Arthur Warren Koch

Arthur Warren Koch was born on February 13, 1957, in Miami, Florida, to Lyle and Hank Koch.

His brother, Reed Koch, was born in 1959. Both of Arthur’s parents were artists who lived a

bohemian lifestyle, and Art showed an aptitude for art from a young age. When Arthur was seven

years old, his family moved to High Point, Missouri, where they lived on his grandparents’ farm.

In 1966, the family moved to California, Missouri, and then in 1968 to Columbia, Missouri, where

Art’s father worked as a photographer for the University of Missouri. Arthur’s parents were active

members of the Columbia Friends Meeting, and Arthur retained vivid memories of the Meeting

and of his parents’ involvement in social action, including taking him to numerous protests and

demonstrations.

Arthur left high school before graduating to join a Buddhist monastery. He later left the monastery

and traveled to Europe with his brother Reed following Reed’s graduation from high school. They

traveled widely throughout Europe and spent an extended period with their paternal grandmother

in Positano, Italy. When Reed returned to Missouri to attend college, Arthur remained in Europe,

where he studied art and Italian in London at the City Literary Institute and continued his education

in drawing, painting, printmaking, and art history at the Rutherford School of Art in Malaga, Spain.

In 1979, Arthur returned to Columbia and studied art at Columbia College. There he reconnected

with Lisa Magruder, whom he had first met in junior high school when she was thirteen years old

and who had also attended high school with his brother Reed. Arthur and Lisa became friends at

Columbia and went on a single date, during which Art told Lisa that he always knew they would

one day be together. It would be thirty years before that came to pass. After completing his studies,

Arthur worked on the restoration of Thomas Hart Benton’s mural at the Missouri State Capitol.

Arthur moved to San Francisco in the early 1980s, where he would live for more than forty years.

He began attending the San Francisco Friends Meeting while it was still located on Lake Street.

Arthur was a regular attender for many years, serving on the Hospitality Committee and often

preparing soup for Meeting for Business. He also participated faithfully in providing meals for

members and attenders who were homebound due to illness or injury. Arthur created the board

displaying photo portraits of members and attenders, most of which he himself took. In 2020 Art

led the effort to paint the BLACK LIVES MATTER sign on the front of the building following

the Meeting’s decision to do so in response to the murder of George Floyd. On December 13,

2020, Arthur was admitted into membership by convincement.

Arthur served for many years on the Peace and Social Concerns Committee, where he also acted

as clerk or co-clerk. His service was marked by a deep desire to do right in the world. He was

particularly close to David Hartsough and partnered with him in numerous actions throughout the

Bay Area. Arthur was also deeply involved in the Poor People’s Campaign, both locally and in

Washington, D.C. He was concerned about the potential use of robotics by the San Francisco

Police Department and worked to build an alliance with Hillary Ronen on the San Francisco Board

of Supervisors to oppose the robots deployment.

In 1987, Arthur met Amaralin Parrales while they were both living on Dolores Street in the Mission

District. They married, and in 1989 traveled to Nicaragua to visit Amaralin’s family farm,

returning to San Francisco with their son, Vladimir. Arthur and Vladimir shared an extraordinary

bond. Art raised Vladimir in a way that helped him develop an inner compass and a trust in his

own intuition, guiding him in knowing right from wrong. Father and son came to believe they were

both old souls, and Art often told Vladimir that he was likely Art’s father in another lifetime.

Vladimir remembered life in the Mission District on Jury Street, where after work his father would

come home and the two of them would build a model city out of cardboard cutouts and miniature

cars. Art taught Vladimir to paint with an airbrush so that the models looked realistic. Art’s

meticulous attention to detail and his joy in the creative process became qualities that Vladimir

carried into his own life. It was also during these early years that Art brought Vladimir to the San

Francisco Friends Meeting, where he became a regular participant in First Day children’s

programs.

In 1994, Art purchased the house on Girard Street, where he lived until the time of his death.

Vladimir recalled his father taking him along to view potential homes, seeking his input about

where they might live. When Vladimir graduated from high school, his parents divorced, and he

chose to live with his father. When Vladimir was twenty-two, he suffered a serious back injury

and was bedridden for nearly a year while recovering from surgery and painful rehabilitation.

