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Family Life and Spirit of Mankind
©1976-77, restored 2021, Precita Eyes Muralists
Size: Diptych mural, 26’x24’each panel, acrylic on stucco
Located: On the Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School (formerly the LeConte Elementary School), Precita and Harrison Streets.
Directed and designed: in 1976 by Susan Cervantes and Judith Jamerson. Funded by the SF Mayor’s Neighborhood Beautification Improvement Program and SF CETA Arts Program.
Restored 2021 by: Susan Cervantes, Suaro Cervantes, Luz Cervantes, Elaine Chu, Safi Kolozsvari, Jose Lamas, Katerina Kipp and funded by the SF Mayor’s Community Challenge Grant.
©1976-77, restored 2021, Precita Eyes Muralists
Size: Diptych mural, 26’x24’each panel, acrylic on stucco
Located: On the Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School (formerly the LeConte Elementary School), Precita and Harrison Streets.
Directed and designed: in 1976 by Susan Cervantes and Judith Jamerson. Funded by the SF Mayor’s Neighborhood Beautification Improvement Program and SF CETA Arts Program.
Restored 2021 by: Susan Cervantes, Suaro Cervantes, Luz Cervantes, Elaine Chu, Safi Kolozsvari, Jose Lamas, Katerina Kipp and funded by the SF Mayor’s Community Challenge Grant.
Description
The main elements of inspiration for the diptych mural “Family Life and Spirit of Mankind” were the 70-year-old acacia trees in Precita Park directly across the street from the school. Many of the trees have since been replaced, but they emerge in the mural as trees of life and spirit, and central elements around which everything else moves.
In the panel on the left the tree has been painted with seven multicolored branches and seven multicolored blossoming flowers. The number seven is symbolic of the seven color rays of the sun, seven musical notes, and seven days of the week. In the center is a man and woman representing the diversity of our neighborhood families. The woman is inspired by the Spanish legend of Anjana. In this form she wears a dress made of stars and flowers, and shepherds animals and oversees life in caves. Anjana can also change her physical form into an old woman to test people’s charity. The Warrior is wearing a Samoan wrap called Lavalava, a hybrid Aztec and Mayan headdress, and Jamaican arm and waistbands. His native bow is a corn stalk where the silk becomes Anjana’s hair. The couple emanate light and love between them that spirals into seven butterflies and birds revolving outward, including an eagle. In the boughs of the tree are the four stages of our life cycle: birth, youth, old age, and death.
The tree in the right panel is the Tree of the Spirit, the branches are white representing the color of the spirit. The spark of that spirit starts at birth in the center of the tree from the spiral on top of the baby's head where our hair grows out from. The Tree of the Spirit is also kindled by the larger than life Fire Juggler at the right side of the panel. On the upper left of the panel is a Phoenix coming out of the flames representing the symbol of San Francisco and its resilience. The Family is represented in the right panel by the familiar faces and everyday life of the neighborhood people around Precita Park.
In the panel on the left the tree has been painted with seven multicolored branches and seven multicolored blossoming flowers. The number seven is symbolic of the seven color rays of the sun, seven musical notes, and seven days of the week. In the center is a man and woman representing the diversity of our neighborhood families. The woman is inspired by the Spanish legend of Anjana. In this form she wears a dress made of stars and flowers, and shepherds animals and oversees life in caves. Anjana can also change her physical form into an old woman to test people’s charity. The Warrior is wearing a Samoan wrap called Lavalava, a hybrid Aztec and Mayan headdress, and Jamaican arm and waistbands. His native bow is a corn stalk where the silk becomes Anjana’s hair. The couple emanate light and love between them that spirals into seven butterflies and birds revolving outward, including an eagle. In the boughs of the tree are the four stages of our life cycle: birth, youth, old age, and death.
The tree in the right panel is the Tree of the Spirit, the branches are white representing the color of the spirit. The spark of that spirit starts at birth in the center of the tree from the spiral on top of the baby's head where our hair grows out from. The Tree of the Spirit is also kindled by the larger than life Fire Juggler at the right side of the panel. On the upper left of the panel is a Phoenix coming out of the flames representing the symbol of San Francisco and its resilience. The Family is represented in the right panel by the familiar faces and everyday life of the neighborhood people around Precita Park.