Jonathan Cohen's photos with the keyword: engaged art

The Mujeres Muralistas was a group of Chicana/Latina artists in the Mission District who pioneered large-scale, woman-painted outdoor murals. In the words of Patricia Rodriguez: "One big motivation for us was recognizing that there had been no successful women muralists in the Mexican mural movement. We wanted to show that women could also paint large outdoor murals. Another factor was the lack of support from the men painting murals in the Mission District who were also critical of the subjects we wanted to paint. We knew that because we were not harassed by police like the men were, and because we had not suffered by having fought in Vietnam, we had a different visual story to tell. We had the freedom to paint whatever we wanted, and we chose the beauty of women and their Mexican and Latino cultures." As Muralista Irene Perez put it, "We brought fine art to the streets and added the beauty of women in our culture." The mural celebrating 500 years of Indian resistance was painted in 1992 by Perez. The mural makes reference to Coyolxauhqui – the Aztec Goddess of the Moon.

One of the artists explains this mural in these words: "My name is Lucia. I was born and raised in San Francisco’s Mission District. Balmy Alley is my home. I have lived here most of my life. I am an artist like my father and since I was young, I have witnessed the changing murals on Balmy Alley along with the changes within my neighborhood, La Mísion. I designed the Mission Makeover Mural to depict the two Missions that I am most familiar with; La Mísion of my youth, filled with a vibrant Latino culture, rich in art and history, a place that I have lived my entire life; and the current Madeover Mission, remodeled and revised with designer boutiques, high priced cafes, less Latino immigrant families, and dwindling diversity. I understand that not all change is necessarily bad. But I want the new Mission residents to respect and understand the history of the older Mission and acknowledge that there was once a thriving community that barely resembles a shell of itself. This Balmy Alley mural honors those individuals, businesses and families who left without choice. It tells the stories of the indirect causes at a local and international level which changed the face of the Mission. My intent is not to antagonize community members against each other, but to create a public document that shares what the Mission looked like in previous years and understand why it changed."

Tina Wolfe’s mural about Hurricane Katrina was first installed in 2007. Visitors to the alley were encouraged to add images to the mural in collaboration with the artist over the next 5 years. Over the years the images have decayed just like many places in New Orleans. In 2012, the artist began renewing the project by adding vines in the path of New Orleans highway system used for escape.

This mural painted in 2004 by Janet Braun-Reinitz provides an artist’s commentary of the AIDS epidemic. It takes it name from a line from the poem "The Second Coming" written in 1919 by William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.

Since the beginning of time, humans have expressed their view of the world, including their fear and aspirations, through art. You don’t have to go to a museum to see these masterpieces. In some cases, it is not a canvas that conveys the message but rather a mural on a wall or some other open space. This is the art of the people, and there is no better place to appreciate the medium than on the walls of San Francisco’s Mission District. Named after Mission Dolores, the city’s oldest standing building, erected in 1776 as part of the network of West Coast Spanish Missions, the area is full of funky cafes, taquerias, boutiques and old-fashioned bookstores. It is also home to numerous Latino artistic and cultural institutions where pride blooms around aesthetic and cultural traditions such as the murals. "Naya Bhinana" (A New Dawn) is a mural painted in 2002 by Martin Travers. It depicts three generations of women in Nepal, working in the shadow of the snow-covered Himalayas. To the right, one determined-looking woman breaks the chains of oppression while others stand with their fists in the air. Travers has said that he was depicting "a community resisting injustice, learning self-sufficiency and regaining local power."

Clarion Alley is a small street in San Francisco between Mission and Valencia Streets and 17th and 18th Streets. Originally called "Cedar Lane," the alley’s name was changed around the turn of the twentieth century to Clarion Alley. The street is notable for community and arts activity, including the Clarion Alley Mural Project, the American Indian Center and Promotoras Latinas Comunitarias de Salud. The warehouse at 47 Clarion was originally known as the Woodmen Building with the main door at 3345 17th Street. It was an IWW meeting hall, where Tom Mooney once attempted to organize railway workers. Later, 47 Clarion was home to artists and musicians from at least the early sixties through 2001.