Welsh and 5th Street
SOMA
Thanks to a recent upgrade to this mural I can write about it. It was originally done in 1992 and has been so faded it was difficult to see.
The mural is by Johanna Poethig who has been in the website so very many times.
Staff members from the San Francisco Human Services Agency contacted her about restoring her mural, “To Cause to Remember,” better known as the Statue of Liberty mural. It’s located on the side of a homeless shelter in the city’s South of Market district.
On the 40-foot by 80-foot wall, Lady Liberty lies on her side with chains on her feet and her hand outstretched.
According to Johanna’s blog:
“Everyone who comments on the mural mentions the chains first of all. . . . This symbol, the fallen Liberty, speaks to the issues of poverty, immigration, mental illness, incarceration, drugs, war veterans, families and the elderly.
“The image has been published in books about street art. In my 30-year career as a muralist and public artist, this work of art has weathered the test of time. The Liberty in recline has proven herself to really mean something to the people who live with her chains and to those who remember what she means.”
The assistants were all students at Cal State Monterey Bay Visual and Public Art School.
If you would like read more of Johanna’s ruminations on the mural click here.
Thanks so much for this great blog and for posting my work. It’s a great resource I will share with my students and friends!
Good to see a mural restored – I think that may be a possibility for the one in Stockport you commented on as it is in an area that is being conserved/developed – a nearby scheme mooted in 2008 is only now being acted upon – so it may not happen for some time.
I’m glad to see the mural restored. It speaks to how much the community values this powerful image. Apologies about the Linky. I tried to link it myself but with no success. Would you mind trying again now that the Linky is up?
[…] Art and Architecture – San Francisco […]