EDITION 2
540 Schrader
Haight St & Pierce St
Sycamore St & Mission St
Sycamore St & Mission St
APEX IN ACTION
Rone: a street artist
Cmag: What inspires your art?
Rone: I'm inspired by the colors & textures I see on the street—I try to bring these into my canvas works.
C: What is the best part of making art in San Francisco?
R: The people that you meet.
C: What work are you most proud of?
R: Usually the last one I painted. I always aim to do something better than the last.
C: What do you do regarding art when you aren't painting in San Francisco?
R: I paint full time now, so if I'm not painting a wall or a canvas, I am sorting out a photoshoot or organizing what to paint next.
C: From your past art pieces, we notice that you have done a lot of street art featuring a distinctive woman. Is she inspired by someone you know?
R: The woman is based on photographs I have taken of models. But the stories are more about the contrast of the beauty and decay of the street.
C: Have you ever gotten in trouble with the law while creating a mural in San Francisco?
R: Not really. Some cops once stood me against a wall until they were convinced I had permission to paint the wall—guilty until proven innocent?
San Francisco Street Art
A HISTORY OF STREET ART IN SAN FRANCISCO
San Francisco is one of the most culturally rich cities in California. It is the birthplace of many major movements, and home to many innovative minds. This mixture of technology and art creates a buzz of excitement unique to San Francisco. Yet it’s the colors, textures and patterns that give the city its personality.
People look to San Francisco as an inspiration for art. It is seen as one of the most artistic cities in America. This emphasis on art is one of the reasons why artists come from around the world to paint on the walls of San Francisco. Street art can be seen merely by walking down the street, as it wraps the city in color and gives it a unique character.
Many people look at street art negatively, thinking of it as a form of vandalism and crime rather than a legitimate and valuable art form. They do not acknowledge the people who color our cities with their imaginations, making them unique and lively. The murals express what the artists think about the world around them and highlight their different techniques.
San Francisco houses an extraordinary collection of street art on the walls of its buildings and homes. Some citizens find the it a prodigious art form that tells a story to passersby, but there are others who have strong feelings against it.
Rebecca, a 21-year-old San Franciscan, feels that the street art is more beneficial than harmful.
“The street art’s individuality is one of the many characteristic aspects of San Francisco,” Rebecca said.
Our society sees graffiti as destructive. A majority of people were brought up to believe that graffiti and other unrecognized forms of art on the street are vandalism. On the contrary, much of the graffiti filling the streets is a result of unbelievable talent.
Mysterious unknown artists come out at night and throughout the day to share their passion with the world around them. When finished, their stories are laid upon the city itself.
Although lots of street art featured in the city is full of exceptional talent and creativity, some of it lacks respect for certain groups of people.
Actual street artists spend hours upon hours conceiving a message for the purpose of sharing it with citizens, while others plan to spread crude or discriminatory opinions without any artistic motivation.
These vandals give the true street artists a bad name. Vandalism is an action involving deliberate destruction to property, whereas art delivers a meaningful message to the community.
Hidden away in a conventional, suburban neighborhood of Golden Gate Heights, San Francisco is arguably one of the most complex, well thought out pieces of art in the city. The 16th Avenue tiled stairs transform a gray, boring staircase into a fixture of art.
According to the 16th avenue stairs website, the artist Aileen Barr created the tiled masterpiece in 2005 after she was “inspired by the decorated steps that lead up a long hill to the neighborhood of Santa Teresa, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.”
From the top of the stairs, one can only see the gray, monotonous tops of each step. Looking from the bottom of the staircase, however, one will find thousands of colorful glass pieces creating a hidden picture of a river leading into the moon and the sun.
These tiled steps tell a story that most paintings are not able to. Beginning at the bottom of the stairs, one can follow a river leading upwards in between two mountains into a body of water.
Lining the river are mosaic animals, bugs and fish swimming throughout the waters with dedications to families and friends engraved upon each piece. Above this body of water “shines” the moon and the sun, as if showing the evolution of something as simple as day and night.
These colorful glass pieces create an image that many usually do not dwell upon, shedding day and night in a completely different light.
16TH AVENUE STEPS
THE HAIGHT-ASHBURY DISTRICT
The Haight Ashbury district became a haven for hippies during the 1960s due to low housing prices, drawing in youth from around the nation. In the summer of 1967, a new culture emerged from the constant flow of students, creating the bohemian feel that still fills the Haight today.
Psychedelic rock music filled the streets and the drug culture emerged in the public spotlight. Haight Street has a very specific style to its street art. During the 1960s to 1970s,the Haight was known for its hippie inhabitants and rock-and-roll music roots.
The Haight was immersed in hippie culture, including the Summer of Love and openness about drug use. This way of life is depicted in the paintings and murals splashed against its walls.
A majority of the murals relate to the 1960s Summer of Love, often featuring paintings of Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles: all very different, yet all amazingly beautiful.
Text and Photos by Nikki Freyermuth, Samantha Newell and Riya Varma
THE MISSION DISTRICT
The Mission was originally inhabited by Irish and German workers, but from the 1940s to the 1960s, a large number of Mexican immigrants settled down into the area. From the 1980s and throughout the 1990s, more immigrants fleeing civil wars from Central and South America moved to the Mission, bringing with them Central American companies, their ways of life, art styles and the Latino characteristics it is known for today.
The Mission is an amazing place to seek out exquisite murals and graffiti. Alleys and side streets contain stunning street paintings. The murals and paintings wrapped around the walls of the streets are unique to this city district because of the specific style and Latino background behind them.
Despite the Mission District’s poverty, the beautiful murals spread down alleyways and on the front of buildings brings the idea of happiness and hope to the culturally-rich community.
