Proyecto Mission Murals examines the origins of the community mural movement in San Francisco’s Mission District over close to two decades, from 1972 to 1988. Created in collaboration with community partners, the project includes documentation of murals created in the Mission District between 1972 and 1988, accompanied by reference images. It also features materials generously provided by the muralists themselves, the Mission community members and organizations that have supported their work, and scholars and journalists who have chronicled their activity, including interviews, essays, a documentary film, an audio zine, primary sources, and new artist biographies.
The interdisciplinary nature of Proyecto Mission Murals reflects the complexities and richness of the community mural movement. Rather than a cohesive or seamless narrative, this project conveys its wide-ranging aesthetics, the diversity of its participants, its changing nature, and the perpetual challenges faced by its artists.
Take an audio stroll through San Francisco’s Mission District and learn about the murals seen throughout the neighborhood and the artists who collaborated to create them. Local writers Olivia Peña and Josiah Luis Alderete interweave their perspectives on the history of the Mission Muralismo movement with stories from the muralists themselves.
This is an oral history interview of curator, critic, author, visual artist, and educator Amalia Mesa-Bains. She reflects upon her interactions with Mujeres Muralistas, her work as arts commissioner, her MacArthur Foundation fellowship, and her partnership and life with her husband, Richard, and the influence of her friendships with Luis Valdez and Ralph Maradiaga.
This oral history is only available as a downloadable transcript.
This is an oral history interview of lawyer Brooke Oliver. She reflects on how her law career placed her at the forefront of visual arts legislation in the United States and discusses the cases she has defended in front of the Supreme Court; her law practice; and social justice issues related to race, sexual orientation, and gender expression.
This is an oral history interview of muralist and artist Carlos “Kookie” Gonzalez. He delves into his career as an artist and probation officer, and also talks about his friendship and work with muralists Susan Kelk Cervantes, Michael Ríos, and Ray Patlán. Gonzalez describes the importance of music in his life and his current projects after retirement.
This oral history explores Méndez’s early life in Venezuela, her upbringing in the United States, her relationship with her parents, her work shaping and creating art as one of the founders of the legendary art collective Las Mujeres Muralistas, and her role in preserving and amplifying Latino heritage in San Francisco’s Mission District, in Venezuela, and elsewhere.
This oral history interview was conducted in Spanish, but the transcript has been translated to English.