New Burnside Mural Beautifies Glen Park
By: Joan Walsh
On a cold, foggy typical San Francisco afternoon, a small celebration brought the residents of Glen Park together at the end of Burnside Avenue for the completion of the new Burnside Mural.
The mural is located at the base of the staircase leading from the sleepy dead-end street of Burnside Avenue to the busy Bosworth Street about a mile and a half away from City College in the Glen Park neighborhood.
Children played with chalk making designs on the ground, neighbors snacked on refreshments provided and convened with each other while listening to speakers of community members describing growing up in the neighborhood and how the mural celebrates efforts of community members to beautify the staircase and make it something special. A survey was administered to the neighborhood on what they wanted the mural to feature, and the results found people wanted nature as well as Glen Park Landmarks to be represented in the mural.
Renee Berger the project lead for the mural said that San Francisco was blessed with many muralists, but the artists chosen to design and paint the mural were Marina Perez-Wong and Elaine Chu from the Twin Walls Mural Company. Both artists are from the city. “They painted from the hearts which really showed on this mural”, said Berger.
Marina Perez-Wong said the mural took about 2 months to complete off and on depending on the their schedule. She and her partner Elaine Chu tried to envision on what the land looked like before development when it was pure open space. The bottom section idea is of paradise and featuring all animals and insects that used to be in the canyon. All animals are native, and some endangered species represented. It was important to the artists to feature Islais Creek and they played with the theme of water because they felt water holds memories. “I loved canyon growing up and am still appreciative of it” said Perez-Wong.
The muralists currently have a display at the Moma and the next project they are working on is expanding their design on 18th and Valencia street.
www.twinwallsmuralcompany.com