By: Lucas Fink By: Lucas Fink | May 19, 2022 | Travel & Recreation, Culture, Art, Community,
The Mission is one of San Francisco’s most dynamic locales, bursting with impressively diverse flavors, sights, and sounds. Among the many worthwhile sights the Mission offers are the rich array of murals populating almost every street corner.
No matter where you find yourself in the neighborhood, there is certainly at least one feast for the eyes lovingly painted by a gifted artist on a brick wall somewhere within a 100-foot radius. Some standout mural spots include Cypress Street, Osage Street, and Horace Alley.
See also: 5 Cute And Beautiful Small Business Latinx Boutiques
The beating heart of the Mission’s mural scene, though, is Balmy Alley, which is home to the most densely-concentrated assortment of murals in the whole of San Francisco. Comfortably situated right between 24th and 25th street, Balmy’s ever-changing mural collection is a must-see either before or after a serene picnic at Dolores Park.
While Balmy’s almost overwhelming visual splendor is certainly one component of its appeal, its real significance lies in its cultural specificity and political relevance. More specifically, the Alley is immensely important in both the history of the Mission’s Latine community as well as the more general history of politically-oriented public art installations.
Interestingly, the word “mural” originates from the Spanish adjective meaning “attached to a wall”. The term first surfaced in the art world in the early 20th century when the brilliant and influential Mexican painter and political revolutionary Dr. Atl (born Gerardo Murillo) used it to refer to works of subversive public art.
Any mural, then, is historically indebted to the legacy of South and Central American political resistance, for that legacy birthed the very idea of what a mural is, an idea that today we take for granted. Balmy Alley is, as one might expect, steeped in this legacy.
In 1972, Maria Galivez (aided by the painterly prowess of a group of children from a nearby child-care facility) created the first Balmy Alley mural, which was almost immediately followed by another painted by Patricia Rodriguez and Graciela Carillo.
This duo soon evolved into a proper artistic collective comprised of Latina women who worked under the name “Las Mujeres Muralistas”. Both the aesthetic form and thematic content of the murals adorning Balmy today still carry on the example set by Rodriguez and Carillo: a bright, joyful style which celebrates the many Latine communities who call the Mission their home.
See also: Unwrapping The Stuffed History Of San Francisco's Distinctly Original Mission-Style Burrito
Artist Ray Patlan continued the work of the Mujeres Muralistas in 1984 with PLACA, a granted-funded multi-artist project which used the canvas the alley’s walls provided to express outrage over the many war-crimes the United States perpetrated under Ronald Reagan, which included the overthrow of democratically elected governments and the installation of right-wing dictatorships loyal to American military and business interests. These imperialist interventions occurred in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, to name just a few, and displaced countless Central American folk.
Today, Balmy Alley continues to act as a site for both the celebration of Latine cultural heritage and for the critique of political forces which have harmed and continue to harm those communities. 2012, for instance, witnessed the addition of an anti-gentrification and anti-police violence mural painted by Oakland artists. Mission residents and San Francisco residents more broadly are profoundly fortunate that Balmy has, for around half a century, remained so consistent with the values and aesthetics of the radical artists who painted its first murals back in the 70s. Any Mission visit is incomplete without a stroll through this piece of living history.
Precita Eyes Muralists, just around the corner on 24th Street, offers walking tours of the alley everyday! They’re an incredible non-profit organization that provides mural arts classes for children, teens, and adults. Well worth checking out after picking up some Humphry Slocombe ice cream.
See also: Paxton Gate Is A Delightful Must-Visit Oddities Boutique In The Mission District
Photography by: Paolo Galimberti/Unsplash