Found Art – The Murals of the Mission District, San Francisco

Art is all around if we only keep our eyes open to see it.  So I’m going to try every week to have a post about “Found Art”, sharing some of the beautiful things I encounter, often just walking down the street, like an unexpected gift.

 Marina in front of a mural  including Frieda Kahlo

When I was in San Francisco last year, daughter Marina took me on an impromptu tour of some of the wall murals of her neighborhood—the Mission District.  They are truly astonishing.  Unlike the murals of the Wynwood Walls district in Miami, which are created by established artists like Shepard Fairey, who command huge prices for their work, the Mission Murals are done by “real people” who actually live in the neighborhood.  The best thing about these murals is that they are filled with pride in the culture of the community, and they empower the children of the Mission, reminding them of what their heroes have achieved and emphasizing that their culture, traditions, religion and rituals are important.

Guadalupe & Victory

 If you go to San Francisco, be sure to tour the Mission Murals.  It’s impossible to see them all, but inexpensive tours are given every Saturday and Sunday .  All the information is at the Precita Eyes Mural Arts & Visitors Center, 2981 -24^th Street, San Francisco, phone 415-285-2287, or on their website: www.precitaeyes.org. 

 Cesar Chavez & Mariarchi musicians

Malcolm X on the right

An unfinished mural in the making

The Baby with 1,000 Faces

Here it is November 11 and I haven't written a blog post since Halloween!  My computer & blog teacher and famous artist Andy Fish will be scolding me again, as he firmly believe in Blogging Every Day as he does on Fish Wrap.

In the last two weeks I have experienced the "Historic Storm" in the Northeast,  which downed a lot of trees and knocked out our power for four days (when the interior temperature went down to 20 degrees.)

Then I flew down to Miami to spend about five days with daughter Eleni and granddaughter Amalia (and son-in-law Emilio).  I've been planning to write a blog about South Beach and the Sleepless Night festivities we enjoyed and the art on the Wynwood Walls, but just can't get my act together. Stay tuned.

And then I flew yesterday to San Francisco with husband Nick to attend a Hellenic Charity Gala, staying in the Fairmont and exploring San Francisco with daughter Marina who is setting up her apartment here (with a kitchen that incorporates a diner theme.)

So I'll tell you about all that soon (I hope) but meanwhile will show you some more photos of Amalía, the baby with a thousand expressions, as she  approaches her three month birthday and delights us by interacting with and discovering the world.

She sits in her Boppy Pillow watching with awe as her butterfly mobile spins.

She hangs out with her parents at all the happening spots in South Beach.  But sometimes can't stay awake.

She practices making sounds as a preview to talking.

And she readies her wardrobe  for Thanksgiving, when she will travel to New York and Grafton, MA to meet all of her extended family and her parents' friends.

I promise a more serious blog post soon--with no grand-baby photos!