SF: Neighborhood Art is both a Form of Protest and Escape

You’re all getting plenty of bad, scary, sketchy and frankly, infuriating news. I’m going to take a detour.

Literally, I did that today: took a detour from my normal Inner-Sunset scene and went to see the new mural in Noe Valley. September 27 saw the completion of muralist Mona Caron’s second of two 65 foot murals in this neighborhood. The art adds a populist sort of spice to Noe, which has sometimes been accused of being a well heeled parents and their eco-friendly strollers-only environment. Caron, together with her assistant, Ruth Elliot, touched on Noe’s long history in creating a piece that spans the past, the present, and a fantastical vision of the future. It includes all sort of San Franciscans, including some yet to be born. This is just what I’d hope from Caron, whose work includes ”The “Market Street Railway” and  ”The Duboce Bikeway,” gracing city corners with elements of race, culture, and class that give us our diversity.

Seeing this work reminds me that San Francisco murals make an excellent detour from regular life. We as residents are apt to forget this. We get caught up in work, housing, cross town traffic: we don’t take time to remember why we moved here in the first place. A mural tour is an excellent way to fall back in love with the city– and you can do it for cheap (even free).

The Mission is perhaps the most famous neighborhood for murals. You can Google “San Francisco Mission District Murals” and get examples and locations of these works, then plan a walking tour to enjoy them. If you prefer an educated tour, try Precita Eyes. This organization offers a variety of edifying adventures for the mural enthusiast, including private and special group tours. All are very affordable and include workshops/lectures as well as a chance to see the art.

Coit Tower offers another must see mural locale, this one dating back to the 1930’s and the New Deal.

From the same period are Diego Rivera’s murals, one at City College (Ocean Ave. campus) and another at the Art Institute on Chestnut Street. Both are available to you any time you want to see them, gratis.

If you live in the city and haven’t yet made the pilgrimage to our mural mecca, may I urge you to do so to help you feel better about the price you pay to house yourself here. If you’re planning on joining us, I also urge you to see our public art. In it, you see who we have been, are now, and will be– in a way that no Realtor, no blog, no Chamber of Commerce can ever impart.

Plan your tour! Related links:

• Recent Noe mural unveiling party:  “Noe Valley, SF.”
• Caron’s work: Mona Caron.com
• SF Gate article on Canon’s Noe murals
• San Francisco Murals, an overview at San Francisco.com

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photo credits: INEtours.com and Rivera Mural.com