Jonathan Cohen's photos with the keyword: gentrification

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."

Sirron Norris was born in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduating from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, he began his art career in San Francisco in 1997. He was the recipient of the Artist in Residence programs at the de Young Fine Art Museum of San Francisco and San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in 2000 and 2002 respectively. Norris is known for his extensive public art contributions. Among them is his most notable mural, "Victorion: El Defensor de la Mission." Painted in 2007, the mural speaks to the subject of gentrification in the mission district of San Francisco, supporting the persistence of Latino business owners and residents. The mural also speaks to the importance of the preservation of original San Francisco Victorian homes through a ten-foot robotic house, suitably named, “Victorion.” This mural has been featured in various media platforms including magazines, books, and advertisements. The Calumet Mural, located at 18th and Bryant in the Mission district, currently stands as his largest at 600 square feet. It was recently featured in an international Mitsubishi television commercial featuring the launch of their newest vehicle in 2014. His work as a muralist was also used as the platform to launch the new Ricoh Theta campaign in Japan and the US. Norris is also an accomplished artist across several mediums including multimedia, television, film, and illustration. He was the lead artist in Fox Network’s animated show "Bob’s Burgers" and in that capacity, he created backgrounds and character designs. In 2010, Norris’ art career was featured on the PBS news Hour with Jim Lehrer and in the television show, Concrete Canvas in the United Kingdom.