Rewind: San Francisco Mission District's Balmy Alley Murals

"Located a block from the Precita Eyes Mural Arts and Visitors Center in the San Francisco Mission neighborhood between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street, Balmy Alley has a concentration of more than 30 vibrant and colorful murals painted on fences, building walls and garage doors. In the Mission neighborhood densely packed with murals, Balmy Alley is at the center of it all. Muralists began working in San Francisco's Balmy Alley as early as 1971. Many of the original murals are still there as well as many murals that have been painted over the intervening years.

The Balmy Alley murals are very diverse both stylistically and in the subject matter. Some of the murals feature cartoon-like illustrations that playful and juvenile. Other murals along Balmy Alley grapple with difficult subjects, such as a memorial to people who have died from AIDS or depictions of political strife and war in Latin America. Another mural honors the great muralist Diego Rivera and his wife, the painter Frida Kahlo. And another is a tribute to women muralists of the Mission District. One colorless mural, depicts two men and a woman jumping through a barbed-wire fence lined with keys. The woman has her hand held high, making the peace sign.

One of the best parts of about San Francisco's Balmy Alley and the Mission District murals in general is that the murals are part of a thriving vibrant community that is as colorful and diverse as the murals themselves. On Balmy Alley, take a peak through the knot-hole of a mural-painted fence and you'll see and old car supported on blocks or a latino washing his truck or a patio table and chairs. Along the alley, you'll see signs that warn you to beware of dogs as well as a lettering for the Taqueria Vallarta, which is on 24th Street."

*Article courtesy of ZurdoGo Destinations: http://www.zurdogo.com/