Last weekend's first annual BayviewLIVE! Festival was a huge success, with nine murals going up over Egbert Avenue. As we previously reported, the festival brought together the community with live music, games, and tech exhibitions, and local Bayview artist Cameron Moberg led a group of artists -- commissioned by IMPRINT.CITY -- to paint murals on several buildings surrounding the festivities.
If you missed it, don't fret -- these aren't the last murals that you will see going up along Egbert. IMPRINT.CITY
confirmed with us today that they've received a grant from the Office of Economic and Workforce Development to
continue putting murals up all the way to the end of the block.
In case you're still experiencing some FOMO, we caught up with last weekend's artists to ask them about their work. Here's what they had to say:
Cameron Moberg:
"Tyra asked me to paint two walls, and I was like why don’t we blow this up and cover the block? Public arts engages the community and brings crime rates down, creates foot traffic and overall gives people accountability. We believe in what we are doing."
"As for the meaning behind some of these murals, most artists just painted what they wanted. Usually, when we're asked to paint something more specific, there's a bigger budget involved. Luckily, these artists are pretty passionate about the community."
Ryder:
"Honestly, I just wanted to do something different to stand out. There’s a lot of colors, and I wanted to stand out and give it that street feel."
Ricky Watts:
"It’s more of an abstract and creative process for me. It’s a free hand forming process. It’s more just colorful abstract shapes and movement without letters."
Dan Pan:
"This is freedom of speech art. I asked a basketball coach what he would want if he could put anything on a wall and he said 'hope for the future gives power to the present.' I worked on this with another artist named Antoine Roberts. The freehand mural is like a color by numbers project. It just teaches youth how to be creative and get engaged with art."
Strider:
"It's a little about the history of the Bayview community. I interviewed Mary Ratcliff who runs the Bayview newspaper for two hours, and what came from that is stories about workers and people in construction, the shipyard and all kinds of things. It themes with this mural which shows the challenges happening in development. The unfinished house represents the past and the hope for the future. The future is that this will be one the last communities in SF with a strong workforce presence."
Annie:
"I do a lot of peacocks and I thought this would fit because there is a lot of color on all the buildings. Basically, peacocks symbolize pride, but I thought it would be cool to have an edgy weird kind of liquidy feeling. It's something different and just a little play on the peacock. "
Vanessa Agana Espinoza:
"I've been on this working with Mel Waters. In the center is my friend "Kike" who is a congero player from Mission. He's been in my sister's band and I've known him forever. So he's represented in this wall. And the maiz (corn) represents that we are children, women, and men of corn. Corn is sacred to Azteca culture. It's about passing down recipes from generation to generation. The heart with wings represents leading with love and letting your heart set free."
Fnnch:
"It's a universal sign of happiness. People see a honey bear and they feel good. I paint a lot of these on mailboxes in the Mission, and you wouldn't believe this but I've heard a lot of kids try to lick them."
William Holland:
None of these murals could have been possible without "The Mayor of Egbert," William Holland. "I wanted to be involved with the first BayviewLIVE! Fair because I have been a part of this community since the 1960's," said Holland. "Seeing all of the neighbors come together to beautify Egbert Avenue was something I have dreamed of since I was a young man. This is my community and I am so very proud to have been asked to be a part of this amazing project."
"I think the first BayviewLIVE! was a total success. I want to thank Tyra Fennell for her hard work in organizing the event. Also Cameron Moberg in organizing the artists to do all of the murals., it added beauty to our street. I hope that we can do this again."
Fore more photos from BayviewLIVE!, check out this website.