This mural is on a building at the corner of 7th and Folsom Streets, (It is on the 7th Street side) in the South of Market area of San Francisco.
It was done by 1:AM short for First Amendment, a gallery at 1000 Howard Street in San Francisco.
According to 1:AM they are “a gallery that stands behind the freedom of speech. We strive to showcase, teach, and inspire the public on street and urban art through our exhibitions, education, and street productions… With the gallery, classes, and a veteran mural production team, 1:AM has become a pillar in San Francisco street art culture. ”
I contacted 1:AM to see what the mural was all about and this is what one of the artists told me:
“My name is Robert and I’m one of the artist involved with the mural. We really appreciate the communities interest and curiosity about the mural. We painted this mural more for the public in that area, seeing as how that particular wall is often plagued with graffiti. The theme of the murals we usually paint have to do with the community and the surrounding area. For example, this mural is down the street from court and gets a lot of foot traffic from people either going or coming from court. It’s intended to be a positive and uplifting work of art, for people who usually would be stressed out from either work or just having a bad day, thus the vibrant and exciting colors used along with the playful phrase, ‘cus after all “That’s Califor’ya!” ”
UPDATE 4/2013 There was a slight mishap with a mistaken painting over of this mural. It is back with a few minor changes – here is the new view.
*
This is just fantastic!
One could not possibly pass by this without smiling.
These are wonderful photographs.
Thank you for sharing these and the information about this, today at The Creative Exchange.
Have a great day!
lisa.
Definitely very upbeat — love the positive vibe, especially needed in these down times in California.
My first thought when seeing these was that no one could walk by without smiling too…I think the artist can be happy that his goal was met!
Bright, eye-catching (definitely), uplifting street art! You’ve captured it beautifully!
This art graffiti definitely put a big smile on the viewer’s face. I love it. I love that you got the interview…it adds so much to the post. Nice captures and fab colors. Genie
[…] this piece on the fifth floor of the women’s Saks Fifth Avenue. You have seen their work on this site earlier. They are a super group of people doing lots of great things with their community and public art. […]
[…] mural taken from across the street. 1 AM Gallery has been in this website many times before. Check out their work around town. Please also note – that 1:AM uses this wall as a teaching experience so the […]