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Dawn Starin
Cultivating Resistance
CAMP and San Francisco Poster Syndicate created Cultivating Resistance in 2017, a recent contribution to the many murals covering Clarion Alley's walls.
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Dawn Starin
Narratives of Displacement
Aiming to highlight the connection between gentrification and the criminalization of people of color the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project created Narratives of Displacement in 2015. According to the CAMP website, the mural depicts a rendering of the online map of no-fault evictions since 1997 and highlights the portraits of eight San Franciscans fighting for their evictions. Viewers can call 415-319-6865 to hear stories of the people whose portraits are depicted, including Alex Nieto, killed by SFPD in 2014 on Bernal Hill.
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Dawn Starin
This City is Not for Sale
Ivy Jeanne McClelland created This City is Not for Sale in 2014.
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Dawn Starin
Affordable Housing/Vivienda Asequible
Art Hazelwood and San Francisco Print Collective created Affordable Housing/Vivienda Asequible in 2017.
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Dawn Starin
We Want Respect, Freedom, Land, Housing, Bread, Justice, Peace
Cuba, Emory Douglass and MACE created We Want Respect, Freedom, Land, Housing, Bread, Justice, Peace in 2013.
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Dawn Starin
We All Deserve A Healthy and Safe Community
Hospitalityhouse.org created We All Deserve A Healthy and Safe Community in 2016.
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Dawn Starin
Tribute to Trans Activists
Tanya Wischerath created Tribute to Trans Activists. She painted the mural of four trans activists; Mia Tu Mutch, Alexis Rivera, Janetta Louise-Johnson, and Tamara Chingover, in nine days. Describing the mural, Wischerath said, “The Compton's Cafeteria Riot occurred in August 1966 in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. This incident was one of the first recorded transgender riots in United States history, preceding the more famous 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City. Although San Francisco continues to lead in the struggle for equal rights for the LGBTQI community, trans women are often left behind and in the fight for visibility. This mural is a dedication to the work of just a few trans activists out of many who have tirelessly committed themselves to paving the way for a more just, accepting, and righteous San Francisco.”
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Dawn Starin
Sons of Satya
Jet Martinez and Kelly Ording created Sons of Satya.
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Dawn Starin
No Ban on Stolen Land
Saif Azzuz created No Ban on Stolen Land in 2017.
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Dawn Starin
Terminator Cop
Mike Reger created Terminator Cop in 2013.
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Dawn Starin
Stop The Corporatocracy
Megan Wilson created Stop The Corporatocracy in 2015. About this piece she says, “Stop The Corporatocracy is part of my ongoing work in support of the need for a fundamental shift from free-market capitalism to a new way of being that’s rooted in compassion, generosity, and true equality for all beings. The current model puts profit before all else and is literally destroying the environment, health, and wellbeing of the planet and all its inhabitants.”
Clarion Alley is a passageway just 560 feet long and 15 feet wide running between San Francisco’s Mission District’s 17th and 18th streets, connecting Mission Street with Valencia Street.
The walls of the passageway are lined with murals painted by members of the Clarion Alley Mural Project, a collective of artists and organizers determined to give a voice to the struggles of those who are often invisible or ignored. As Megan Wilson, a visual artist and president of the board of directors, told me, CAMP is "dedicated to giving a voice to marginalized and disenfranchised communities, putting social justice first and foremost."
Founded in 1992, CAMP originally drew inspiration from the district’s long-standing political activism and the renowned Balmy Alley murals. CAMP has been an active supporter of over 500 artists creating over 700 murals across these walls.
The vibrant murals depict the need for criminal justice reform, environmental protection, gender equality, social justice, education, and fair housing and wages.
Over the years, the walls have featured realism, surrealism, cubism, Mission school, folk and outsider art, Zap and even Archie and Jughead comic-ism. Artists hail from all ethnicities, ages, and levels of experience and include Mark Bode, Shaghayegh Cyrous, Maya Hayuk, Crystal Hermann, Barry McGee, Rigo 23, Isis Rodriguez, Keyvan Shovir, Mel C. Waters, The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, the Arab Resource Organizing Center, Hospitality House, and the San Francisco Print Collective.
With at least 200,000 annual visitors from all over the world, Clarion Alley helps foster a much-needed and over-due understanding of countless issues affecting excluded members of society.
Click through some of the murals in the slideshow to get a sense of Clarion Alley, and if you want to learn more, Aaron Noble, one of the original founders of CAMP, has written a detailed history.