Drawing on historical research, personal narratives, and pop cultural references, San Francisco-based artist Craig Calderwood has developed a distinctly bold yet intricate vernacular of patterns and symbols derived from private languages long used by queer and trans people for safety. In their mural commission at SFMOMA, Calderwood reflects upon the shifting landscape of the city’s Mission District from the perspective of an unruly but beautiful oleander plant. This iconic fixture in the neighborhood was replaced by a nearly bare sapling, symbolizing the gradual removal of queer spaces and the Mission’s vibrancy, which have been shaped by urban “beautification” and increased surveillance. The artist celebrates their community’s resilience by featuring an abundance of flowers, fruits, and figures exchanging gestures of care and support in the mural’s center. They invite us to witness beauty and loss, but more importantly, to process change together — and potentially push against it.
