Last week, I recounted the story of taking Lisa Rogovin’s Saturday Food Tour through San Francisco’s Mission district. (http://www.napaman.com/napamancom/2010/11/mission-impossible-tasting-all-this-great-food-in-one-visit.html)
Part of the tour included a walk down Balmy Alley. Lisa, our food tour guide, introduced us to Patricia Rose, a talented muralist and Mission folk art historian, who shared the stories behind the many colorful murals, which adorn the walls, doors, garage doors and car ports of this neighborhood lane.
You don’t have to be balmy to enjoy the colorful murals on Balmy Alley, named after a successful racehorse. There are 40 colorful murals on this short city lane.
Muralists working within Precita Eyes, a community-based, inner-city, mural arts organization established in 1977, have now spent decades beautifying their ‘hood with large outdoor murals.
The community effort, led in large part by Patricia, is dedicated to bringing the story of human struggle to life in richly colored murals – to share concerns, joys and collective triumphs.
Patricia Rose speaks to our Mission tour group
Patricia leads independent cultural and historical walking tours of the Mission District on weekends, during which time she points out significant murals, describing their meaning.
Details for signing up:
Tours commence at 11 am Saturday or Sunday, and the fee is $12 per person, $8 for college students, $8 for seniors and $5 for teens.
To sign up for a mural tour, contact Patricia Rose at [email protected] or leave a message for her at 415-285-2287.
Make a point of ending your tour at the Community Art Store, 2981 24th St. where they have a large collection of mural materials, including postcards, posters, T-shirts, maps, eco-bags and books. Your purchase helps fund community muralists buy paints for future projects.
I can’t think of a better way to express what you’re likely to see on a tour than to share what we saw on ours:
Hi Napaman,
Looking to contact you for possible permission to please use a photo from the Mission tour for a media outlet. My email is laddmary (at) yahoo
Cheers!
Mary
Posted by: Mladdfood | December 09, 2010 at 09:29 AM