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~SUMMER FUN WITH MURALS & CLASSES~
28th Annual Urban Youth Arts Festival
Sat. July 20, 1-5pm, Precita Park 
Our youth festival is older than many of the participants planning it. Give them a hand by donating to the Support Emerging Youth Spray Can Artists campaign. More info here…
The Only Blue is the Sky:
New Mural in SFO'S Harvey Milk Terminal Described by the Bay Area Reporter as a "psychedelic mélange of blissful grooviness," the new mural by that name by artist Craig Calderwood in the atrium of SFO Terminal 1.
The artist describes the work— and its connection to slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk, for whom terminal is named-- this way: "I distilled Harvey Milk's legacy into something simple, making life for people living in otherness easy, relaxed, and comfortable, focusing on the symbols and patterns of fruits, flowers and stripes which historically have been used to represent deviants, queerness and otherness." Other elements include Queer family structures, a dog park, and the potted plants that function as gardens for SF residents without yards. Calderwood was assisted by a Precita Eyes Muralists team of Susan Cervantes, Eli Lippert, Ellen Silva, Jared Mar, Richard Bolingbroke, Kerra Hendrickson, and Paola Reyes Melendez. More here…
Pop Up Vendors Get Pop Up Mural at Paseo
Painting in public for all to see, Paola Reyes Melendez, Precita Eyes Education Director, created a mural with tacos and flowers to honor the street vendors who were the focus of the Cultural Ambulante Paseo Artístico, held along 24th Street last June 9.
Bank of America's Mission Branch "Teller" Mural Turns 50
Artists Luis J. Cortazar, Jaime Camillo and Jesus Campusano in June 1974, standing before the mural located inside the Bank of America branch at 2701 Mission Street.
"If politics makes strange bedfellows, capitalism arguably makes stranger ones," states an article published in Mission Local on the 40th anniversary of the mural. "That may explain why these defiant words of farmworker organizer César Chávez are featured on a mural sited in one of the biggest corporate symbols of our time: a Bank of America branch in the Mission District." When the office was renovated in 1974, the bank hired three local artists to adorn it: Jesús “Chuy” Campusano, Luis Cortázar and Michael Rios. Artist Emmy Lou Packard, who had assisted muralist Diego Rivera, was a technical adviser. The three painters—who called themselves los tres muralistas in a nod to their artistic Mexican forbears—dedicated the mural to painter David Alfaro Siqueiros. Read the full article here. 
5th Graders Bloom in New School Mural
Scores of San Francisco schools have murals imagined and painted by students. At Dolores Huerta in Bernal Heights, every flower is a child. 
Some 50 Dolores Huerta Elementary School 5th-graders worked on Together in the Night Garden, its newest mural. Guided by Precita Eyes artists Paola Reyes Melendez and Gabi Moreta, this is the school's third mural. In 2022, the 4th-graders painted its Create Joy mural. Students first worked with Precita Eyes in 2018. Read more here…
New on Mission Street:
"Home is When We’re Together" Hope-filled mural of families and togetherness is gateway to housing agency's new offices.
Celebrate Precita Eyes Muralists' 46th Anniversary by Donating Today!
Each of our public murals is a love letter to the community and a permanent reminder of our stories. That is why we need your help to continue to create art, support communities, and preserve our history. 
Founded in 1977 by Susan and Luis Cervantes, Precita Eyes Muralists has painted hundreds of vivid community murals at schools, parks, businesses, hospitals, and community centers throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.
We strive to include all members of a community in our collaborative process as a way of transforming neighborhoods with artistic messages of tolerance, social justice, and a better world for all. These public artworks celebrate our rich multicultural landscape. With the help of these communities, we keep creating beautiful public art, despite the challenges of the COVID pandemic and its aftermath. We have also restored many legacy murals – some more than 40 years old – damaged by the passage of time and in danger of disappearing. Help Community Murals Thrive by Making A Generous Donation to Precita Eyes 
Your Donation Will Fund Exciting Projects Like These:
Community Mural Projects As one of the few community mural centers in the United States, Precita Eyes Muralists has collaborated with hundreds of local artists to create more than 750 public murals. Our collaborative method involves community planning, participation, and introducing adults and youth to the exciting process of making public art. Preserving the Murals of San Francisco's Mission District The Mission District is home to hundreds of murals. Many are in precarious condition and need to be cleaned and repaired. Others need to be documented and protected by copyright. Restorative work of this type not only preserves the history of the Mission, as told through the visual medium of murals, it protects the buildings and walls where these murals are located. Community Mural Workshops Generous donations can fund murals for communities that would not otherwise be able to afford them. Our community mural workshops bring participants together to create collectively and work as one toward a common goal. "Instant" Murals for Schools and Community Groups A small donation can fund a portable mural at a local school, bringing art back into education and helping students develop collaborative working skills. Mural creation is a great tool for facilitating team-building skills with groups. Mural Programs with Local Schools Precita Eyes receives dozens of requests each year from schools seeking to create collectively murals to beautify their campuses but lacking access to private funding. Your donations help fund projects like these that benefit local youth. Urban Youth Arts We created our Urban Youth Arts program back in 1985. More than 600 youths –mostly Mission residents between the ages of 11 and 19 – have learned art and mural techniques through our efforts. The UYA program works with local high schools and community groups to identify at-risk teenagers with a passion for art. Many participants end up working with Precita Eyes as practicing artists, and credit us with providing them with the creative outlet and skills that nurtured their talents. A $1,000 donation provides 10 scholarships for this year-long program. We thank you in advance for your donation. Your kindness and generosity make it possible for us to support the next generation of artists and muralists in our community. We ask you to be part of this legacy.
