The Mission wasn’t always so colorful. The murals that decorate Mission buildings–and bring tourists to the neighborhood to experience them–weren’t always so ubiquitous. In the 1970’s murals began popping up, starting a trend that would help define the neighborhood art scene.
One of the pioneers of that trend is Susan Kelk Cervantes. “I think I did my first mural in the Mission in 1965,” she said. “No one even knew what a mural was.”
A graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute, Kelk Cervantes was already involved in the local community art scene when the owners of a coffee shop on Valencia asked her to paint her first mural. After realizing she wasn’t enthusiastic about gallery culture in San Francisco, Kelk Cervantes decided murals were the way to go. “I just thought wow, painting directly on the wall, with people, for people and by people seemed like a really wonderful direction to go.”
Kelk Cervantes’ love for mural art grew and she and her husband Luis created Precita Eyes, an organization dedicated to bringing artists and communities together through murals.
During the last 35 years, Precita Eyes has been responsible for painting more than 500 murals. The Precita Eyes way of painting a mural is collaborative, with many artists often coming together for a single mural. It also takes into account what the community wants from the artists. “It has to come from the community,” Kelk Cervantes said. “It has to be something that is developed in the process. They develop the themes, what’s important to them, what they want to see in their mural. We don’t go into it with any preconceived ideas.”
Precita Eyes also has a vibrant education program, which helps inspire the next generation of artists. They offer classes in mural arts for all ages.
“Murals have changed people’s lives,” Kelk Cervantes said. “It changes the environment, it’s life affirming. It reflects the people and who they are, what they’ve experienced and what’s meaningful to them.”
Mission Local is grateful to have Precita Eyes in the Mission, and for their work bringing artists and communities together to keep our city colorful.
“I feel we’ve been blessed,” Kelk Cervantes said. “With what we have and even more to return that to our community.”
Source:
http://missionlocal.org/2012/11/giving-thanks-precita-eyes-makes-the-mission-beautiful/