Housing Is A Human Right Mural 2016
Christopher Statton and Megan Wilson painted Housing Is A Human Right as part of their project Better Homes and Gardens Today. Better Homes & Gardens Today is a public art project developed to: 1) Heighten awareness around “home” and the realities of homelessness; 2) Cultivate a dialog within communities and amongst disparate groups about housing instability; and 3) To raise money to benefit the Gubbio Project, the Coalition On Homelessness, and At The Crossroads, organizations working to address homelessness in San Francisco.
Housing Is A Human Right
Megan Wilson & Christopher Statton
Clarion Alley Mural Project, SF CA, 2016
Housing Is A Human Right, Clarion Alley Mural Project, San Francisco, CA, 2016
On April 21, 2016 The Coalition on Homelessness hosted a press conference in front of the mural:
San Francisco Campers and Neighbors Speak Out
About Luis Gongora Murder and Continued Sweeps of Encampments
Where: Clarion Alley “Housing is a Human Right” mural- one third of the way down The Alley from the Valencia side.
Mural painted by Megan Wilson & Christopher Statton as part of the Clarion Alley Mural Project.
San Francisco, CA- A shooting by police officers of Luis Gongora, a Mayan Speaking man and father of three children from the Yucatan last Thursday, April 7th was met with a response from both Supervisor Wiener and Mayor Lee calling for homeless sweeps city wide. The Coalition on Homeless, with Supervisor John Avalos as our champion, is calling for a humane response to encampments that truly solves the issue. Earlier this year, a recent widely publicized removal of an encampment containing approximately 300 people along Division Street received broad media attention as the City only provided temporary lodging for about half the residents. The Coalition on Homelessness is concerned that the relocation efforts of homeless people from encampments on Division Street and more recently on Shotwell Street in the city have only further de-stabilized the homeless community, have simply pushed homeless people, in most cases, a very short distance away, and in the worst case scenario have resulted in police-involved murders of homeless individuals such as Luis Gongora last week.
“Homeless and street-based San Franciscans have been surviving these on-going sweeps for months, and in some cases years,” said Bilal Ali, Human Rights Organizer of the SF Coalition on Homelessness. “Instead of actually addressing the issue, the city is continuing this failed policy of displacement rather than listening to us every single time we state the logical solution to the growing crisis which is: HOUSING. Luis Gongora would not have been murdered had he been inside. Bottom-line.”
Housing Is A Human Right, Clarion Alley Mural Project, San Francisco, CA, 2016
Homeless people suffer from sleep deprivation, absent a right to rest, they are woken frequently by police and security. Their voices have been nearly eliminated from the discussions currently before San Francisco elected officials today. We invite press and media makers to listen to the voices of and ask questions directly to those who have been surviving the sweeps, witnessesing the violence, and have sustainable, logical solutions to share.
Housing Is A Human Right is included in the book Urban Scrawl: The Written Word in Street Art by Lou Chamberlin, published by Hardie Grant Press on April 2, 2019:
Street art is now a recognised art form that can be thought-provoking, political, humorous or shocking. Urban Scrawl documents some of the world's most interesting street-art words and typography, from formal typography to angsty scrawl, presented in a small-format hardback that's perfect for any gift or self-purchase. Lou Chamberlin has travelled from Warsaw to London, Tokyo to New York, Cape Town to Santiago, and within her home country of Australia, in search of the world's most interesting and intriguing street art. Her photographs capture these works at a moment in time, documenting and celebrating the ever-changing street art scene.
