“…I’ve missed you a lot and hope that we can be together soon…” These campesinos in Nicaragua are demonstrating signs of resistance. This heartbreaking mural is embedded with memories of the war and separation in El Salvador. This delightful mural illustrates one of my favorite children’s books: Where the Wild Things Are. This collaboration of nine artists talks about how women are empowering themselves globally and fighting political battles. This 3-D mural represents myths and history from El Salvador. In the Mission, Precita Eyes is very intentional about sourcing local residents, which I believe contributes to the long lasting nature of so many of the murals along the 24th street corridor. For instance, Honolulu’s POW!WOW! street art festival does provide some smaller spaces for local artists to participate, but the large art pieces tend to be from world class global artists. This sort of inclusive ethic is very unusual for street art cities.
#Wall art walking into the waves professional
You’ll find a mix of professional artists and regular community members collaborating on the works. They pride themselves on engaging the community in the mural design and execution. On Balmy and Lucky streets, you begin to see some of the commissioned works that were coordinated by Precita Eyes. Alexander Tadlock (who also goes by Crayone) has done quite of few murals in the Mission. One of several collaborations between Sidy, Nite Owl and Ham. There is a lot of turnover on these two streets and the works don’t stay up forever. There is a lot of tagging, stylized graffiti in the alleyways. These two San Francisco mural alleys are notable for their edgier work. If you get off the 24th Mission Bart station, simply head east. Read More: Go beyond San Francisco and find more great street art cities around the globe. Use this map to find all of the Mission mural locations: These streets and some other specific mural locations are noted on the Mission mural map below. This area includes side streets like Lilac Street Alley, Cypress Street Alley, Lucky Street and Balmy Alley.Ĭlarion Alley is also a hot location for street art and it’s also worth checking out the nearby Women’s Building. The greatest profusion of murals and graffiti are located along the 24th street corridor between Mission and York streets. There is street art all over the Mission but three primary locations are absolutely thick with it. Where to Find the San Francisco Mission Murals Read More: If you are mad for murals, check out this guide for the best places to find street art in California. But the Mission District murals are a mindfully curated movement that is very specific to San Francisco. For instance, San Diego’s Chicano park murals were developed as part of a Chicano protest movement and Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood also has Latino themed street art. Other cities have also seen this sort of community driven murals. They have cataloged hundreds of street art pieces, credited to specific artists, scattered throughout the 143 square blocks of the mission. Precita Eyes, a nonprofit devoted to the development and restoration of community art, rode the wave of interest in street art. This creative environment proved fertile ground for the street art movement and murals began springing up.
In the ’70’s an arts scene developed in the Mission and art spaces, galleries, film festivals and street performances came to life. Development of the Mission District Murals The current wave of settlement includes dot-com workers and gentrification.Īll of this history is relevant to the Mission District because so many of the murals illustrate SF’s immigrant history and political landscape. The population shifted yet again during the ’40-’60s with the influx of Mexican and Central American Immigrants. During the Gold Rush the neighborhood became housing for working-class German, Irish and Italian immigrants. The neighborhood is called “The Mission” because of the establishment of Mission Dolores by Francisco Palou in 1776, settling the area with Spanish-Mexican families. The Mission’s original residents were the Yelamu people who settled what is now San Francisco 4500 years ago. The origins of the Mission are older than San Francisco itself and its history is a revolving door of settlers and immigrants. Oh yea, it also includes eye candy…lots and lots of eye candy. This San Francisco mission murals guide will give you background on the urban art movement in the neighborhood, tell you where to find the murals (including a map) and suggests some guided tours. While there is street art all over San Francisco, the Mission has a highly concentrated brew of images and messages that are very particular to the neighborhood.
The Mission District murals offer a visual history lesson on the immigrant experience, gentrification and modern politics.