photo by Kerim Harmanci
Restored Mural at 24th St. BART Station Honors Workers on the Move The mural at the entrance to the 24th Street BART has been there for nearly five decades, but its weather-beaten facade, hidden behind garbage-laden trees, was easily overlooked. No longer. Read more here. 
Eyes Up! documentary screened at the Bernal Heights Film festival on September 14th, 2023. It includes “Baobab Rising” ©2018 Precita Eyes Muralists. See more here…
Downed Trees Become Mosaic Benches at 24th and Harrison
Ficus trees in front of the Precita Eyes Mural Center, felled after a years-long saga, have come back to life as mosaic seats on the corner of 24th St. and Harrison. Salvaged from buzz saws by Precita Eyes founder Susan Cervantes and staff in 2021, two stumps now offer pedestrians a place to rest alongside the new Mercy Housing complex for low-income seniors. Mercy Housing partnered with Precita Eyes to plan the new sidewalk area and install the stumps. Cervantes worked with volunteers to design and built the tops, which depict a butterfly and bird spirit atop tree rings. 
The ribbon-cutting ceremony brought traditional dance and poetry to Building 9 on the 4200 Farm Hill Blvd, Redwood City campus. The work's vision of hope in solidarity is inspired by the values and diversity of the community college. A banner reclaims the land for the Ramaytush Ohlone; the wings of a Monarch butterfly, symbolizing migration, bear symbols of science, culture, and technology; hummingbirds stand for transformation; an open book offers knowledge and education. Students cross a bridge toward a green future, and, at center, a graduating student closes her eyes with emotion.
At Cañada College, a Long-Awaited Mural is Unveiled with Dance and Poetry
"She's done," lead artist Francisco Franco posted on Facebook last month, "hung in its complete glory and splendor." Delayed by pandemic lockdowns and the time taken to conduct numerous community design workshops, Cañada College now has its first mural. Titled From Here We Can Go Anywhere, the 7'x28' work was created by the entire college community in collaboration with Precita Eyes. The night before the May 15 unveiling, Franco was adding last touches in the dark. The next morning, "I had to take off my sunglasses and look twice because the colors were so intense."
45 Years of Precita Eyes History: A Conversation with Susan and Luz Cervantes
Precita Eyes Muralists, in Your Own Words
Listen to what people are saying about Precita Eyes, and take a tour of the Mission's mural-making community. Thanks to muralists Juana Alicia and Meera Desai, youth artist and Precita collaborator Xavier Bess, Calle 24 cultural district organizer Erick Arguello, and friends at the California Historical Society Murales Rebeldes community day and the Cesar Chavez Day parade, April 2018. (Music by Manuel Obregón.)
Love Mural Arts? Become a Member of Precita Eyes!
Our members are essential to the work we do beautifying the environment, empowering communities, and preserving cultural legacies.
• Individual ($60): Get a 10% discount on classes and workshops, and a 15% discount on store merchandise. • Family ($100): Get a 20% discount on classes and workshops, and a 15% discount on store purchases. • Contributor ($150): Get a 25% discount on classes and workshops, a 20% discount on store merchandise, plus two free mural tour tickets. |
Online Store here
or visit our Store at 2981- 24th St. in the heart of SF's Mission District Mon-Fri 10- 5pm, Sat 12 noon-5pm for a great collection of postcards, mugs, hoodies,T-shirts, books, artwork and paints. 415-285-2287 
Click here to support us and enjoy member benefits and discounts.
MORE WAYS TO HELP Precita Eyes Muralists is sponsored in part by a grant from SF Grants for the Arts
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