4 Places to Explore Public Art in San Francisco

Clarion Alley Mural Project’ (CAMP) is an artists’ collective in San Francisco’s Mission District. The mission of CAMP is to support and produce socially engaged and aesthetically innovative public art, locally and globally as a grassroots artist-run organization.

Throughout its history Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP) has used public art as a force for those who are marginalized and a place where culture and dignity speak louder than the rules of private property or a lifestyle that puts profit before compassion, respect, and social justice.

Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP) was established in 1992 by a volunteer collective of six residents/artists who were inspired by the murals of Balmy Alley, another Mission District alley covered in murals that were created in the early ’70s as an expression of artists’ outrage over human rights and political abuses in Central America.

The initial transformation of Clarion Alley to a space filled with murals Over 700 murals created since 1992 The Labor Temple Project in the Redstone Building at 16th and Capp Streets The international exchange and residency project Sama-Sama/Together with Apotik Komikof Yogyakarta Indonesia.

Clarion Alley runs one block (560 ft long and 15 ft. wide) in San Francisco’s inner Mission District between 17th & 18th and Mission and Valencia streets. Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP) was established in 1992 by a volunteer collective of six residents/ artists – Aaron Noble, Rigo 92, Sebastiana Pator, Michael O’Connor, Mary Gail Snyder, and Arcely Soriano – who were inspired by the murals of Balmy Alley that began in the mid-80’s as an expression of artists’ outrage over human rights and political abuses in Central America and focused on Central American social struggles.

The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps project has been a neighborhood collaboration to create a sea to stars themed mosaic flowing up a 163 step stairway located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Heights Neighborhood.

Neighborhood residents Jessie Audette and Alice Yee Xavier started the project in 2003 in a grassroots effort to connect the neighbors in a community project to beautify Golden Gate Heights.

The neighbors chose artists Aileen Barr and Colette Crutcher to collaborate in the creation of a design on 163 mosaic panels. Neighbors sponsored handmade named tiles in the shapes of the animals, fish, shells within the mosaic.
Tile sponsorship provided the funding for the majority of the project. Three mosaic workshops were held in the community so that all could participate in the making of the mosaic panels.

Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco is a top urban park blending culture, recreation, and nature. It features gardens, plazas, a historic carousel, fountains, and performance venues. Perfect for everyone, the park offers a peaceful escape in the heart of the city, with a unique rooftop park experience and plenty to explore for visitors and locals alike.

The Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, is a monumental structure originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in order to exhibit works of art presented there. One of only a few surviving structures from the Exposition, it is the only one still situated on its original site. It was rebuilt in 1965, and renovation of the lagoon, walkways, and a seismic retrofit were completed in early 2009.It remains a popular attraction for tourists and locals, and is a favorite location for weddings and wedding party photographs for couples throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, and such an icon that a miniature replica of it was built in Disney’s California Adventure in Anaheim.