During that time, he lived with Arthur, and with the support and care of both his parents, he

eventually recovered. It was a difficult period, yet one in which, with Arthur’s guidance, Vladimir

came to a deeper understanding of himself. He returned to school, developed marketable skills,

and—with his father’s encouragement—mastered visual presentation, eventually building a

successful career in website design and digital marketing. These skills enabled Vladimir to help

pay off the mortgage on the Girard Street home and to take his father on trips around the world,

including a return to Nicaragua, where Arthur connected with David Hartsough’s friend, the

activist Brian Willson. Arthur and Vladimir cherished their travels together and spoke of them

with lasting joy.

Arthur’s early career was spent as a 2D and 3D digital artist and animator, developing video games

before later transitioning into UI/UX design, creating functional and aesthetically engaging digital

experiences. He also worked as a freelance photographer and later created large-scale murals

throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

His zeal for painting and photography was inseparable from his passion for life. Through his

murals, films, photographs, and paintings, he captured both the beauty of the world and the harsh

realities that many turned away from. His art told stories of humanity, injustice, wonder, and

truth—leaving behind monumental murals, breathtaking images, vibrant films, and tender

paintings. His creative presence shone brightly. He loved to dress up, to dance, to laugh, and to

live fully. Everywhere he went, he left a mark—on walls, on communities, and on hearts.

Arthur was a lifelong activist. He stood up for what he believed was right and was deeply troubled

whenever he witnessed injustice. He was highly sensitive, took suffering personally, and

understood the importance of speaking out when others were harmed or ignored. In 2018, Art

acquired a drone and began using it to document political events and public actions. In his later

years, he participated in protests at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield concerning the shipment of

arms to Israel, creating large panel paintings used in acts of nonviolent resistance. He was arrested

on several occasions for these actions. He was also deeply involved in the No Kings protests.

Arthur documented many of these actions and other events, producing videos that he shared on his

YouTube channel, @ArthurKochStudio.

Around 2010, Arthur and Lisa reconnected. After graduating from Columbia College, Lisa had

married and raised three children. She moved to Folsom, California, in 1999 and divorced in 2010.

Art and Lisa reconnected through Facebook, and when Lisa visited San Francisco to go to the de

Young Museum, they met again and began a relationship. Over several years, they visited one

another in their respective homes and fell in love. In 2014, they moved in together. In 2015, they

established a gallery, studio, and event space, which they operated until the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March 2022, they relocated their studio to 153 Bacon Street, where they created a community

gathering space for the neighborhood that they maintained until Arthur’s death.

Arthur and Lisa were deeply involved in the Portola Neighborhood Association. Arthur painted

the mural Portola Long View, along with other public works in the district. Together, they

participated in the Steampunk movement in both the Sacramento area and San Francisco, blending

Victorian aesthetics with imaginative modern elements. They loved to dance, attend concerts, and

support one another’s creative lives, each encouraging the other to grow into the person they were

called to be. In 2023, they were married at City Hall.

Arthur and Lisa also shared a spiritual life. After Lisa moved to San Francisco, they attended

Sanctuary Church, where they studied the Bible and participated in marriage courses. Later, they

attended Christ for All Nations Lutheran Church in their neighborhood. In late 2025, while hiking

near Calistoga to celebrate their second wedding anniversary, they came upon a pool in a stream.

Lisa remarked that one could baptize someone there, and Arthur asked her to baptize him, which

she did. Near the end of his life, Arthur returned to Meeting to tell Friends that he was dying and

shared that after spending much of his life identifying as a Buddhist, he now understood himself

to be a Christian.

Arthur was passionate, honest, playful, and deeply sensitive. A phenomenal cook, a lover of music,

and a generous soul, he remained endlessly curious about the world. He spent his life doing good,

standing up for what was right, and advocating for the weak, the broken, and the forgotten. Even

when misunderstood, he continued forward with a heart that never stopped giving.

Arthur—mural painter, drone pilot, photographer, videographer, landscape painter, digital artist,

and animator—was a loving and devoted husband and father whose creative spirit overflowed into

everything he touched. Larger than life, he was a man of big dreams and boundless imagination,

always bringing a heightened sense of life to those around him.

Arthur’s legacy continues through the countless lives he touched, the art he created, and the love

he poured into the world. He lived a life full of vision, always dreaming of new art and new

adventures, even as his time was cut short. May his memory inspire all of us to live with purpose,

courage, and compassion.

He is survived by his loving wife, Lisa Magruder; his beloved son, Vladimir Parrales Koch; his

younger brother, Reed Koch, and sister-in-law, Suzanne DiLanzo; and two nephews.