Political, Social, and Cultural Motivations

     Many murals around the city have political, social, or cultural meanings/motivations behind them. They are used to educate people’s views, as well as make them question their beliefs. The big boom of political/ social expressionism through murals happened in both Mexico and the United States in the 1930's and 40's. Currently, we see a lot of aesthetic street art pieces, but many of the works in San Francisco are still politically or socially motivated. These murals often focus on workers and worker’s rights, the lower classes and their daily life, women and women's rights, and people who work in the fields harvesting food. Often we will see murals that are highly religious being associated with cultural types of murals, tying these works back to the main themes of murals created in the Middle Ages.

   

Cultural Art






“Culture Contains the Seed”
Located in Balmy Alley: Currently Under Restoration

Gentrification

Victorion - Protector of the Mission

by Sirron Norris

     An Oakland resident, who was one of the artists who worked on the mural located in Balmy Alley, said that, "This particular mural was the perfect adaptation of the culture of the mission changing from a celebrated Chicano community into basically, hipster-yuppy central (Montgomery)." The design of this mural in particular, emphasizes the considerable degree of politics involved in the gentrification of the Mission. We see two young Latino boys being arrested by the police on one garage door, and on the other we see a police officer sharing a conversation and a coffee with what looks to be a wealthy, white woman. At the top of the mural we see Adam and Eve being pushed out The Garden of Eden by officers as it appears to have been foreclosed on. This is symbolic of the thousands of people being forced out of their homes due to the sky rocketing housing prices generated by the gentrification of the Mission. Tech companies like Google and Facebook are pushing locals out of their homes, and this is represented by the image of a man on a computer with a plug attached to the back of his head. Overall, this mural consists of many smaller, discrete and meaningful pieces that are both politically and culturally motivated. 

    

Montgomery, Kevin. "Anti-Gentrification Mural In Progress on Balmy Alley." Uptown Almanac. N.p., 16 May 2012. Web. 03 May 2015.

Balmy Alley Home Page

Balmy Alley Yelp Page

Women Rights

The Women's Building

     “The Women's Building” was one of the first major murals that I encountered in the city. I was absolutely amazed by the massive size of the work as well as the brilliant colors that it was composed of. After doing some research I found that this was the first woman owned and operated community center in the country. "The Women’s Building is a women-led community space that advocates self-determination, gender equality and social justice ("The Women's Building.)." All these qualities are represented throughout the building sized mural. On the mural we see many types of women represented including of all kinds of ethnicities, some young and old, some with higher educations, some who are mothers, and even some who are disabled. The variety of cultures, heritages and social situations represented really works to speak to the equality of woman of all descriptions. 

"The Women's Building." The Women's Building. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2015.

Women's Building Home Page

Workers Right's Murals

The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City by Diego Rivera



Coit Tower Murals

     The Coit Tower murals portray industry and agricultural workers, that are often depicted by "people grim with purpose, trying to make their way amid the struggle and strife of the Great Depression (Whiting)." The theme of industry workers is one we can see portrayed in Diego Rivera's piece The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City as well. This was a common theme during the time period when these works were created; The Great Depression. These works ask the viewers to think about the importance of workers right for all people in all kinds of work fields. 

Whiting, Sam. "Coit Tower's Long-Hidden Murals Finally Being Revealed." SFGate. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2015.