The durability of murals in the city of San Francisco stands in stark contrast to the ever-changing array of murals in New York City. They weather gracefully, and are rarely tampered with. But even more striking is the range of topics depicted in these murals. While the evolving display in New York City seems to be inspired by the often quirky or idiosyncratic experiences of urban life, I have found that the visual narrative of San Francisco murals has drawn its inspiration from a collective memory of sorts, and is rooted in the distinctive history and development of the city and its communities.
Like cherished pages in a photo album, many San Francisco murals portray the city’s singular features — the bridges and architecture, the ocean and the Bay, the hills and the mountains — recalling bygone eras and events. Whether commissioned to adorn public places, or spurred by enterprising individuals who left their mark in narrow alleys off the beaten path, many murals allude to the city’s past, and celebrate its cultural and ethnic diversity: The Mission and Chinatown, the Beats and the flourishing of jazz, the flower children and the upheaval of the 1960’s, and the AIDS epidemic.
But beyond history San Francisco murals also draw on the here and now. A significant number of murals — in particular those focusing on the occult, as well as those advocating for social justice — take their inspiration from the values, culture and politics that are shared by certain groups or communities. Ethnic and religious myths, as well as new-age imagery, can be found in many murals that depict monsters, dragons and strange creatures of all kinds. They are embedded in the local cultural memory, and easily recognized within the community. On the other hand, the murals advocating and demanding social justice are clearly rooted in current national and local politics.Yet they employ the passion and ardor often seen in the murals of the occult.Notable among these are issues concerning the plight of undocumented immigrants, and encroaching gentrification in many neighborhoods — revealing new voices, and urgent pleas for preservation of the city’s local color and diversity. While “money talks” in the changing urban landscape, protest, resentment, and doubt are vociferously expressed on city walls. And the future is in the making.
I draw on these themes in the following five chapters: