Comments on: San Francisco’s Coit Tower Murals

By: visualingual

visualingual — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:36:36 +0000

I just came across two really great essays that provide much more of a context for these murals than I did above: Coit Tower and the History of Its Murals and Coit Tower & PWAP Murals on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco. Both are excellent reads about an excellent public art project!

By: JudyH

JudyH — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:20:09 +0000

I’ve lived in SF for three years but just discovered these murals yesterday, when we brought a visitor to Coit Tower. They are beautiful as Depression-era history and also as beautiful detail-filled paintings of a particular time and place. Walking around the lobby feels like being in the middle of a storybook, with larger-than-life illustrations surrounding you from floor to ceiling. Thank you for posting so many great pictures and the accompanying info.

By: justforview

justforview — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:09:37 +0000

It amazes me that a mural that intentionally captures the specifics of a time can be so relevant today. It serves as more than documentation of a time and place. Part of it is coincidence, but somehow the self referential aspects and the cumulative narrative is, like any good story, universal and timeless.

San Francisco’s murals, from its historical roots to its current branches diverse as they are, adds a layer of experience that makes the cities fragments a whole.

Murals are everywhere; alleys, brand new developments, historic landmarks, residential buildings, stores, vacant lots… with just as many styles.

Somehow what would be slightly offensive elsewhere works to make a cohesive visual narrative of the city and its environs.