MAESTRAPEACE MURAL, Lapidge Street Facade
Maestrapeace Mural Media Analysis
The Maestrapeace Mural (Alicia et al., 1994) displayed on the exterior of San Francisco’s Women’s Center is an outstanding art piece that serves as a visual testament to the heroic contributions of women everywhere throughout history. The location that the mural was painted on has a great history itself of empowering women. In 1971, a group of visionary women founded San Francisco’s Women’s Centers to provide a safe space for women’s organizations to meet and discuss gender equality. At this time, although San Francisco was in a much darker place than the previous decade, there were also great steps made in terms of the antiestablishment. In 1979, the community center moved to a larger space, the first space in America fully owned by women, known as The Women’s Building. After running strong for 15 years, seven female muralists were given the opportunity to create what is now known as one of the largest and most famous murals in San Francisco. This mural represents what the community of courageous women wanted to reflect on society. The mural has a social and political impact relating to the history of gender equality and the changing expectations of a woman’s beauty and role. I was lucky enough to experience this gorgeous mural for myself two years ago during a California field school experience. This artwork is truly something you could stare at and analyze for hours. Something that stood out for me when I first took a closer look was the fabric that flows throughout the lower portion of the piece, which has the words ‘future generations’ being scripted by an older woman. More recently, many of the artists returned to extend the mural into the building. Internally and externally, The Women’s Building and the Maestrapeace Mural encompass female power and gender equality.
Photo credit: Hannah Bontinen
References
Alicia, J., Bergman, M., Boone, E., Cervantes, S., Desai, M., Littleton, Y. & Perez, I. (1994). Maestrapeace Mural. The Women’s Building, San Francisco, CA.
“» Mission & History”. Womensbuilding.Org, 2020, https://womensbuilding.org/about/mission-history/. Accessed 31 Jan 2020.
Robb, Sushawn. “How the Women’s Building Came to Be – Foundsf”. Foundsf.Org, 2020, http://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=How_the_Women%27s_Building_Came_To_Be. Accessed 31 Jan 2020.
Media Work
1. Blog post and video
2. Artwork
