Wall + Response in SF Chronicle Datebook: Poets add voices to Clarion Alley murals’ social justice stories
Filming Series Four Wall + Response on Clarion Alley, photo courtesy of CAMP
by Morayo Ogunbayo, SF Chronicle Datebook, June 22, 2021
or decades, the famed murals along the Mission District’s Clarion Alley have spoken out colorfully on issues of social justice, using visual art to take aim at police violence, racial justice and housing inequities, among other topics.
Now some of the murals will have others literally speaking out about their messages — through poetry.
The Clarion Alley Mural Project plans to present its latest collaboration, “Wall + Response,” on Friday, June 25, during a virtual event that debuts 16 Bay Area poets’ responses to four wall murals in the famed alley.
The project is curated by Clarion Alley Mural Project co-director Megan Wilson and poet Maw Shein Win, with the murals chosen for their social justice themes: “Justice for Luís D. Góngora Pat,” by Marina Perez-Wong and Elaine Chu, was created to commemorate the life of a man killed by police in 2016; “We Want Respect, Freedom, Land, Housing, Justice, Peace, Bread,” by Emory Douglas, was created in collaboration with the Black Panthers and calls for a brighter future; “Affordable Housing/Vivienda Asequible,” by SF Print Collective, was created in response to escalating home prices in the Bay Area; and the newest mural, “The Will to Live,” by Art Forces, was created in collaboration with local Arab youth organizations and calls for an end to violence in Gaza.
“Wall + Response” was inspired by “the hyper-gentrification that has been happening in the Bay since the ’90s,” Wilson explained.
“… The way that we ended up responding was to decide to focus on projects that highlight social, political, economic and environmental justice.”