology prevalent in the West.

Cjay, who is the proprietor of Richmond-based metal fabrication studio Element 26, explains that the catalyst for her project was a favorite childhood book: “Cyrus, the Unsinkable Sea Serpent”.

And from there, she began researching the lore of sea serpents. Ultimately, her goal of creating a more likable character led her to explore Asian culture’s positive view of dragons.

The result: Naga, with a friendlier face that tends to delight visitors.

“Naga and the Captainess”, which Cjay built in collaboration with fellow artists Jacquelyn Scott and Stephanie Shipman, debuted at Burning Man 2024. The full installation included a sinking ship, the Aldrovanda, which had a highly-detailed cabin, and treasure surrounding it.

And it was one of the most popular installations in Black Rock City.

Fast-forward to Summer, 2025.

After a four-month visit to the Petaluma Fairgrounds, Naga was on his way to San Francisco. The opening of the installation, Cjay explains, drew far more visitors than she’d anticipated.

A community of creatives

And the real treasure of “Naga”, is the community-building he inspires.

More than 250 volunteers worked on the installation, which Cjay and her team had four months to build after obtaining funding. Those volunteers did everything from calligraphy to sewing to handcrafting treasure.

“One of the things that I think is so special about projects like this, is that it brings together people in different fields,”Cjay says.

Future plans include considerable community involvement for the locals of San Francisco.

The vision for the future

A smaller version of the Aldrovanda, the Aldrovanda II, is planned for addition to Golden Gate Park, according to Naga and the Captainess’ website. And the final stage of the project, Stage III, envisions community programming, such as interactive theatre and hands-on artisan workshops, happening at the installation.

Would you like to help? 501(c)(3) nonprofit Illuminate, the project’s fiscal sponsor, has a link for donations.

Meanwhile, for updates on “Naga” (and to see a cool video of him blowing bubbles!), be sure to follow Naga and the Captainess on Instagram!

Cjay shared the story of creating and transporting “Naga and the Captainess”, previewed an exciting upcoming related art project and offered advice on what works best, for making a large-scale creative project a reality.

On this edition of Over Coffee®we cover:

• The creative journey that led Cjay to become an artist;

• How she fell in love with metal fabrication as an artistic medium;

• The engineering principles involved in getting the effects she’s envisioned, with her art;

• How she was first inspired to create “Naga and the Captainess;

• Her starting point, for this larger-than-life project;

• The point at which she knew the project would work!;

• The creative process of constructing “Naga” for Burning Man 2024;

• A closer look at the ways the story of Naga and the Captainess evolved, as Cjay and her team created the installation;

• How the community of volunteers created various elements of the Aldrovandra and surrounding treasure;

• The reason behind the name “Naga”, and the lore of sea serpents;

• Ways in which the serpent’s appearance evolved;

• Cjay’s favorite moment, from installing “Naga” in Golden Gate Park;

• How to support Stages II and III of the ongoing project;

• The ultimate vision for the installation in Golden Gate Park;

• Other types of support that may be needed;

• Guidelines for anyone imagining a future larger-than-life project;

• The new additional project, currently in the planning stages;

• Some of the other functional art works Cjay creates in metal, through her small business, Element 26.